April 06, 2024
Tammy’s completed her first chemo session! Right now just her and I are in her hospital room and she is resting. It’s so weird living in the hospital for two weeks. I know many of you must have done this before; This is my first time spending so much time here. I feel like the nurses are becoming like friends. It’s also oddly both heavy and comforting to spend most of our time surrounded by other families who are going through a similar thing. We have a little family room and shared kitchen with a Keurig in it, just for oncology patients and their families. We’re developing routines, and things feel almost homey and familiar because of things like regular Starbucks baristas (who must be weirded out by our regularly peculiar requests) and the geese that come to visit outside our window every day and march through the parking lot at the same time each night. We know now where to get warm blankets and wash cloths and extra snacks and it seems odd moving around the place and taking what we need so comfortably.
Here is a rundown of the last few days:
Thursday, April 04 We had thought that Tammy would be starting chemo but only certain nurses are certified to administer it so we had to wait till Friday. What did change Thursday, is they started Tammy on anti-cramping medication, which has seemed to obliterate these random pain spikes she was experiencing. She was also put back on IV because her sodium levels were low and she was dehydrated.
Friday, April 05 Tammy started chemo in the morning. We were given a lesson on the chemo she was receiving. In short:
She will be receiving it by IV once a week on Fridays for 3 weeks. Then, she will have a rest week, and do another set of 3 weeks. Then, the oncologist will make some decisions based on how her body reacts to the chemo.
48h After chemo administration, she is highly toxic and we are not to come in contact with any fluid that comes from her body (sweat, no food-sharing, ect). There’s even fancy ways to flush the toilette to make sure nothing gets in the air that could harm her or us.
Because the chemo is trained to attack all rapidly-producing cells, it will also attack her gut, her mouth, and white blood cells, which means if she catches a virus, it could not only be fatal, but we also won’t be able to tell by anything except a fever. We are told to never give her Tylenol because that could hide her only sign of illness. Instead, we should go straight to the ER if we are not already in the hospital.
She will begin to feel fatigue, and needs to focus even more on saving energy for basic needs such as eating so that her body can keep fighting.
Visitations are to remain limited for the time being as she saves her energy, but also as she her immune system is compromised. Our family will be keeping our bubble very small, since we need to stay healthy so we can keep caring for Tammy daily. We are shopping mostly online, and are staying away at any sign of sickness until we are feeling fully well. Tammy does really look forward to seeing more guests when it’s the right time!! Some people have come to drop off little gifts for her in the lobby and we are able to go down and meet them to pick things up and deliver them, and that works great. Just try to wear a mask now, and we might not be hug-y for this time while she is most vulnerable.
On Friday morning, she also received another CT scan of her back, because the doctors wanted to make sure there was no other reason for her back pain. The CT scans were clear, leading us to believe they were muscle cramps. This also lines up with how the pain ceased when we started anti-cramping medication.
We learned a new trick on Friday (a suggestion from one of my best friends) who said that if we mix strawberry Boost meal replacement beverage with a Starbucks refresher, it tastes a bit like the infamous “pink drink” (which is heavenly, if you haven’t tried it yet). Sure enough, this was the trick that has helped us get Tammy to drink an entire Boost in one sitting instead of just a shot or two.
Unfortunately after the chemo, though, Tammy lost her appetite and so we are praying again for her to be able to get calories down.
As of this morning, Saturday April 06, Tammy is out of pain. We are still waiting for biopsy results which will inform us on what other treatments might be available for her specific type of cancer. We’ve gotten one meal down but we want two more full meals down the hatch by the end of the day! We are praying that as the chemo kicks in, her symptoms won’t be too extreme and that this will overall be a net-positive. So far, her body has handled the chemo well with no unusual side effects and we pray for that to continue.
I feel as if i’m being repetitive but truly we are so grateful and warmed by the support our community has offered. We are moved by your kindness every day.
Thank you thank you thank you.
