Chemo Round 2 - DONE!!

Well, Carrie was able to complete Round 2 of infusion therapy. She returned to Birmingham monday afternoon for her delayed treatment from Thursday. They did blood work and her white blood count had come up just slightly, but since it was on its way up, they were able to go ahead with the remainder of her treatment as planned. She had her last treatment for this round today and everything went fairly well. From her blood work Monday, however, her RED blood count was really low. They talked to Carrie's oncologist and it wasn't low enough to require a blood transfusion. Instead, they gave her a shot after she finished today that will help rebuild some of the red blood cells. They usually give that shot every two weeks, but she will go to her local doctor here in Auburn next week to check her blood work and see if she needs another. For now, she's a little tired and worn out, but she's home resting and otherwise doing great! And as always, thanks to everyone for the continued thoughts and prayers.

Chemo Round 2 Delayed

Carrie returned to Birmingham Monday for the week to complete her second round of chemo. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (today) went really well. These days had the easier of the 3 chemo drugs she is on, so luckily, she didn't have any bad side effects from the medicines. She's been a little tired, but not nauseous and other than the fatigue, she has felt pretty good. She had blood work done today, and after she received her treatment, she met with her oncologist and found out that her white blood count is slightly lower than what the doctor wants. The count wasn't in the critically low or worrisome area, but low enough to concern her doctor. As a result, Carrie's treatments that were originally scheduled for tomorrow and friday have been post-poned until next monday and tuesday. Her doctor says Carrie could probably handle the treatments, but hates to take that chance since the meds for the last 2 days of treatments are the ones that hit the body harder and are more likely to lower her counts even more. So Carrie will return home tomorrow and stay the weekend and return to Birmingham Monday for the last 2 treatments. She'll have lab work done again Monday to check her counts again, but her oncologist said if need be, she can reduce the dosage to make sure she gets the treatment.

Chemo Round 2

Carrie came to Birmingham yesterday and had a port put in. The procedure went fine took about 2 hours to it. She is doing fine from that. Just really sore from it. She is getting the first dose of chemo right now. And they are giving her some morphine for the pain from the port so she is REALLY relaxed right now. She should be finishing up today in a couple of hours and then we are going back to Auburn and get ready for the treatments next week.

Chemo Round One - Done

Carrie made it through her first round of chemo. Thursday was a fairly short day and only took about an hour. She had one of the harder medications that can cause the most side effects, but luckily no nausea. She seems to go back and forth between sweats and chills at night, but nothing serious. They've given her a lot of nausea medicine so that seems to be helping. Friday was a longer day, close to 4 hours. They had to give her 2 full bags of fluid with the chemo because that one has a high risk of kidney toxicity so the fluids help flush the kidneys.

Overall, the first round went really well. They took blood friday to check her levels and liver and kidney functions and so far, everything has been great. She will go back to Birmingham next Friday, February 26 to have blood work done again - her doctor said her levels will be lowest 7-10 days after treatment so they want to monitor them. She will also have an echo cardiogram done that friday as well to make sure her heart is handling the medicines okay - one of them can really affect the heart so they want to make sure they stay on top of that. And she'll meet with her doctor after the blood work and echo and if everything appears to be okay, they'll keep on schedule to start the next round of chemo on March 11.

Until then, Carrie is going to talk to her doctor here in Auburn to see about getting a port put in at our local hospital so we won't have to travel to Birmingham. She is going to TRY to work a few days a week depending on how she feels. She wants to try and work as much as she can for now, and it will probably be good for her to keep her mind somewhat busy and hopefully keep her strength up as much as possible. She's home from Birmingham and will be resting all weekend and the first part of the week. She is doing pretty well considering the long week she had. She's not nauseous or sick (praise the Lord!!), she's just worn out and feeling somewhat sluggish, but her spirits are high and we hope she handles the chemo like the champ she is! We will keep everyone updated on how she's doing, and as always, thanks to everyone for their prayers and support.

Chemo Treatment Day 6

Well so far so good. Carrie made it through the weekend without any ill side effects from the chemo. She has had three treatments this week and everything has went well. She is hanging out with her mom in Birmingham while I am here working. Tomorrow and Friday will be tougher days in the fact that she will be getting the tougher drugs those days. They will be longer days since she will have to get nausea medicine and fluids with these treatments. She comes back to Auburn Friday evening. We are looking into getting Carrie a port put in so that she doesn't have to get poked for an IV every time she goes for treatment. That will be an out patient procedure and has been recommended by all of her nurses this week. Please continue to pray for us and I will keep everyone updated on Carrie's progress.

Chemo Day 1

Well we made it through day one. It was a long day of blood work, doctor's appointment, and three hours of chemo treatment. Two hours were actually Carrie getting fluids to help counter act the chemo. The next three days of treatment will only last about an hour. I think that she handled it pretty well. We did find out that she will have at least four cycles of treatment (1 cycle per month). Any treatments after that will depend on how effective the chemo worked. I will try to keep the blog updated every other day or so. The next treatment is Monday so no updates over the weekend. For everyone in the south enjoy the snow and stay warm.

Carrie's Treatment Version 2.0

Carrie talked to her Oncologist this morning and instead of having a treatment on Friday, they have moved it to this Thursday. Carrie's doctor appointment has also been moved to Thursday as well. Also, we found out this morning that Carrie will be having treatments everyday next week. I actually talked to her Oncologist this afternoon and the treatments will be every four weeks. Carrie will get a CT scan after every 2 treatments. Other than that we don't have any information right now but hope to have some more info after Thursday.