Chemo Treatment One Complete

As far as days go, this one could have been a lot worse. Mom, Dad, and I were expecting a rash of delays and crowded conditions at the oncology office, due to the shortened holiday week and everyone's desire to get their treatments in before Christmas.

Boy, were we wrong.

Mom arrived, and the lab did a blood draw to make sure her blood counts would support the chemo treatment today, then we met with Dr. Aurora to go over any last minute questions or concerns.

Then it was off to the infusion room. Yes, it was nearly full of people, but Mom had a seat right away and the nurses got busy doing what they do. They first give her a big dose of anti-nausea medication via her port, then follow that with the cisplatin and Alimta. We were told the cisplatin alone would take three hours to infuse, so I took Dad off to lunch and to kill some time running some errands. Mom was in good hands with the nurses, and Dad I would just get in the way.

Dad and I arrived back at the oncology office three hours later, and Mom was done. We were surprised, but happy to be getting out as quickly as we did. Apparently, there was a change in the dosage, according to Mom, that reduced the infusion time. She has now requested that I talk to Dr. Aurora's office tomorrow to find out why. She is curious and wants to make sure she's getting what she should be getting. So, I will do that.

Tomorrow, Mom has a follow up appointment to get a white cell booster shot. Then, on December 28th we go back to do more blood work.

Her second chemo treatment is set for January 11th, so she'll have a bit of a break.

Overall, she was feeling fine when she got home. She was tired, of course, but beyond that all was well. We don't know yet how many side effects will manifest themselves, or to what degree. We'll see about that.