Chemo Day

Today was our first visit to the Cancer Center. All her previous chemo infusions have happened while we were in the hospital so I didn't quite know what to expect. I knew, though, that we would see the doctor first and then the infusion itself would take about ten minutes. 

Mary has had sores on her lips, and a few in her mouth, basically since the beginning of all of this. It has come to the point that eating and drinking are painful. She will eat ok, getting her to drink, though, is so very difficult. She asks for something but when it's in front of her she cries and pushes it away. I had thought that they were from one of the medications so this is just something we would have to "tough it out."

When the doctor fist saw her she was very concerned about the sores and the fact that she was dehydrated. So the first thing she determined was for her to have IV fluids while we were there. Then she decided to take swabs of her sores to be cultured to understand exactly what we're dealing with. She believes it's a virus (think cold sore) that since her immune system has been striped away has gone all crazy. And most likely are all down her throat. So in addition to the fluids (which ended up being two different bags full) she also recieved an IV medication for the sores and then last, but not least, the chemo. So what I thought might be a quick visit turned into an all day affair. 

Something else the doctor pointed out was the fact that she was dehydrated was making it very difficult for her to even swallow her own saliva. Which is the very thing that has been keeping us awake all night. She was so exhausted by the time we got there that slept through them accessing her port. Which means they stick a needle in her chest, although I had applied a numbing cream before we got there. Then she continued to sleep while they ran her first bag of fluids. And really sleep, no coughing and waking up crying. When she did wake up she started asking for french fries. We had brought Granny with us so she offered to run out and get her some. She ended up eating all her chicken nuggets (then asked for more), then all her french fries and about half of mine. But still no drinking. 

She had so little energy throuout the day. She would only nod yes or shake her head no. She talked very little. She took another snooze on the way home (we are an hour away) and then was ready for bed before 7:30. Although she did eat a little for dinner when we got home. 

For the next few days the doctor has set it up for us to go to the hospital here in town and recieve IV fluids and the IV medicine for her mouth sores. She still has her port accessed so all they will need to do is hook her up and run the fluids. I hope that this will give her better rest at night and a little more energy during the day.