All About Chemotherapy...

So yesterday me, my mom and Lina met with the nurses at Dr. Zafar's office to learn all about mom's chemotherapy. It was actually fun... we were laughing the whole time at how crazy this whole thing is, especially the side effects, they are very scary and my mom wished they hadn't told her, but it is good for her to be aware of them. The part that almost brought my mom to tears was that she can't get her nails done anymore! It is a big deal for someone who has never gone without. It is was so funny because my mom was like, "WHAT?!" I don't know if I'm gonna give THAT up. The nurse got a kick out of mom and told her that she was going to be her "problem patient." LOL :) When the nurse talked about hair loss, Lina asked if she was going to lose just the hair on her head, or all body hair, and the nurse said she may lose lashes and eyebrows... and my mom's eyes opened wide and said "Oh my gosh, what about my hair 'down there?'" It was too funny! The only positive thing that she told my mom about chemo is that it will stop her period!!! Yay! She was excited about that one! :)

It was so interesting to go into the treatment room. It is a room full of large recliners, with patients sitting in them, reading, watching tv, using their laptops, etc., while being hooked up to the IV and receiving chemo. The one thing that stood out to me was that all of the people were elderly and here comes my mom- young, beautiful, looking like a model. It just goes to show that it can happen to anyone! Scary!

Ok, the exciting part of what we learned was that her tumor was only a stage 1, which means it was in the first stage of devlopment and we caught it early.

There are many instructions she has to follow, such as taking an Aleve and a Claritin before treatment and the day of and also, the night before treatment and the day of, she will take Decadron (a steroid used to treat cancer).

Treatment day

First they will check her blood to make sure she is stable enough to receive treatment. Then they will insert her IV through the port a cath in her chest. At the appointment they showed us what the cathater looks like inside... I put a picture to show everyone because it is so amazing. The circle in the center feels like gel, which is where her IV will be injected and the connecting tube is what puts the chemo into her body.

Chemo drugs
1. Aloxi (anti-nausea medication administered through her IV first)
2. Taxotere (the most common breast cancer chemotherapy drug)
3. Cytoxan (2nd chemo drug)

The next day, she will return to the office to receive her growth factor injection to her arm, which will help her fight infection by restoring her white blood cells.

Schedule

**She will receive 4 treatments, 3 weeks apart.

1st: December 1st

2nd: December 22nd

3rd: January 12th

4th: February 2nd

Good luck Mommy!! We know you will do just fine.