Overall, this second round of chemo was an improvement over the first week. But, as Sara experienced, there are still some lows along with the highs. In the picture above, she is geared up for Monday’s chemo treatment, with Pacman the cancer cell-eating pig, a new quilt made by Diana, a reading teacher, and signed by all of the staff members at the elementary school where Sara is a teacher (Black Diamond Elementary school), water, and snacks. The carton next to her contained chocolate coconut water, which was recommended to help ease nausea. Sara was feeling stronger than she had in weeks, in fact she requested the nurses not to include Zofran in the pre-chemo drip, which helps with nausea but also might have given her a headache last week. I was sent out to pick up some food, with a request for Pad Thai :). By the time I returned, the situation had suddenly changed; Sara was feeling very sick to her stomach, shaky, and in no condition to eat her Pad Thai, though she gave it a valiant try. The nurses gave her a little time to see if the nausea would pass, but when her condition deteriorated it was decided that she needed to have the Zofran. She had to rest for a while and took a nap, but the Zofran did work and stopped the nausea cycle. So a few lessons were learned from this experience – chocolate coconut water is not her friend, stick with the Zofran, and just because you are feeling well at the start of chemo doesn’t mean you can take it for granted that this feeling will last.

Sara did feel better on Tuesday, and seemed to rebound faster than the previous chemo session, though she did try to take it a bit easier and not overdo things at home. On Wednesday we headed off to chemo day part 2 – normally it would be a short visit, with the main activity being the removal of the pump, but as it was the first day of starting a new chemo drug, Centuximab, it was a longer than usual visit. Although the Centuximab has milder side effects for most people, there is a very small risk of anaphylactic shock so the first dose is administered slowly and Sara was prepped with a high dose of Benadryl (and the regular dose of Zofran). The Benadryl kind of knocked her out for a while, but she didn’t have any reactions to the new medicine, which is great. No chocolate coconut water this time either, as she thinks it was a factor in feeling so sick on Monday.

In fact she felt well enough after the Wednesday treatment session to go out for a bite to eat, and then a quick visit to the stables where her horse Roxy is staying, with her foal Star. It was great to see Sara feeling well enough to lead Star in from her field, and to visit with Roxy. However after the long day, her neuropathy was bothering her, and the energy boost faded quickly by the time we got home. In general though Sara is starting to learn how to prepare for the chemo treatments, and how to balance her energetic periods so that she doesn’t overdo it and then crash later. So this cancer road might be a winding one, but now that she is starting to get a system going her mood overall is definitely a more positive one!

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