Chemo Treatment 1-
Mom’s first chemo treatment has already come and gone. On Wednesday August 19 she went in for one of the 6 chemo treatments, each lasting 6 hours. Some of the girls ( my sisters) were able to join her to keep her company and that helped pass the time as she at there and watch the drip, drip, drip, of the medicine entering her blood stream.
The day following her chemo treatment and the day after that were overall very positive, she was very tired and completely wiped out but was able to rest well. The doctors gave her plenty of medication to cover the bases of pain medication, sleep meds and nausea meds incase and thankfully she didn’t have to use much of it.
The following day however, on Saturday she became extremely sick and was flat all day. When I asked her to describe what it felt like she said “ it was like a slow death… the two girls ( Loretta and Priscilla) came up to take care of me and the first thing they did was take my blood pressure, it was 75/50.”
She said her legs went almost completely numb and she began experiencing neuropathy pain in her legs, she describes it as “ restless legs with pain”. Thankfully she hasn’t have any headache or nauseousness. The girls gave her some good, nourishing broth and pumped her full of liquids and within a few hours her blood pressure was up to 116/85.
Saturday evening and Sunday she was pretty much flat the entire day, she needed a walker to get her to the bathroom and back. The walker has helped her tremendously getting from point A to point B. We are so grateful that she has an appetite and is able to sustain her body with lots of nourishment. Fri-Sunday were definitely her worst days, she was in great amounts of pain by Friday night, but she does seem to be slowly but surely improving with each passing day. The feeling in her hands and feet is still stingy and numb but can be a common side effect although she didn’t realize how severe it can become.
When I asked her how she’s feeling mentally and emotionally she said “ Jesus is my pilot and we’ll get through this”.
Her next chemo infusion is set for September 9, and she’ll follow up the next day with an injection to stimulate the white blood cells to help her body fight off infection.
It’s hard to see her suffer so much but we are all committed to caring for her and supporting her the best we can. I’m spending the day with mom and dad today and made a big batch of chicken noodle soup for dinner that we can enjoy the next few days. We made it with one of dad’s delicious home-grown meat chickens that he raised here on their property ( they’re so huge i call them baby dinosaurs) and it was scrumptious. It’s always precious getting to spend quality time up here with family.
Until Next Time- Carrie
