The first week of the chemo cycle is always the hardest for Karen. Some of the chemo medications are administered weekly, while others on some type of interval. No matter the interval, the first infusion has all the medications, and the side effects are at their maximum in the period following.
When considering side effects, anticipation is nothing to dismiss. It tends to put a cloud over everything. Before the treatment we worry about how bad it will be, what side effects will be the worst, and also the concern about dealing with them while life’s normal emergencies occur (house problems, potential world wars, etc.) It can be a dark cloud indeed.
During and after the treatment there is the fear that it will never get better.
Karen was able to be up for a bit on Friday, and generally able to manage on her own. Saturday she was outside for a while, but paid the price in exhaustion. Fortunately, pizza was an end of the day reward. Even that has it’s price though, as the chemo plays havoc with her insulin dosages, and we were fighting her glucose levels through the night.
Karen’s therapist is named Kubota, and fortunately they were able to have some time together. The picture above contains a few thing that are new at Ironwood. The old ’94 Explorer is going to Volunteers of America, so is soon to depart. The driveway behind Karen and Kubota is new, and leads to the carport that you can just see in the distance. While Karen spent time with her therapist Kubota, I was spending time with mine, who is named Stihl.
Next week the infusion will not contain Carboplatin (the big “C”), so it should be a little easier. She’s not had this new medication alone yet, so we’re not quite sure what to expect. I’ll post more about that sometime in the next week, and also try to share some impressions about the Cleveland Clinic Medina hospital where she’s receiving the infusions now.
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