Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Seeing Some Side Effects

Julia did great for her first radiation treatment this morning. Soon after we could see that she feeling very lethargic. She just laid around most of the day and didn't have an appetite. After she ended up throwing up this afternoon, I figured out a way for her to take the anti-nausea medicine and then she perked up a bit. She was moving around comfortably and wanted to eat. Two weeks from today is the last radiation treatment and I'm very much looking forwarding to its end already.

A smiling moment from today:
Julia was sprawled out on the couch and feeling really tired. I told her she needed to sit up so that she could eat some crackers. She pretended to try to find her button to raise herself up like she had in the hospital. When she couldn't find it, she said she was trying to find the button to call the nurse. So I held up the palm of my hand and she pushed it. Just then the phone rang. It was Father Jerry from St. Bridget's calling to see how things were going and if we needed anything. Afterward, I told Julia who had called and said that she must have missed the nurse button and pushed the God button instead.

First Chemotherapy Finished

Yesterday afternoon Julia had her first chemotherapy treatment. The scariest part was just the fact that her port in her chest had never been accessed. She had cream on it to numb the area and so it didn't hurt to put the needle in. She got a little flushed when nurse Tom put in the needle, but otherwise didn't even flinch. She even helped push some of the saline flushes into the port herself. Afterward she was in good spirits and the staff said she did a crazy-good job for her first time.

It's unfortunate that she has a hell of a time taking medicine orally. She does so good on the strong chemicals pumped directly into her chest, but then gets so scared and upset about taking an antibiotic to prevent illness. I don't blame her, I'm sure it tastes horrible, but like I said, it's unfortunate.

The only possible side effect of the chemo we've seen so far is that her legs hurt pretty bad this morning. How she described it afterward we think it may have been muscle cramps. She's on anti-nausea medication too, so we're not sure if that would be an issue yet or not.