Christian's Cancer Journey

 It is Tuesday May 25th around lunch time. Just wanted to give a brief update and share some pics. This round of chemo was obviously a little tougher than the first round. With that said, we are glad that is has really only been fatigue, and some neuropathy. The fatigue was the worst last Wednesday & Thursday (day 2 & 3). She also gets more tired than normal in the afternoons and evenings, but she is ok. The neuropathy in her hands didn't last very long. Her feet have had it a little more, but it comes and goes. Just a tingly feeling. She has had no other side effects, so we are very glad of that. She also has not had any of the cold sensitivity associated to the oxaliplatin. She has been able to drink ice cold drinks, which is good since it has been pretty hot outside. The next round of Chemo will be on Tuesday June 1st (since that Monday is Memorial Day). We have went on walks in the neighborhood, and also went on a walk at a small local park with the dog. Her sister Jen

 It is Thursday May 20, 2021 in the morning. Just wanted to give a quick update. Tuesday she felt pretty normal, and was doing some walking and hung out outside for a bit in the afternoon. Yesterday (Wednesday) she was pretty wiped of energy. She relaxed most of the day until we had to go back to the hospital to have her 5FU Pump disconnected, and her IV removed from her port. She also got the Neulasta On Body Injector yesterday. That will do its thing this evening, then we can remove it here at home and she is done until her next treatment on Tuesday June 1, 2021. We got home from the hospital getting that stuff done around 5pm yesterday, ate dinner, and watched some TV. Went to bed early and she slept in pretty good this morning.  She is still feeling tired this morning. She has had some tingly feeling in her toes as well (neuropathy).  We are glad these are the only side effects we have seen so far, as there are others that could be worse. Just wanted to give an update here, since t

 Yesterday (Monday May 17, 2021) we went in for her 2nd treatment.  She had labs done and we were pleasantly surprised that her white blood count was not low at all, thanks to the Neulasta On Body Injector she got last Wednesday while we were there to get her 5FU Pump un-hooked.  The Neulasta shot is supposed to boost your white blood count, so your immune system does not get compromised by the chemo, and it worked great. So that is one thing that it looks like we don't need to worry about, which is fantastic! After labs, we talked to the doc, and were advised again of the side effects associated to the 3rd drug she would begin getting on this 2nd treatment, the Oxaliplatin. They went over the cold sensitivity, and the neuropathy in the hands & feet information again. After that, we were off to Pod A to begin treatment. She got her pre-meds, then Irinotecan, then Oxaliplatin, then got her little 5FU Pump hooked up that she has until we go back on Wednesday afternoon to get it u

 It is now Friday afternoon May 7, 2021. Christian had her first chemo treatment of Irinotecan this past Monday. She had her first chemo treatment of 5FU from this past Monday until this past Wednesday (slow injection pump). We went back to the hospital Wednesday to have the pump disconnected, her Port flushed, and the IV removed from the Port. All of that went smoothly. She also visited with some of her co-workers in the Cancer Center after it was all done. Side Effects: So far, this first treatment has not been hard on her like we were expecting. If they all stay mild like this one, that would be a huge blessing. We will just have to see how it goes. She had no side effects on Tuesday really. We went for a 1/2 mile walk in the neighborhood with the dog. Wednesday morning and most of the day she was fine. Took the dog for a walk. That afternoon, she got very tired and fatigued. She laid on the couch and we watched TV and went to bed a little early. She could still get up and do whatev

 The morning of the first treatment was here. We had enjoyed the weekend and Christian has been feeling almost back to normal other than having her new accessories (Ileostomy Pouch and Port). We arrived at the Cancer Center at 7:45am this morning. She got checked in, had the IV installed into the port, had blood drawn for the labs, and met with Dr. Paluri. He answered a few more small questions we had, and we were off to the Pod Room. We got put in our Pod, and a co-worker of Christian (that manages the Cancer Clinic) had brought a nice basket of assorted goodies, a few really nice blankets, and a pair of super comfy slippers. That really made the first treatment experience start off awesome. Shout out to Stacy Blue for the awesome "welcome" gift.  We also got put in a pod that had a window with a nice view of the dreary day outside. It was really nice, and much better than a pod without a view. They started to give her the pre-meds, which are mainly anti-nausea medicine, and