Chemo Treatment #3 is today September 5, 2006. After today, only five more to go!

Valerie has been doing OK, guess I have fallen behind on the updates.....there must be a saying "time can put things behind rose colored glasses", well it can also be wickedly FAST as well! While things do seem better, many of the facts are still the same, we have just become accustomed (life does go on!) to what life with Cancer will be like. Valerie does get sick (nauseous) in the evening on the day after her Chemo, then she gets very tired on the next day and usually sleeps for most of the day. By day four she is usually back up and around and feeling pretty good. This past week though, she says the "tired" feeling has been sticking with her longer. She has had fevers, but they do not last and the doctors say this is normal, you will have some short unexplainable fevers (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit) that will go away in a couple hours time, all just a part of having Chemotherapy. However, longer ones or ones accompanied by infection are not good, her body with its lowered immune systems will not be able to fight off infection. We are keeping a close eye on the temps, and checking with the doctor regularly.

One change this week, prior to Chemo the doctors check her White and Red Blood Cell counts. Each week Valerie's WBC count has been trending upward (not usually the result, but a good one!), which should help her keep any sickness away. However her RBC count has been dropping quite a bit and she is now Anemic (the primary result is feeling tired). They are checking into what insurance covers as far as shots to treat the Anemia, and we should know on Wednesday what her options are. Basically she will be getting shots of Erythropoietin and either insurance will pay or I will.

Valerie will be getting Taxol for the last four Chemotherapy treatments. Here is something I found interesting....Taxol (the commercial name for Paclitaxel) is created from a compound found in the bark of the Pacific Yew tree!

Feeling pretty bad today...two days after my third Chemo treatment.

Feeling better by day three!