Chemo-round1

Well Mom had her first round of chemo at 10am this morning. Brian and I went with her to keep her company and to help her with anything she needed while she was hooked up. The nurse Mom had-I think her name was Tracey-was amazing!!! She went through everything very thoroughly and explained all the different side effects Mom can expect and when to call/go to the ER and all that stuff. We were there for about an hour and a half and everything went very smoothly. So far Mom is feeling alright, though her arm was bothering her a bit this afternoon-nothing a heating pad couldn't fix though ;). Mom goes in on Sept. 30 to get some blood work done to make sure her blood counts are up and then goes in for round 2 of chemo on or around Oct. 1. This picture is from earlier today during the chemo (we are going to try and get a picture at each round). Well I think that's about it for now.

Scans, Drugs and Chemo!

Hi everyone

Yep - it is me again! Figured I would do this one seeing as it is all in my head at the moment - and the fact that Meghan has a ton of homework to do!

I went to the Look Good Feel Better program this morning - what a hoot! Way more fun then when I did it 7 years ago! The cancer patients were so great and lots of fun. The instructors were also a lot of fun! My friend Kim came with me - and she will have to remember how to do some of the funky head covering stuff! The makeup is pretty general - we all know how to put it on.... and it is even more interesting as a lot of the donated makeup is stuff you have not used. I got some great products - Mac, Avon, Estee Lauder, CoverGirl, Mary Kay and those are only the ones I can think of off the top of my head! But all the women in the group looked beautiful after the makeup applications - actually, we looked beautiful beforehand as well! Then it was on to wigs - well we had fun - there were wigs being passed around, tried on and laughed at. One of the gals, who has a beautiful wig on that looked so natural said, if you bake - be careful - LOL - the synthetic wigs will frizzle - same goes for the bbq! Good advice. Then they went onto general head coverings and how to apply them to look good!

The best one was how to make a head covering out of a pair of spandex capris - stop laughing - mind you, we all laughed too. How can a pair of pants look good on your head? I may just have to get a pair (a youths) and do it and get a picture on here - it looked so good on the mannequin and easy to do! Now what I want to know, who thought a pair of pants would look great on a woman's head?

Then it was off for blood work - they took 6 tubes today - but that is OK, I am now good for another three weeks.

Brian met up with me at the clinic and we went to see Dr. P. He said the bone scan came back OK, that there had been a rib injury at some point - and I know I never broke a rib. Maybe when I was coughing and barking a lot before surgery did some damage. Not sure if this was from the bone scan or the ct scan, but there was something showing on the upper breast bone. Dr. P. said that they are not concerned about it, that is was not cancer - that was a relief. He then gave me the Rx for the two drugs I needed to purchase - Dexamethasone - this will look after nausea, fluid retention and allergic reactions. I take 4 pills the day before the chemo, two the morning of chemo and two in then evening and then 4 the next day. He also gave me another one for nausea and only if I need it - Metoclop - hopefully I will be one of the lucky ones that won't need it.

I go for the chemo on September 10 at 10am. Takes about one and a half hours to get the medication into my system. The first session will take longer, as they also teach you some stuff that wasn't taught at the Chemo Teach session. Brian will come in with me for this and Meghan will come and meet us at the clinic and come home with me - Brian doesn't want me alone the first day - in case of any reactions. And then the next cycle is October 1st and I will see Dr. P the day before to see how I am doing and to also do the bloodwork again.

Once I have done three cycles, then I will have a ct scan to see how the tumors are shrinking and because if is just a regular scan, no contrast dye will be needed - wahoooo! And this will give the oncologist a good idea as to how the drugs are doing. And they will do one again at the end of cycle 6.

So, the roller coaster ride is about to begin! Have had two people offer to make some meals (subtle, aren't I!!) and one is coming tomorrow and the other on Saturday - thank you to both of these very special people!!

There may be a post later this week - shall just have to wait and see!!!

Ciao for now.....

