The First Treatment

On Friday 10/19 Nancy received her first chemo treatment. By the time she met with the doctor and received all the instructions  it took about six hours. Since she had a port surgically implanted, it makes receiving the chemo a little easier since they don't have to stick her arms with each injection.

On Saturday she went in for a shot that stimulates the bone marrow to get her white blood cell count up. This is critical to fight infections. Then for the next two Fridays she will go in for blood work.  This will be the schedule for five more treatments

The following days have been tough as she feels the impact of the chemo.  Tomorrow she is going in to receive some fluids. Apparently this is somewhat commonplace as patients get dehydrated.

The question we all ask is how did this happen since she received a "clear" mammogram in January. Both the surgeon and the oncologist estimated this was 8 to 10 years in the making. The typical cancer, once discovered, has been 5 to 7 years in the making. The oncologist said they hope to see the cancer in the mammogram before they can feel it and therefore treat it in the early stages. As an example he said 5 billion cells can fit on the head of a pin. In essence cancer is hard to detect.

In Nancy's case the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes...so they call it invasive cancer and one of the reasons they want to do the chemo first.

We are overwhelmed with the thoughts and prayers of family and friends and right now we need all the prayers we can get.

Thank you so much.

Bob