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.

Seventh Chemo Treatment

Karen's doing well. I always like to start off the posts with that statement. That's the most important nugget in the whole post.

Today Karen had her seventh chemo treatment. Nicole went with her (thx Nick) and I stayed home with the kids. We had a VERY eventful day between work, play and a visit from the plumber. That's another story.

Karen's day was also pretty busy. As usual she met with Dr Moriarty for an exam. The chemo regime was modified today to replace Oxaliplatin with a drug called CPT-11, also known as Camptosar. It's not commonplace in the USA yet but new studies in Europe have demonstrated the effectiveness of switching up the chemo regime with this drug before surgery. Karen had an allergic reaction to Oxali last time which was another reason to switch. Gotta love Dr Dan for staying on top of things.

Karen also got the prescription for her next round of scans. These will be performed 10 days after the 8th chemo session and include CT-scans of the abdomen, chest and pelvis as well as a PET scan. Personally I'm excited for these as they'll be the make or break as far as whether surgery is approved.

Tonight she's feeling shakey but in good spirits, as am I.