Roni

No Clinical Trial

Hi Everyone

Well, I just got a call from my onclogist - I have been rejected from the clinical trial because of my heart. I have a left bundle branch block - which we knew about going into this. The trial drug can cause some serious heart problems and as such, they said best for me not to be in the trial.

I am disappointed to say the least - would have been nice to help others down the line and it could have helped me as well.

My chemo still starts on the 10th. I am not sure if I am still on the every three week program or if that changes to weekly - guess will find out. I have to go and see Dr. P on Monday to get my scripts for the two drugs I need to take. And our lovely provincial government does not cover them - they are supplemental. So will land paying for these. Will only need 6 at this time of the anti-nausea drugs and 18 of the anti-allergy drugs.

Hope you all have been enjoying the wig blog - it was a lot of fun and man, there are some bad wigs out there - they looked ok on the heads but when they were put on my head - yech!

All for now...and there will be more later!!!

Roni

Are You Ready For The Wig Show?

Well this afternoon, Mom, Ryan and I went down to the Vancouver Cancer Clinic to find a wig for Mom. After trying several on and having MANY laughs, Mom found one. I brought along my camera to take pictures of each one that she tried on-the good, the bad, and the REALLY ugly!!!! So here you go-enjoy!!! I apologize for my flash in some of the pictures.

Wig #1- a bit too short and ummm well... ya it didn't work


Wig #2- A bit longer but too '90's ish crimpy looking


Wig #3- Oh the things that were wrong with this one....





Wig #4- WAY too blonde


Wig #5- Again too blonde and too hmm something else..


Wig # 6- Mom rocking the long locks... yep that one stayed there too...


Wig #7-Ryan LOVED this one- we vetoed that for obvious reasons.... A mullet is NEVER good!!



Mom trying to figure which way's up??



Wig #8-Cleopatra anyone??


Wig #9- Oh boy, where to begin... Shaggy dog or Bozo the Clown??


Wig #10-the Jill Taylor (remember the show Home Improvement??)


Wig #11-the Blonde Jill Taylor...

Wig #12-The Mid-length Elvira...


Wig #13-The Long Elvira


Wig #14-The long shaggy look... not working...


Wig #15-hmmm ya this just didn't work...


Wig #16-There are NO words to describe this...

AND THE WINNER IS:

The Jill Taylor!!!!

Sorry no pink wigs yet... Mom will have to go to a costume store to find one-good thing Halloween is coming up!!!!

Alright, well here is the update.

Mom and Brian went and met with the clinical trial nurse on Tuesday, as well as the oncologist to go over everything that could/would/will happen as she goes through the study. Mom had to give a DETAILED list of every type of medication she is on/has taken in the last month as well as when she took it last. Now, when most of us think medication we think prescription medication, however, this is not the ONLY type of medication Mom had to list. She had to list everything from prescriptions to vitamins to over the counter medication-you name it she had to give it. Dr. Pansegrau (the oncologist) had to sign a bunch of paperwork saying that mom was healthy enough to take part in the study and give consent and all that fun stuff. Mom also had to sign one thing giving her consent to take part in the study as well. Maybe it’s just me but does anyone else think it’s a little ironic that the doctor has to sign more paper work than the actual patient?

Mom went in this morning (Wednesday) to have the CT scans and three ECG’s done as well. All of the ECG’s had to be taken back to the cancer clinic right afterwards. The CT scan was a full body scan from Mom’s head to her knees as well as a brain scan (Mom’s hoping the found one :-P) to make sure the cancer hasn’t’ spread to her brain. If in the event that is has, then Mom will not be able to take part in the clinical study (thus the reason for having this test).

Originally Mom was supposed to be going to have an Echo test done on Sept 5, however that has since been changed to a MUGA test. And what exactly is a MUGA test you ask? Well it stands for Multigated Acquisition Scan-a fancy way of saying a test for the heart. Mom will be injected with a radioactive dye and it will highlight every part of her heart.

The bone scan is still scheduled for Sept 2 as planned. Mom has also been booked to get more blood work done at 2pm as well as at 2:45pm on the 8th Mom will be meeting with Dr. Pansegrau for a physical and such.

