Mom Monday: Update #3!

Here is an e-mail sent from my dad the day after my mom's first chemo treatment (a week ago today):

Monday Mar 2nd was the first of 6 treatments. One down and five to go. This first one was done on a Monday just to get started but all the rest are scheduled for a Thursday every three weeks. While we had the treatment yesterday , we waited until today to update just to make sure nothing came up - like her dinner. The preparation mentally and chemically seemed to do the job. So far, so good. Today is also another big doctor day. Nikki had an appointment with her surgeon, Dr Patricia Morrison (I'm still working on that discount) for the one week check up on having the portacart installed and the 2 month checkup on the initial breast surgery. Both sites were fine. She also goes back to Texas Oncolgy for a shot.

Having a friend ahead in the process and sharing has made a huge difference. Also, the doctors and nurses while being all about comfort for the patient are also all about information. There hasn't been anything happen that we weren't told to expect. The tour of the infusion room, our Chemo 101 class, and Wheezy's support made yesterday an unanxious day. The only thing we messed up on was the initial blood draw before they begin. Although Nikki had the portacart installed and it was ready for business and she was wearing her purple portacath bracelet they still jabbed her arm for the blood draw. They should have gone through the port and left the needle in place for the infusion. She had to have a second needle stick when she got to the infusion room. She also learned that she can have a prescription for a skin numbing crème to be applied to the port area that will take away even the slight prick she felt for that second needle. When she sat down in her chair choice they came to hook up the IV. All the while the nurse is talking and going over information - a whole organized binder of data and information. After about an hour Nurse Ruth said , "Well, let's get this started". We had thought that when the IV was placed and a bag hung we were on the way. Nikki was talking an laughing and watching the fluid drain down. Nope, that was just saline. They then came with the 3 drugs for the study she was randomly assigned. Each goes in separately and over a certain time period. Two are IV Bags that take about 30 minutes and 45 minutes each and the third is an IV push that takes about a minute. Oops, sorry - IV push is a medical term we picked up. It means they give the IV line a shot. She had taken an anti nausea medication when we arrived to visit with the doctor. It caused her cheeks to flush bright red. Nikki looked on it as just another savings - no need to wear any blush for the next 4 days. We arrived about 12:20 and left about 4. This first visit was a little longer because of the introduction. Next time which is Mar 26th it will be shorter. That will be a good thing since they don't validate for parking. Another savings. We had planned soup for supper but got home still feeling fine. We called Wheezy and she said eat anything you fell like so we went to Cheddars. We'll eat soup tonight.

So as you can see, everything went really well and the side effects were kept to a minimum the first couple of days. Thursday was a slight downturn - nothing sounded appetizing and she suddenly became weak and tired. She pretty much slept Thursday night into Saturday morning. Saturday was a better day. She was able to get out with my sister, Jessica, and my dad to shave her head! She has heard from numerous people that it is less traumatic to lose your hair all at once than it is to see it falling out each day. So she took their advice and went to the salon! See below for some great pictures! Her next treatment is on March 26, so I'll keep you posted!

Mom and Dad at the salon

The Haircut!

Yep! It's really gone!

Mom with her "My First Haircut" Certificate!

A closing note....for my quiet times, I have been reading out of a devotional book that my mom gave me for Christmas. It is a book called "Praying God's Word" by Beth Moore. Today's reading, prayer, and commentary was from 2 Cor. 1:3-4, and it made me think of my mom. So I thought I would further personalize this verse as a prayer for her today: Praise be to you, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts my mom in all her troubles, so that she can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort she has received from you. "[God] is the only one who can turn misery into ministry." -Beth Moore

And while I'm quoting other people, I should say that I copied a small portion of this update (the paragraph above the pictures) from my sister Brittany's blog. I feel like I should give her some credit for that. If you ever feel like reading a new blog, visit hers! It is www.getreadyeurope.blogspot.com.