So yesterday Clancy and I went with Mom to her checkup with Dr. Ho, her radiation oncologist, after the 8th radiation treatment. Dr. Ho wants to slowly decrease the number of steroid pills Mom takes every day, although she will need to take 5 steroid pills the night before and 5 the morning of her first chemo treatment, Wed March 12th.
Dr. Ho is so sweet and direct and caring. I really dig her. And Mom does too. So the last radiation treatment is happening tomorrow morning, but Dr. Ho said the effects of radiation will be felt for awhile after that, so that's good. Hopefully Mom's neck pain will soon be a distant memory for all of us!
Since radiation treatment ends tomorrow, going forward Mom will be primarily in the care of Dr. Piatanza.
It's so great to have Clancy in town. He's really helping Mom and I both slow down a bit and take a breath. He's just such a rock too - I have to say, it's nice to lean. And he has rearranged Mom's apartment so she now has a bona fide kitchen "nook" and easy access to her computer and desk. Yay! We also got a clamp light for her at the hardware store yesterday so now it's not such a dark cave in there (although Mom's a total cavedweller!).
She's not 100% on email just yet, but hopefully she will be able to at least read emails soon. Meanwhile, keep those calls coming, people!
1 comment:
Dear Sarah and Janet,
First, thanks for the blog. It helps so much to understand how things are going and reassuring to know that the treatment plan is working.
Now to be a bit of a wonk, the reason that Avastin was dropped from the mix is because it should not be used in people with squamous cell lung cancer. There is a significant risk of bleeding within the tumor. Ugly, evil thing to happen. So the doctor is right to not even start it.
You didn't mention the other drugs that will be used, but surely one of them is made of platinum-literally. As for the second drug, for squamous cell carcinoma, it seems that a drug to avoid would be Alimta (pemetrexed), but other choices are Gemzar (gemcitabine), Taxol (paclitaxel), and Taxotere (docetaxel). I work for a drug company that makes one of those, but I decline to boost one over the other. They are more or less similar in terms of efficacy but with different side effects. All the drugs I listed by name have web sites designed for patients, so learn about them before starting.
Knowledge is power.
Steve
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