Blog from myspace posted yesteray (July 1)-Day 1 of chemo

Well, the past couple of days have been a bit emotionally overwhelming. As I write this blog my Mom is downtown receiving her first chemo treatment. Yesterday the family had to attend a chemo training session and a tour of the area where Mom will get her chemo. When you walk into the office where she will have her chemo you are right there with everyone receiving treatment. It's a big room with four sections. Each section has about 8 big reclining chairs in them. Each patient gets a chair and they can read, watch TV, listen to music or simply take a nap. They can get up and walk around if they would like. Unfortunately family cannot stay with their loved one receiving chemo . They are there with other cancer patients receiving chemo. As I looked around I had to fight back my tears because all I could think is...my sweet , precious Mom will be here tomorrow sitting in one of these chairs without my Dad, my sister or myself by her side like we have been all along.

After we first arrived we had to watch a video that explained the side effects, how to cope with them, how to maintin nutrition and how to handle emotions. After that a nurse practitioner came in and went over all the drugs that Mom would be given and their side effects. It took her an entire hour just to go over all the drugs that Mom would receive and all of their side effects. It was absolutely mind boggling. I have no idea how my Mom is able to keep track of everything. Any appoinment we go to it's always so much information to absorb. All the side effects were different. Most of them would give her nausea but fortunately they are able to control that with new meds. Some are constipating, some give you diarrhea. Some make your blood pressure rise, some lower it. She told her that without a doubt she would lose her hair by day 17 or 18. Which by the way, my Dad and my husband are going to shave their heads when she starts losing hers. The saddest part was when my Mom asked her about being around Ava and Allie. Unfortunately, when Allie receives her next round of shots in a couple of weeks Mom will not be able to be around her for at least three weeks. Now this is a woman who loves her grandbabies so much that she has before cut her vacations a few days short to come home because she missed them so much. She can't go a whole week without seeing them. And having to hear that myself absolutely crushed me. I had to keep myself from crying. I know how much my Mom loves my girls and three weeks of a babies life is a big deal. They grow and change by the day so I can't imagine how hard that will be for my Mom.

I just continue to be amazed at how well my Mom is handling everything else though. She sees the good side to everything. It really doesn't even bother her to lose her hair. My Dad asked her if she wanted to go ahead and look for a wig and she told him she didn't care, she's always had short hair and likes wearing hats anyway. As of last night she was in good spirits. She was ready to start her treatments rather than have to wait. We all went to Chuck E Cheese's last night for Ava's birthday so she got to enjoy being around the kids and our family.

Today was a bit different. She didn't sleep much last night and she had to take an anxiety pill. I called her this morning to tell her that I loved her and would be praying for her and she was a bit nervous. Dad called after he took her in and he said that he got to stay until they got her all set up and the first part going. He said that when they started putting the meds into her port her eyes were a bit wattery. He wanted so badly to stay and just hold her hand through this but he had to leave. And I'm sure she wanted him to stay as well. I know the three hours she'll be there will be the longest for both of them. Dad was just going to stick around the building until she was done. He absolutely hates leaving her. Hopefully she will rest while she's there. They were going to give her Benadryl to keep her from having an allergic reaction so she'll probably nap. I gave her my ipod to listen to and she was going to take some books and of course...pictures of the girls.

Thank you for reading and please continue to keep her in your prayers. The outpouring of support and prayer has helped her through this so much. It is greatly appreciated.

-Emily