Yesterday, Mom, Dad and I had a meeting with Cindy Williams, Dr. Bagai's head oncology nurse. We met with Cindy for over 2 hours at a place that will has become very familiar to us, the Fairview Hospital Moll Center. This was an informational meeting which included a video, discussion on side effects and then a tour of the chemotherapy room. We were given lots of information about chemotherapy side effects in general and then the possible side effects of the two drugs that mom will be taken. As Cindy told us, she was the one that gives the scary news about all of the side effects. Cindy's mantra was "Call her". There are many factors that are immediate calls and other ones are just calling for advice. The immediate calls would be a 100.5 fever (or neutropenic fever), severe headaches (Mom already gets headaches, so she will be able to tell the difference for different types of headaches), severe mouth sores, severe nausea and or diarrhea.
There could also be side effects with her blood counts (red cells, platelets and white cells). Her blood counts will be on a "roller coaster ride" from the start of her treatment. She will start with regular counts, then they will head "downhill" over a 7-10 day period and then they will go back "uphill" after that period. Then, she will have another treatment and this will happen all over again. We'll have to look for any possible very low counts that could be a problem. These super low counts would be another reason to call Cindy.
Mom will be getting a steroid when she gets her Taxotere. This could be an issue, because steroids cause blood sugar to jump sky high. Mom is diabetic and has had her insulin pretty much under control. Cindy was concerned about the dose of the steroid. It might be reduced and Mom could also be given some insulin during her treatment if her sugar level jumps sky high. But, the steroid is needed because of a possible allergic reaction to the Taxotere.
We asked Cindy about Mom continuing with her all of her other medication (and there is plenty) and Cindy said to stay with them, there shouldn't be a problem with that. Mom will be meeting with Dr. Bagai before each of the treatments (he already met with her for the treatment next week) for any side effects or changes in her system.
Of course the main two side effects will be nausea and hair loss. Mom will be given a prescription for nausea medicine. She will also be given a nausea medicine with her chemotherapy mix, so that will be in her system for at least a few days. The hair loss is of course a hard thing. Each drug will vary on the amount of hair loss. It all depends on the patient. Barra was so sweet to give mom a bag full of head scarves. Mom is opting not to wear a wig. She and her friends are already taking bets what color her hair will come back as. Humor wins the day!
We are lucky. This is a short treatment schedule. It will seem like a lifetime during it for Mom and us, but is will only be a total of a 12 week treatment cycle. Cindy also reminded us that this is preventative. This is to make sure that any microscopic cancer cells that are in her body are destroyed, so we do not have to go through this all again. I DON'T want that to happen and I know that my Mom doesn't want that to happen either.
My brain is on information overload!
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