Well everyone, Valerie’s drains were not able to come out this week as they are still producing too much fluid. They are starting to slow down and the doc thinks there is a good shot for them to come out next week. With that update, we are all scheduled to begin chemo next Friday, May 20th pending the drains are able to be out by then. We have a 10:45am appointment on that day and chemo will probably take about 3 or so hours.
As a reminder, chemo will be given in two phases: Phase 1 will be two months long and she will get a treatment every other week. Phase 2 will be three months long and she will get a treatment every week.
Yesterday we had a “nurse educator” session where we went through all the in’s and out’s of the chemo treatment plan. Went through the side effects, the things we need to be careful about and also had a tour of the “infusion room” where she will have the chemo session.
Overall it was again a little overwhelming but Valerie and I handled it pretty good. One thing that is for sure, we are going to become very germ conscious in the Gordon household! Valerie’s immune system will be compromised about 60% because of the chemo and it will be harder for her to fight off everyday crud. Looks like we are going to be laying into a large stock of hand sanitizer!
Overall we are doing pretty good while we wait for these next steps. It has been hard knowing that we are going to be facing some pretty icky times with Valerie’s hair falling out and generally not feeling good but overall we are ready to get started. Thank you again for your support of our family. We will keep you posted on how things progress next week.
Marc
The Gordon Family Site 