A Not-so-Chemo Monday

As you know, Mondays and Tuesdays are my mom's usual chemotherapy days at the Sylvester Center.  Every Monday, we go in to do "labs" (i.e. bloodwork), check in with my Mom's doctor, and if everything's in order she receives the 24-hour chemotherapy drip.

This week my mom has been feeling pretty great in general.  (The prayers and positive thoughts of all our family and friends have been a big part of her doing so well.  Thank you!)  However, when she got her lab results back it showed that her platelet and white blood cell counts had dropped. 

Platelets and WBCs work to prevent blood clots and fight against infection.  A drop in their numbers are pretty common side effects of chemotherapy treatment.  (See?  I told you I was learning new things!)  So even though my mom was feeling pretty "awesome"--her words--the doctor said we need to take the blood into account and forego treatment this week to allow her body to rest and recover.  This means staying away from crowds to prevent sickness or infection and a few shots to help boost her WBC count.  

On a side note, my mom's CA 19-9 (tumor marker test) has decreased by half since her previous labs.  That's really good!  Even though the numbers are still not in the "normal" range, it's a good sign that they're headed that way.

Thanks again to everyone out there for the love, affection, and chicken soup(s)!  My mom seriously has the best friends and family who have consistently provided moral, emotional, spiritual and physical support.  Wow.

If the spirit strikes you, we have some prayer requests:

• Continued decrease of CA19-9.
• Increased platelet and WBC counts!  Shots help to boost the WBCs but there is nothing doctors can do about the platelets except for wait for them to be restored naturally...but I hear intercession helps, too.
• Our good friend, Buddy Peoples (grandfather to Lu & Dave's kids) has recently experienced a little health setback of his own.  We love him and pray for his continued recovery and my mom insists that he must get better soon since he his her backup babysitter for the grandkids.

Chemo Mondays...and Tuesdays

Well, it's that time again.  Chemotherapy treatment round two started this Monday.

What we originally thought was supposed to be a 24-hour deal is in reality a 36-hour (at least) process which includes registration, a doctor visit, bloodwork, and of course the 24-hour chemotherapy drip.  Whew.

It turns out there is a whole lot I didn't know about cancer--especially pancreatic cancer.  But, it's a learning process and I hope that the knowledge my family gains through this experience will allow us to help others in the future.

As for my mom, she rules!  Last week had its ups and downs as far as chemo effects go, but for the most part there was nothing unexpected.  This week's treatment went really well and I had the pleasure of spending the night with my Mom at the Sylvester Center as she went through the process.  We played word-find games, watched a lot of daytime TV, paid some bills, and went for some walks around the floor.  Here she is as we made our way up and down the halls of the center.  She looks pretty good, don't you think?