8th Chemo Session

Karen's currently undergoing her 8th chemo treatment (the 4th "round"). The pump was hooked up yesterday whilst Sarah looked after the kids (thanks Sarah). Karen was able to sleep some of today whilst Sarah and mom took the kids out for the day (thanks guys). Karen will return to hospital tomorrow to have the pump removed.

Karen's still on CPT-11 and it's still kicking her butt. The nurses and Dr Moriarty were all surprised to hear how rough CPT-11 had been on her the last time. It's due no doubt in part to Karen's petite size and also that this is her 8th treatment.

This week I got a number of emails from folks who're either cancer patients or caregivers, some of whom are having a hard time with the chemo side effects. In the interests of sharing information with folks I've gone through Karen's drug-bucket and listed the various medications she's on besides the chemo. Many of these are substitutes with the alternative in paretheses.

• Fluconazole (Diflucan)
• Lorazepam (Ativan)
• Naproxen
• Temazepam
• Docusate Sodium
• Amoxicillin
• Prochlorper
• Dexamethason
• Compazine

These are basically anti-nausea for the most part. Hopefully this gives you something to talk to your doctor about.