Chemo Treatment #16

 Hi all, it has been a little while since we have posted.

She had her 15th round on March 21st. If you have been keeping up, you know she was given Folfox (Oxaliplatin & 5FU) for that cycle. She did not have any cold sensitivity (which usually lasts a few days) at all with that round. She also did not have any increase in the lingering neuropathy from that cycle.
The fatigue however was something else. Out of the 15 rounds she had done, none of them had wiped her energy the way it did. As usual, it starts hitting hard middle of the day on Wednesday after treatment, and lasted until mid-day Friday. That is when she begins to see signs of improvement, and it is usually mid-day or end of day Saturday before she starts feeling back to her normal self.

So that is the catch-up on the last cycle.

She had #16 (Folfox again) this past Monday. She doesn't have enough fingers to hold up a 1 and a 6, so she did the "strong arm selfie" instead. It is something that has been shared on some of the colorectal cancer boards sharing awareness. 

So here we are on Wednesday, and again, the fatigue started hitting home around lunch time. 

I want to stop for a minute and give a big shout out to her sister Jen, who has been a huge help the past couple weeks (since Christian had to go back on chemo). I unfortunately cannot work from home. She however is able to a (good portion of the time). So when we found out she was going to need more treatments, I got our office setup with everything Jen needed to be able to work from here when it was possible. Having the company of her sister during the treatment weeks has been a huge help in so many ways. 

Ok, back to where we are.. today it started hitting her as usual. Jen took her to the hospital this morning to have her 5FU pump disconnected. They came home, and their Dad stopped by with some lunch. They ate, and then Christian took a nap for a few hours.
If I had to guess, she will be very tired tomorrow, and a good part of Friday. She watched a little TV this afternoon, and is back asleep with our pup on the couch now. 

Saturday evening two of her long time friends are going to come over and hang out to watch some movies. She is looking forward to that. Just a few rough days to get thru first.

On Monday (April 11th) we will be going back to the hospital to have a full CT Scan done (chest, abdomen, pelvis) to evaluate what has changed since the last one (February 16th). 
They will also be drawing labs to check CEA & CA19-9 to see change in those numbers since the last time (we received last results on March 14th). Hopefully the labs show decline in the numbers, which would suggest the new Folfox regimen is working better than the previous Folfiri regimen. 

After having the labs drawn, and the CT scans done, we will wait an hour or two, and then meet with Dr. Paluri to discuss the results for both.

Of course we will share that info when we get it, along with the next steps on the path forward. 

We are very hopeful for good news and appreciate all of the thoughts, prayers, texts, calls, cards, gifts, etc.. we have received over the past 2 months. It is an encouragement and right now she could use all of the positive vibes and encouragement you guys like to share.

With that said, I would like to ask that the texts, messages, and calls directly to her be held off until Saturday if possible so she can rest.
The easiest way I can explain this, is she is the common denominator here. It is easy for all of us as individuals to try to reach out to her, but she is the center hub of this wheel, and it is easy for that to become a lot. I think everyone reading this knows we are more than appreciative of all the support, I just want to make sure she can get some good rest during her rough days.
Cards in the mail, or if anyone wants to reach out to me (feel free), is all 100% fine.
I just ask that during treatment week, we give her a little room to relax, rest, and get thru these rough few days. After Saturday, feel free to blow her phone up haha. 

If anyone wants to send a card, I have put our address below. 
If you have a question, feel free to find me (Kenneth Eisenhauer) on facebook and message me, or send me a text (number below). 
Again, thank you so much for the support from all different directions. Pray for good news this coming Monday.

Christian Eisenhauer
6588 Woodmere Drive
Walkertown, NC 27051

Kenny Eisenhauer (336)554-0555

Thanks to all. -Kenny