Whew!! We got through another dose of the dreaded chemotherapy drug, Temodar...but it wasn't without many tears and sick nights. In finding out the tumor wasn't growing (AMEN!!!!!!), Claudia will continue with her chemo treatment. I never thought I would be praying and hoping for this awful chemo (as opposed to radiation)...and this past weekend, I'm reminded why.
Many have asked, so let me explain her chemotherapy treatment"schedule." Claudia is on 3 different chemotherapy drugs. Two of them are given together and have to be given through an IV in the hospital (Vincristine & Carboplatin...not sure of these spellings) and the third, we give to her orally at home (Temodar). The chemo is given to her in 10 week cycles. Total, there are 7 rounds of these 10 week cycles. The first two drugs are given to her at the beginning of the 10 weeks on Thursdays in Indianapolis, and the last (the oral) is given to her one week straight, at the end of the 10 weeks...and then we start all over again. Each of the drugs has their own list of side effects. The first two seem to have have minor short term side effects. The anti-nausea drugs seem to be working well..at least we think. I wish she could communicate a little better! This is one of the hard parts of dealing with a sick one so little. These two drugs effect her white cell count (immune system) pretty intensely, so we really have to be careful with her during this time. Another side effect from these two...she has no reflexes in her legs and her Achilles tendons are not working properly (affects her walking). These should go back to normal after her chemo is finished. As far as the long term effects (like kidney damage, heart problems, infertility, etc.)...we won't know until later. We're praying so hard against any of these.
The third drug, Temodar is the oral one we just finished up and it makes her very sick. Dr. recommended, we give it to her right before she goes to bed because it makes her very nauseous soon after she takes it, so by doing it this way, it helps that the majority of the bad nausea happens in her sleep...sometimes. This past Thurs. night was the first night (of round 4)and getting it down her is the first challenge. Because she can't swallow the capsule, we have to open it and give it to her with applesauce (why applesauce? I have no clue). And because it is chemo and very toxic, we have to wear gloves and mask, and throw away ANYTHING that comes in contact with it, etc...very scary - and I'm giving this to my daughter???? Getting it down her is pure torture. It obviously has a very bitter taste because she literally gags every time...and she fights..MAJOR!!! So, we have to sit on her, plug her nose, compress her tongue (so she can't spit)...you get the picture. It's awful. Finally, after getting it down her and exhausted from crying, she always goes up and lays with Christian until I finish up things for the night and get ready for bed and then I rock her and put her down. Well, Thurs. night after giving her the chemo, I'm downstairs and I hear, "SAAARRRAAAHHH...HELP!!!" I knew immediately what had happened. Claudia had vomited EVERYWHERE...in OUR BED! Long story short, that was only "round 1" of about 10. Soon after getting her into the bathtub, she threw up again. And as soon as we got her out of the tub and dressed, she threw up again. As soon as we got her changed and more clean clothes on, she threw up again...and again...etc. After a full night of this, by morning, she had nothing else to throw up and was just dry-heaving. She finally fell asleep by 8:30 in the morning. I hope I'm not being too graphic, but this is little Claudia's life. It just breaks my heart to watch her go through this. These are the nights I cry out to God with "WHY???? HOW MUCH MORE CAN WE TAKE?" The following nights with this chemo weren't AS bad. (PTL!) This drug not only makes her very sick, but it really wipes out her body internally as well. It makes her white cell count drop pretty low, but it really effects her red cell count and platelets. In fact, she's had to have a blood transfusion (platelets) because of this drug. So, we'll pray it doesn't have that effect this time. EVERY Wednesday, we have a nurse come to our house to draw blood and check her counts.
She's doing much better today and we're very thankful for that! Just wanted to give you a brief update on how everything's going here. We have a 2 week break before we start the next round of chemo in Indy. Well, they call it a "break", but its actually when her body is trying to re-coop from all this chemo and is usually pretty shot...meaning bad counts, so we really have to be careful with her during this "break" period.
Thanks for your prayers. They're so precious to us. We love you all!
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