Mom will also be going to a Therapeutic Touch session on Sept 2. Her and I went to one session back in 2001 (I think) and Mom felt so relaxed afterwards. We are also going to the Look Good, Feel Better Program. This is a program for women who have cancer and is aimed at giving them tips for doing their make-up while having chemo and radiation as well as tips on how to wear the head scarves and turbans.

It is looking like the chemo treatments will start on Sept 10 at 8:30. Mom will find out on the Tuesday (Sept 9) what regime she will be in for the clinical study.

And finally, Mom is going to the Vancouver Cancer clinic sometime next week to go pick up a couple wigs. I am hopefully going with her if we can figure a day that works best!! :)

Test Dates

Ok, so Mom has gotten a few test dates already. They will all be happening at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

• The CT Scan has been booked for Wed Aug 27. Mom has to be there at 7:40am and the actual test will take place at 8am. Mom will have to take Telebrex to coat her kidney's but no other medication this time.
• The Bone Scan has been booked for Sept 2. Mom will have a radioactive injection at 1pm and the scan will occur two hours later.
• And finally the Echo is scheduled for Sept 5 at 7:30am.

So these are just a few of the tests Mom will have to get done before the clinical trial can begin. Will post more test dates as they come.

Wigs anyone?

Here is the newest information-and the reason for "newest" is because Mom & Brian were given the wrong information yesterday, and therefore so was I. So I had to wait until I had all the correct information before I could give an update.

Mom and Brian went to their Chemo Teach class yesterday morning at the Cancer clinic. They said it was really helpful and gave them a lot of information as to what they can expect to happen (chemo symptoms, phone numbers to call if/when they have questions, etc.). Mom also said it a bit of an “information overload” as so much was discussed in such a short period of time. But all-in-all they found it to be very useful!!

Mom was originally scheduled to start chemo on Monday Aug 25; however that has since been postponed for another 3 weeks. The reason for this is because Mom is now going to be taking part in a clinical trial. Mom will be put on a drug called Docetaxel that she will be given once every 3 weeks. The clinical trial she will be on is a study of Docetaxel in combination with Sunitinib. So Mom goes to meet with the oncologist and the clinical trial nurse on Tuesday Aug 26 at 1pm. Before starting the trial Mom will have to have all the tests she has had done already re-done. These tests include CT scans, x-rays, blood work, a current bone scan, ECG’s, Echo’s, possibly an MRI/CT of the brain, physical, & medical history.

Like I had mentioned before, Mom will be starting Chemo in 3 weeks. She will likely be on a 6 cycle treatment plan, which should take about 5 months. This means that Mom will have chemo once every 3 weeks. This will continue until she has gone through 6 cycles. One of the side effects Mom will have to the Chemo will be losing her hair, which normally occurs within 2 weeks of the first Chemo treatment. So Mom will be getting some wigs, scarves, head coverings, etc. She went to the place in the Cancer clinic this morning to take a look, but they didn’t have any, so Mom will try again later.

Mom figures that once she starts chemo she will more than likely stop working as she will be too tired. So she should be finishing up in about three or four week’s time.

I know people have been asking what all they can do to help Mom and Brian through all of this and Mom hates asking for things like that so I will post some ways that you can help if you so choose.

• Rides to & from the cancer clinic/medical appointments-would love to maybe work out a schedule for this so Mom isn't stressing about how she is getting there.
• Meals (pre-made & fresh)
• Flowers/cards
• Stop by for a cup of tea/coffee (though Mom can’t have any)/glass of wine
• Invite/Take Mom out for breakfast/lunch/dinner
• Stop by and watch some TV or a movie with her
• Drop off bubble bath/lipstick/scarves-these were her requests LOL
• Humor her-through emails, phone calls, visits, etc.
• Keep her up to date as to what is happening in the office (work people *hint, hint* )
• Take Mom out for a drive.

As Mom has said- The battle has begun... and gonna fight it tooth and nail!!!!