Topotecan Round 1, Dose 1

Karen had her first dose of Topotecan yesterday, and is scheduled to receive another dose the next two Mondays. This will be followed by a one week break and then with round 2.

Solid food isn’t agreeing with Karen right now. She’s tried a few meals over the last week, and hasn’t kept them down for very long, with a few exceptions. Carnation Instant Breakfast is her go-to meal of preference right now, with some soups and other things. We’re going to try some juicing too.

The docs are looking at other trials for her, but nothing is coming up soon. And the non-approved treatments out of country that we’ve looked at don’t have any evidence suggesting they help her type of cancer. There seems to be a lot of traction against lung cancers and lymphomas, particularly if caught early. Most of the best treatments require the tumor to have specific proteins in them, and Karen has tested negative for all of them so far. It’s been very discouraging.

Karen is having a tough time right now. She’s still able to move around the house, but we have a wheelchair for trips to the hospital, and it’s a necessity now. The pressure in her stomach is getting worse, but we can relieve that pressure at home now. With her kidney function limited, she’s taking oxycodone now, instead of Advil. And that’s not making her digestion any happier.

I’ll follow up later this week with how the chemo went. Fingers crossed.

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