Update at the End of Chemo Course 2, Cycle 1

The first cycle of Kay's chemotherapy went very nicely. She continues to feel good, her energy is holding up fine, and good news is her CA-125 drawn yesterday was down to 32. Dr. Rob McCrosky, her oncologist warned us that the level often does not go down after the first course, and can even go up, so this nice drop is reassuring that this new regimen seems to be working.



Kay convinced them to reduce her dexamethasone treatment doses from 10 mg on Tuesdays and 4 mg on Fridays, to 4 mg on Tuesdays and none on Fridays. Dexamethasone is a very potent, short acting corticosteroid given IV. It's used to reduce the chance of allergic reactions and to reduce nausea during chemotherapy. In Kay, as in many others, it seemed to cause more fluid retention, make her a bit agitated and have trouble sleeping. It also gave her a voracious appetite, which she disliked. She seemed to do fine with the lower dose today.



Last week she spent a few days with Jean in Seattle, and they had lots of fun, and shopped relentlessly. Jean is our shopping guru, and Kay loves to shop with her. Kay's closet is looking much fuller now. They also seduced a makeup expert at Nordstroms who gave them makeup cases, lots of samples, and Kay rewarded him by stocking up the case.



My best news of the day when one of my partners, Nancy Grubb, volunteered to cover the Same Day Clinic for me on the Sat/Sunday after Thanksgiving so I can stay with Kay, Jean, Brett and the whole Colmar clan in SoCal for the long weekend. It will be the first time all the cousins are in one place since my children were very young. Everyone is excited.



Kay's white blood count was slightly low, and she is going to get a drug called Neupogen for 3 days after the infusions next week. It is an injectible med, given like insulin, that stimulates the bone marrow to hurry up and replace the white blood cells. Fortunately I can give her this so she won't have to inject herself or go to the doctor's for this. If her count gets too low she will be at risk for infection, and would need to interrupt her chemotherapy.



Pray for good bone marrow resistance, for safe passage through these courses of chemo, and of course for efficacy of the treatments to fight the cancer cells.



Love to all.



Ed