chemo tagged posts

Justin had his second chemo treatment yesterday.  In oncology vocabulary, he has completed his first cycle. Each cycle has two treatments and we’re hoping for four total cycles.  If we’re talking in football terms, we’ve finished the first quarter and are hoping to finish the game without overtime.  At halftime (after 4 treatments or 2 cycles), Justin will have a PET scan to determine how well we’re winning the game.  In the treatment of Hodgkin’s, the PET scan (according to the oncologist) is uniquely helpful in effectively predicting  how many cycles Justin will need to reach cure.  Let’s hope that our season is more like the Steelers of ’08 and less like the Steelers of ’12.

Since Justin’s mom is here with us for the week, she went with him for chemo...

Eleven days down after my first treatment and things couldn’t be much better.  I experienced no nausea in the days following.  Took Rx one every 12 hours for 3 days and never needed Rx two, which was prescribed for random flareups of nausea at any point.  I felt only minor “fatigue” last weekend, and I even hesitate to call it that.  I didn’t feel 100% but by no means would I classify it as fatigue.  If I had to put a number on it , I’d say Easter Sunday was the lowest the bar went and I only dipped to maybe 75%.  By Tuesday I felt perfectly fine again and have been that way since.  Yes, high fives all around.

My appetite has remained constant so far and I’ve been eating as I normally do, if only a bit more health conscious now...

The time leading up to the first treatment can be full of many emotions, but it is overall a very uneventful day.  Here’s how it went down…

Our day started at Justin’s chiropractic appointment just before 8 a.m.  After an adjustment, we dropped Adalyn off at daycare, then headed to the oncologist’s office where Justin would have his first chemotherapy treatment.   Before going into the office, I gave Justin the photobook that I made for him.  It included photos and messages from his family and friends, even Tucker had a message for him.

He was really surprised ...