Treatment Day 3

It's been a roller coaster of a day, but that seems to be our life pattern. Chris has been working very hard over the last 24 hours. Beating cancer is a full-time job. Someone should really compensate him for his hard work. If there were an evaluation system, I'd have to rank him as a highly-effective patient. That was a joke for all the teachers reading this blog. I apologize to our non-teacher friends if you didn't get it. Chris received his ten o'clock dose last night. I was quite nervous because this was our first evening dose. After the horrible rigors that occurred earlier in the day, I was afraid to be his only support. I have to commend the nursing staff. They truly are amazing. Without them, this treatment would not be possible. We warned our evening nurse Theresa (ironic, right?) of the difficult time we had with the previous dose. She decided that she would have the Demerol on hand, so she could administer it the minute Chris began to shake. It gave me a bit of comfort to know she was ready. Chris took the dose like a champ and even fell asleep after it was administered. I sat frozen, watching him. And for one hot second we both thought, maybe he won't get them this time. Of course, we were wrong. We are discovering that Chris is quite symptomatic to the IL2. I'm praying that this means it is working, but of course there is no way to tell. We will have to wait 6-8 weeks for the ever so nervewrecking CT scan to tell us our fate. Once again, I digress. Chris got up to use the bathroom and the first shake appeared. We immediately called Theresa and she was in our room instantly. She had the Demerol adminstered in record time. Denise, his aide, came armed with a warm blanket. It seemed to help with the chills. Chris did shake, but it lasted only 15 minutes and then fell asleep soundly. The other side effect that continues to reoccur is a fever. And in my professional opinion, it isn't a typical fever. He truly radiates heat from the inside out. I cover him with cold compresses, actually my dad has gotten quite good at this too. We have to constantly change them because the minute they touch his skin they become warm. Ladies, you can relate to this. When I remove the wash cloth it reminds me of the hot compresses they put on your feet when you receive a pedicure. My hands feel like icicles during the process, but no pain no gain! After the side effects subsided, Chris and I got a decent night sleep. We woke up to the joy of another IL2 treatment. The side effects were the same, but this time the recovery was long. Chris began retaining water and his skin remained warm for hours. Two foot massages later, his feet were still swollen. He slept a lot. I honestly didn't think he'd recover for the next treatment. And like most women, I was right. His platelets dropped too low to receive the 2 o'clock dose. Not that I wanted him to miss the dose, but it did give him time to recover. It also gave me time to go home grab a nap, a shower, and a Tim Hortn's sandwich. While I was gone, Chris was left with the men in the family. DJ, my dad, Chris' dad, and let's not forget his nurse Jim. They hung out, watched the Patriot, walked a few laps, napped and drank plenty of water. His spirits are back up and we are hoping his platelets are too. Blood was just drawn and once again, we wait. We are wishing and hoping and praying that his body is ready for another dose! As his doctor said, you're here to get IL2, and that's what we are going to do. Next week, you rest. Prayers tonight that we are up having the rigors with a side of Demerol. We need them to shake the cancer to Timbuktu!!! xo, Teresa