Two Pokes in the Port

Back in December, Emily had surgery to place a port in her chest to more easily administer the chemo drugs. The port serves two functions. First, it eliminates the need to insert an IV in her arm each time she gets a treatment or needs fluids. Second, it is also used to draw blood since she has to have blood taken every time she has chemo. Seems like a good idea, right? For some reason, Em's port is malfunctioning and they have to try over and over again to get it to give blood. Thus, she must endure multiple pokes in the port. Our family members should get a kick out of this little play on words, since we have a yahoo group titled "A Poke in the Porterhouse."

We are learning more about the funky side effects from chemo as the days go on. Chemo directly affects the various "linings" in the body. For example, it can cause nasty heartburn because the lining of the stomach and esophagus becomes so sensitive. It also messes with the mouth and gums, wreaking havoc on dental hygiene. Those who know Emily know how fastidious she is about her teeth. This girl LOVES to brush her teeth and then to enjoy the minty freshness afterward. Enter chemo. She now has to use a lemon flavored toothpaste, which is far more gentle that the mint options, and she has been forced to relinquish her electric toothbrush for a small Dr. Seuss themed toothbrush for ages 2-8 with extra soft bristles. Hasn't she suffered enough? :)

As of today, she has had her third round of chemo. This week her red blood cell count should start dropping dramatically and she may start experiencing shortness of breath. This lasts through treatments three and four. She spent most of today feeling woozy and tired and she is hoping that she won't have any new symptoms this week. 3 treatments down, 5 to go!!

Buzz cut

It has been a full week since chemo treatment #2 and this week was far superior to the first round. Em tried hard to be more active in order to keep the drugs moving quickly through her system and it worked! Though she was still extremely tired, she felt better much sooner than last time. The week shapes up like this - on day one she feels amped up by all of the steroids. By day 3, all she wants to do is sleep and that last at least 2 or 3 days. Day 5 usually brings general body discomfort and random other symptoms. By day 7, she starts to feel pretty normal again.

As everyone knows, this was the week everyone said she would lose her hair. She was noticing minor hair loss on chemo day last week and it intensified as the weekend progressed. On Sunday she told us that her hair actually hurt her head and she decided to just get rid of it. Out came the shaver and my dad gave her a buzz cut. Oddly enough, she had just enough hair left to look quite a lot like my dad when he was a teenager! On Tuesday even that 1/2 inch of hair was bothersome so she shaved the rest of it. Now she is feeling much more comfortable but also much colder! Of course it doesn't help that the outside temperature this week isn't getting much above freezing. She is making use of her various hats to keep her newly vulnerable head warm and cozy. Unfortunately, Kate and Jocie seem to delight in pulling them off of her, but she handles that with laughter and playfulness.

All things considered, she is doing quite well now. She should enjoy the next 7 days of feeling like herself again and she rather likes not having to style her hair after a shower. I have been so impressed by how tough she is and how well she has handled herself through these events. The countdown continues - 2 down, 6 to go!

Biggest Little

Emily's friend Angie has a blog and she posted a very cute photo and a story about their friendship. You are a clever girl, Angie. You keep Emily (and the rest of us) laughing! Check it out at http://biggestlittle.blogspot.com/ - the title of the post is "I doubt it's serious" from 1-10-08.

Chemo Class

The services that are offered to those dealing with a cancer diagnosis and the treatments that follow are pretty amazing. They offer classes on a range of topics and various other support services that are all free. Today Emily and my mom attended a chemo class that they found very helpful. There were only three patients in the class (along with their support people) so there was a lot of personal attention by the oncology nurse who ran the seminar. She gave Emily some very specific advice on ways to shorten the duration of her chemo after effects. Apparently the continuous sleeping is NOT the way to go because it lengthens the time it takes the body to process all of the drugs. Instead she is supposed to get up every two hours during the day to walk around, have a little bit to eat and something to drink. Doing this should shorten her down time from 10 days to 3 or 4. What great news! She also learned about a fitness class that is offered to patients where they will tailor a workout specific to her needs and ability. They give her a heart monitor and have a nurse and a trainer standing by to help if necessary. Pretty cool, huh?

Upswing

It has been an interesting ride since Em had her first chemo treatment. After three days of hibernation, she managed to stay awake a little more each day. She had a myriad of symptoms, from kidney pain (which was so bad that she couldn't sit down) to aching bones (from the booster shot to stimulate white blood cells) to that pesky nausea. After a full week of feeling totally exhausted and yucky, she emerged from her apartment this weekend, feeling almost like herself again. She found the energy to take a couple of short walks, see a movie and to join us on a morning excursion to OMSI with Kathryn and Jocelyn. Her spirits are good and she is so happy to be feeling a little better. Hopefully her days will continue to improve for the rest of the week. Her next treatment is Thursday morning and she will be another week closer to the end of this road!