Chemotherapy sucks ass. I'm not sure which is worse... going through it or wathcing your spouse suffer through.

How's she doing?

And,

How are you doing?

Luckily when my dad had prostate cancer, he didn't undergo chemo. I can't imagine how hard it is to watch a loved one go through such a hard process as that. I've always been the sort who would much rather undergo the process than watch a loved one forced to cope with the situation. I wish you both the best of luck and I hope the rigors of the process help you both to become stronger in your daily lives.

I hear ya ... all too well. I still haven't gotten used to it.

Did they find some positive nodes?

Hang tough, it's an unfortunate thing that I have too much exposure to between both the wife and I's family and neighbors for that matter.

My families get well wishes go out to yours.


(inside joke)
I know: Tell her there is a big plate of Chicken George waiting for her when this is all done!

The Vickermans

Trust me, it was much harder for my wife to watch me go through it. While it may be difficult, try to be as strong and supportive as possible. One of the worst aspects of cancer is the worry and uncertainties one has about one's family and the impact of one's illness on them. Stress is a proven contributing factor in both susceptibilty and recovery. The more you can reassure her that you're ok the more she can focus on her own needs and recovery. Try to focus on the strengths of your relationship and on the things that you can each do to maintain and improve her health. You can't control what's happening on the cellular level. You can control how you approch dealing with treatment and your day-to-day approach to living. I wish you both strength and full health. If you need something to focus negative thoughts and energy on I'd suggest that nuturing a hatred of the disease is a useful outlet. It doesn't hurt anyone and it gives you a focal point for your anger and frustrations. It's the one hatred I openly admit to and encourage.

I don't want to detract from the topic... but I actually like Chicken George quite a bit!

We just got back from the ER a couple hours ago. She thought round 2 (which was administered Thursday) was going better than round 1. But then the anti-nausea meds didn't keep up with the nausea feelings this afternoon. She couldn't get anything down (and keep it there) solid or liquid. With that, she couldn't take any anti-nausea medications because they wouldn't stay down. So after 5 hours of this catch-22, off to the ER for a saline IV and two anti-nausea meds through her iv port. Of course this happens on a weekend you know. She's better, but still quite sleepy. Poor kid. I won't tell you how the next anti-nausea meds are administered....

Oh yeah, and all the worse, Friday her hair started falling out. My sister was over and we gave her a mohawk and died it blue. We then went in for a shot that boosts white blood cells Friday and the oncolgy nurses and doctor got a real kick out of that. If you knew my wife, you'd know how out of character that was, which it makes it all the more humorous.

As for chicken george, we were there Wednesday, the night before chemo #2! And to make matters all the better, her coworkers got us gift certificates for a couple more dinners there, woo hoo!

I like the blue Mohawk

I'm not sure if you mean dose 2 or the second phase of chemo. It sounds like dose 2 .... A common regimen for breast cancer is AC+T (Adriamycin and Cytoxan together for X treatments, followed by Y treatments with Taxotere or Taxol).

I think it was the Adriamycin (aka "the red drug") that was the worst.

FWIW, the Taxanes (Taxol or Taxotere) won't be nearly as bad, if that's what she will get next. Denice has had both. A survivor/volunteer at the cancer center did emphasize (from personal experience) what the nurse had already told her - it's very important to keep the arm still while the Taxotere is running. She listened to his advice, and didn't have much trouble with it.

Also, it takes several treatments for the nurses to dial in the right combination of preventative nausea drugs for each patient. They probably can't prevent it altogether, but they can probably reduce the severity and duration.

In other words, while I don't know what regimen your wife is on, the hardest part is probably at the beginning. I won't say it gets easy, but it gets easier.

Did your wife not have a port, or is there another reason to keep a steady arm? And yes, my wife is doing AC on a dose-dense schedule which will be followed by Taxotere.

Denice did not have the port yet when she received Taxotere, but she does now. Chemo is rough on the smaller veins in the arms and legs, and it becomes more difficult to find a good vein each time. In hindsight, getting the port from day one would have been a lot smarter. However, she had surgery twice in two weeks, and started chemo only a few weeks after that, so more surgery to install the port wasn't very appealing at the time.

Taxotere is quite potent until it gets diluted in the bloodstream. If it leaks out around the IV needle (which can happen if you move your arm) into the surrounding tissues, it can cause burn-like tissue damage. Denice saw some people with the burns, sat very still, and didn't have any trouble with it.

That shouldn't even be an issue with the port anyway, and because it goes into a much larger vein the drugs are quickly diluted which greatly reduces vascular problems. Overall the side effects of Taxotere weren't nearly as bad as the Adriamycin anyway.