Chemo Begins Again

Wednesday my mom began a chemo regimen again. She went in at 11:00 and didn't end up getting to leave until 6:30. The doctor had requested that she get blood work done when she went in and her kidney numbers came back at 1.3 (which is awesome!) but, her magnesium was low (due to the previous chemo) so they gave her a bag of IV magnesium and then a bag of anti-nausea meds and then a bag of the first (new) chemo and then they were 15 mins into the second chemo(she had gotten this one with the previous chemo combo) and she began getting hives on her face and under her chin. They immediately called the Dr. and he ordered her a bag of Benadryl and they had to wait for all of the hives to go away before they could proceed with the rest of her treatment. They faded and she finished up and got to go home. They narrowed the reaction down to the new chemo because she had already had all of the other things before. She went again today and did fine because the new chemo is only given on the first day of the three day regimen. She had a wonderful visit with Aunt Susan, Aunt Carol and Jen was up from NC. She called me when she got home and was in such good spirits, laughing and talking about what a great day she had. I am amazed at how happy she has been the past few weeks. Here she is, riddled with Cancer, lost all her hair, enduring chemo and she is the happiest I have heard her in years lately. I love that I can call her ANY time of the day and she is my mom. I can not express enough how thankful I am to all of you for coming back into her life and making her smile, letting her know that there are people that love her and care about her. She will call me to tell me that Aunt Susan gave her homemade soup and Banana bread or that Aunt Carol took her to get her hair cut or that Aunt Beth came and helped her dust the dinning room table. She proudly displayed the centerpiece that Aunt Ellen brought her and said that the letter that Lori sent her brought tears to her eyes. She wore the necklace that Aunt Joan bought her and took it out Christmas day to show us all. She talks about Uncle Mike coming to visit her twice and how Maria helped her make Chocolate chip cookies. For years this has been missing from her life. So please know that everything you do, whether it be a visit, a letter, a gift or just picking up the phone to call, it means so very much to her and it is keeping her spirits high and giving her a life to live.