Day 3 & 4

I offered to update the blog for mom today... :-)

Friday - Day 3

Mom was having some abdominal pain through the night. The chemo and medications have irritated her hiatus hernia so it's causing some discomfort in her stomach. She's also been having the odd queasy moment...but overall (considering all of the possible side effects) is doing very well!

The CCAC nurse came to the house to begin the Neupogen injections. This is the insanely priced medication that mom mentioned in the previous blog. The purpose of it is to produce white blood cells which help the body fight infection. 2 days after every chemo treatment she will receive the injections for 8 consecutive days. The plan is for the nurse to teach mom (and/or dad and I) how to do the injections so that mom will have freedom and not be dictated to by the nurse's schedule.

Mom has also found that her appetite has decreased. She has been eating smaller portions but more frequently - not to mention the 8-12 glasses of water she must drink each day. Mouth sores are a common side effect to chemo so she also has to make sure that she rinses her mouth after every meal.

By evening, mom was very tired.

Saturday - Day 4

Today, I had the privilege of spending the entire day with mom. Dad and Joel (my brother) had to go to Barrie to my grandfather's retirement home to finish packing some of his things. He is currently in the hospital and is in the process of being moved to a nursing home. **Thank you Uncle Keith for going with them and lending a hand!**

Today was a day of up and down moments. Mom had a good morning. Her queasiness had pretty much subsided and her appetite was much better. I made her some soup and she ate the most she has since coming home from chemo on Wed! .... of course it must have something to do with my cooking! haha

The nurse came in at lunch time to give her the 2nd shot of Neupogen. They inject it into her leg. This one hurt more than yesterday's. It was a rough afternoon. Her stomach continued to give her discomfort and by mid-afternoon she was experiencing flu-like symptoms - chilled, achy etc. This is a side effect to Neupogen. She took her temperature just to be sure she didn't have a fever and it was normal. By dinner time her chill was almost gone and she was well enough to eat.

Before the day ended we had an enjoyable moment planned for mom ... a manicure! They suggest that all chemo patients have a manicure before treatment begins to reduce the chance of hangnails which could cause infection...but what woman needs an excuse! We knew she had only a few days before her white blood cell count would drop so I took the opportunity to ask a friend to come by and give her a manicure. **Thanks Jen!**

I just checked in with mom again...she is quite tired but feeling "pretty decent".

Thank you for your words, prayers and kindness. We read the comments you've left often and it has been so encouraging for us. We know that mom has experienced next to no side effects to this point because of your prayers...we can feel them! So on behalf of our family, thank you for your continued support!

Andrea (Joy's daughter)