Round 2 of Chemo is underway. The first day is always the longest. They have to check her height and weight (independently by two separate nurses to make sure they give her the right amount of chemo each time).
Today’s menu includes Oxaliplatin, Irinotecan, Leucovorin, and Fluorouracil (with a side of Cheez-Its for good measure). That last one is also known as 5-FU (five-eff-you). Fitting. Would anyone care for a dessert menu?
The chemo itself will take around 5.5 hours today and she’ll go home with a pump for 48 hours of a slow, continuous infusion as well. This will likely turn out to be an all-day event every other Monday so long as she responds well to the treatment and her immune system can handle it. As we all probably know, chemo kills the rapidly dividing cells in malignant tumors but also the rapidly dividing cells like those found in skin, blood, intestines, and hair. This is why your hair can fall out a few weeks after you start the treatment.
She has already made a friend there, of course. A young woman (28 years old) with Stage IV colon cancer raising two young kids on her own. Cancer’s a dick!
Thanks, Vibe Tribe, for everything! Shine on! Additional thanks to Jessica for the blanket and Allison for the chemo-port accessible shirt!
Originally shared on Facebook.
Read the other Lara Logs:
- Lara Log—1, July 2, 2022
- Lara Log—2, July 5, 2022
- Lara Log—3, July 7, 2022
- Lara Log—4, July 8, 2022
- Lara Log—5, July 11, 2022
- Lara Log—6, July 14, 2022
- Lara Log—7, July 19, 2022
- Lara Log—8, July 23, 2022
- Lara Log—9, July 25, 2022
- Lara Log—10, July 26, 2022
- Lara Log—11, August 3, 2022
- Lara Log—12, August 17, 2022
- Lara Log—13, September 1, 2022
- Lara Log—14, September 30, 2022
- Lara Log—15, November 30, 2022
- Lara Log—16, December 8, 2022
- Lara Log—17, December 10, 2022
- Lara Log—18, December 14, 2022
