Day 3 After Second Chemo Treatment

Well there is good news and there is bad news, but as usual, I will start with the bad news. Mom has started feeling the effects of the chemo yesterday. We also think they may have to check her throat to see why she is still experiencing that raw soreness she's had since the radiation. The doctor said it should be clearing up, but it's not. Today she is I believe in the thick of the effects. She's dealing with what we all think is the worst of it for this time. Hopefully she will be back to "good" in a couple days. Now for the good news, well it's day 3 so we know she was going to experience SOME effects. In the next few days the chemo will be out of her system, she has NOT been nauseous which is extremely good. Mom has really just been completely wiped out. Today she spent most of it sleeping, and she was napping yesterday too. In a few days she will be feeling well again and from here I think I can tell that New Hampshire will be a go. I'm glad she will be able to go because it makes her happy, and she needs to be as happy as ever right now, especially since it's going to be Labor Day weekend. I'm sure she can't wait!

Day 1 After Second Chemo Treatment

Mom just had her second chemo treatment yesterday, and she was afraid how she was going to react since she was so sick last time. There's no other way to say this but she feels great!!!! Slept all night without waking up, came down this morning made coffee for Dad and her own oatmeal, she didn't feel the need to wake me up. She took her own medicine, and she has energy to boot!

Second Chemo Treatment

During the last couple of weeks Leslie Sam and their dog Jasmine have spent time with us, they were helping out here and we enjoyed our time with them. Leslie dedicated most of her stay preparing delicious meals that we could freeze and pull out when ever we needed to. It has really been much easier around here not worrying about what we should make for dinner. Since Mom has that awful pain in her throat, Leslie has packed our freezer with Pastina with the egg, a soup that my mom has been able to eat with ease. Mom also got a beautiful mani pedi from Sam, which the nurse complimented on today! They left this passed Monday morning and I just want to send a BIG THANK YOU to both of them!
Today Mom and I went into Boston for her second treatment of Chemotherapy. Dr. Huberman was out on vacation so we had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Goldstein, we also saw Dr. Karp who is one of Dr. Huberman's fellows. They were very nice, though we already knew Dr. Karp from previous appointments. Anyway, Mom brought it to Dr. Goldstein's attention as well as Dr. Karp's that she is still suffering from the sore throat that was a result from the radiation. They said that the soreness in her throat should be going away gradually by now, but Mom has noticed nothing. They think she may have a fungal infection going on there. This sometimes happens after radiation. If there is an infection the medicine she got today should make it go away relieving her soreness. Mom is instructed to take it 3 times daily. Dr. Karp said we should notice a difference in a day or two. After speaking to Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Karp it was time for Mom to get set up with chemo. She is a little nervous about how her body is going to handle the second treatment, as you all know last time was very difficult for her since she got really sick. This time, however, we are hopeful that she will have an easier experience with the chemo spreading throughout her system. This time we are more prepared and we have an idea about what's next and what to do to minimize the nausea as much as possible so she can feel as good as she does right now much sooner! Our next move after this is a CT Scan in two weeks to see if there is any shrinkage, they will continue the chemo treatments. The doctors are estimating about six to eight treatments in total, once every three weeks. Mom wants to make a trip to New Hampshire next weekend granted she is feeling well enough! So here's hoping!!!

It's a Good Day

Today Mom is having a really good day today. She woke up before everyone else and was more energized today. She got ready for the day and even put a little make up on. The nerve medicine she's on is starting to kick in and she only feels the pain in her hips when she coughs, though she still feels the tenderness otherwise. She's been in a great mood today and she's been joking around and laughing with everyone. It's so nice to see her this way. Mom's throat still hurts though, but she's been eating foods that don't bother it too much. She eats a lot of watermelon and soup and she's drinking water too. She's doing so well today it makes us all feel so good. For lunch she had a bowl of soup and some salad and afterward we are going to take her out for ice cream! Her next Chemo appointment is next Thursday.

Finally Home With My Mommy

Tonight I got home from North Carolina with my aunt Leslie and cousin Samantha. They will be staying with us for a little while to help take care of Mom. Today Mom had an appointment to have blood work to check her platelets/white blood cells. The numbers were headed in the right direction, however, they discovered that not only are there areas of disease in her spine and liver (as we already knew), but there are also areas of disease in her lower back and hip. This explains why Mom has been suffering with pain in her lower back and hip. When I got home today I couldn't wait to see my mom. She was lying on the couch, half asleep as she was exhausted from the trying day she had in Boston. I just couldn't help but hug her. I missed her, my dad, my brother Michael and my sister Lauren so much. It was so hard being away from Mom and not being home helping her out every day. It was hard to miss out on all the trips into the hospital. I wanted to be there for her, and being so far away was really starting to make me sad. The closer I got to home, the more anxious I became. She was obviously out of it when I came in the house, I definitely took her by surprise too. But most of all she was just so tired. Mom has her good days and she has her bad days. I could tell she missed me by how much she was hugging me when I was sitting with her. It was definitely emotional for me, but I didn't want her to know that! 

That's all for now! We got somethings planned for Mom, so I'll definitely be updating soon!

Day 4 After Chemo

The last couple of days have been really hard on Mom. She's been very sick; dealing with a lot of nausea and vomiting. She's been sleeping off and on but has also been in a lot of pain. Mom goes to sleep really early. Tonight when I spoke to her over the phone, she sounded very tired. Mom said she was sleepy and she spoke very slowly as well. We were chatting for a few minutes but I could tell she wouldn't want to stay on the phone very long. It was about 8:45 pm when I called. She also said she was feeling better today; no more nausea and she makes herself eat. She says liquids are really hard to get down because nothing tastes good. Water tastes horrible and she only drinks maybe a bottle a day. She's been eating soup and applesauce but has no real appetite. Mom takes her medicines with the applesauce, some require food but some don't. She has an appointment with her doctor on Thursday to get blood work done to keep track of the platelets/white blood cells since the chemotherapy lowers the count weakening her immune system; this is the reason she can't afford to get sick right now.

Day 1 After Chemo

Yesterday Mom had her first day of Chemotherapy. She was feeling well yesterday but unfortunately today was a different story. Today she was vomiting and experiencing nausea off and on all day. Mom had a very rough day today and was very tired. She was sleeping off and on as well. She went to sleep tonight around 8:30. It is very important that she gets a lot of rest. That's all I have for now! She's being so strong through her bad days and good days, we will all keep praying for her and being with her!

My Beautiful Mother

Day 1 of Chemotherapy

Today Mom had her first day of Chemotherapy. She will do two cycles of this, one more in three weeks. After that they will have another P.E.T. Scan done to see of there was any improvement or tumor shrinkage. Mom was at the Beth Israel from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. today with my sister Lauren. I just spoke to Mom on the phone and she said she was feeling pretty good right now. She slept through most of the night last night and didn't wake up until about 5 a.m. The side effects haven't started yet, but we are anticipating them soon. So far so good, she scaled her pain to be a three on a scale of one to ten. She and Lauren are going to visit Grandpa (Mom's father) right now for a little while. I will talk to her later tonight and update soon!