This Past Week

The Weekend

Had 2 friends come over Friday and had breakfast with another couple on Sunday, the weather was beautiful (60' in November!)....I could deal with this weather all winter...I'm dreading the cold weather coming.

It was nice to spend time with friends and be our old selves for awhile.

Chemotherapy Last Week

This week the 2 sweet little old ladies that I love to chat, were there at the same time as us. The one with cancer now, was just switching from T's original chemo. meds to the one's T's been on for 4 weeks now and was a bit nervous and scared.

It felt so good to be able to tell her, from T's experience, that the new chemo. was much easier to handle, especially as far as the nausea was concerned. We told her how much easier this cycle is compared to the last and I watched her visibly relax a little.

We did, however, warn her about the possible neuropathy....God, I hope she doesn't get it!

Her friend who comes with her every week also had cancer many years ago, so she understands and is a great support to her friend. I could listen to them telling stories of when they were young all day.

I hope they are there next week at the same time as us. When you have to be at the doctors for 4 to 5 hours it helps to have people who's company you enjoy there to pass the time.

Group

This past week, we went to a group meeting with other patients and their loved ones/care givers. It was kind of cool to talk to people and find that we've all had similar experiences with how this has affected all aspects of our lives....it was comforting in a strange way.

Usually, these groups are for patients only...so at the end we suggested they start a group for just loved ones and care givers....and agreed our meeting should be in a bar...LOL

I hope they do it though.

The Medical Stuff

The new chemo. is going well...the new side effects being dealt with OK...T is able to work 4 days a week now, with some pain, but still better then before.

At 1st the Taxol was a bit too strong for T's body to handle and she developed Neuropathy (nerve damage and pain in her hands and feet). So to make it easier to tolerate and keep the neuropathy from getting worse, they reduced her dose by 1/3, and extended her chemo. from 8 more to 12 more weeks and increased the frequency of her treatments from every other week to every week....the Neurontin is helping with the pain in her hands and feet.....doesn't take the pain away, but makes it bearable. Still we have to follow up with the specialist for the neuropathy in a few weeks to make sure it's not getting worse as this could be permanent damage to her body.

Her tongue has deep cuts in it still, from the previous chemo. (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) and now this chemo. adds a metal taste in her mouth which makes everything taste off.....so eating is hard....soft food with little or no seasoning is best. Although, because she has to take steroids the day before and after chemo. she is able to eat best on the weekends (she has chemo. Fridays)....so at least she has a few days where food may not taste right, but at least it doesn't hurt too much to eat. Needless to say, she's lost a lot of weight.

Watching all this helpless from the sidelines is killing me.