Amy vs Chemo

     With our second F/A/C behind us, and fourteen chemo treatments done, this has in no way become a habit.  We still hate everything about this place; the drive, the walk through the endless halls, the smell of the chemo floor...but we trudge through.
     My lovely bride is able to sleep through most of the treatment now.  This helps somewhat for the anxiety, and Amy really isn't in that bad of shape right afterwards.  So we finished our chemo cocktail and moseyed down to the gift shop to try on scarfs and wraps.  After shopping we left the fine establishment of MDA and went back to Gugliani's in the Rice Village for some pizza and lasagna.
     We're good for the first few hours after treatment; then about 9pm, the effects kick in...and keep coming. We changed the nausea medicine to something a little more aggressive.  Still sick, but a different kind of sick.  Imagine the feeling of coming off the flu while just getting off the Tea Cup ride at the rodeo with three youngsters trying to set records for most spins in a ride.  This is close to what she feels for the next five to seven days.  Then she seems to coast out of the rut and start to feel somewhat normal again.
     We still have the expected self examinations and calculating the odds of survival if we cut the treatments short and call it good right here.  I completely understand why my wife feels this way and would contemplate these options.  My part is to help her focus on the finished product and why it's so important we, she, push through these last two treatments and put this nightmare visit to Cancerland behind us.  I'm proud of how Amy has stood up to this disease and to chemo.  I'm with her every step of this journey but it's still hard not feel helpless knowing that this battle is truly one that is fought independently.
Today was Amy vs Chemo.  We're still standing.

F/A/C

     Well today is our first day with the new regimen of F/A/C.   It’s a triple combo of chemo that has specific effects on the cancer cells in the body.  Fluurouracil (5-FU), Adriamycin, and Cytoxan.  5-FU - Antimetabolites kill cancer cells by acting as false building blocks in a cancer cell's genes, causing the cancer cell to die as it gets ready to divide. Adriamycins kill cancer cells by damaging their genes and interfering with their reproduction. Cytoxan - Alkylating agents weaken or destroy breast cancer cells by damaging the cells’ genetic material.

     Yeah, great.  All I got from it were the side effects.  Severe nausea with vomiting. Doctors warning, “Any signs of fever, go straight to the ER!”  This ride just gets better and better.  These treatments are given three weeks apart instead of one.  We only have to take four treatments, but the duration will be the same as the Taxol we just finished.  To tell someone you will be sick and need to get plenty of rest doesn’t have the same effect as having an out of body experience while you’re pretty sure you just tossed an organ on the last visit to the facilities.  This combo is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.  I’ll skip the details and just say that my beautiful wife is very, very sick.  I can’t imagine that we’re supposed to function like this for very long.  But I do see why they give us three weeks before we return – we’ll need it.