Today we had our appointment to go over Jimmy's chemo medications and the short and long term affects. Discussed how they will handle all the things that will come up with having chemo such as nausea and hair loss. He will be on a very heavy dose of steroids to take at home, which will cause him to gain weight, (he was actually excited about that side affect). The steroids will cause his appetite to be tremendous on the days he isn't sick.
Some of the long term side affects are damage to his kidneys, bladder, liver, and heart. Some of which won't show up for 20yrs. His chance of sterility is 30%, which is disheartening, but we will leave it in God's hands, which is where the decision would lie under normal circumstances.
The list of short term side affects is a mile long: nausea, hair loss, stomach pain, numbness and tingling of hands and feet, burning sensation in hands and feet, acne, increased blood sugar, mood changes, low white blood cell count, mouth sores, fever, dizziness, jaw pain, blurred vision, extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, skin irritations, metal taste in mouth, and chills. One or two of these things would be difficult, let alone several at once. Praying that his side affects are minimal and he gets through the chemo without having too difficult of a time.
The first chemo appt on Wednesday will take about 10hrs, 3hrs on Thursday, and 2hrs on Friday, and then 2 hrs next Wednesday. Off 2 weeks and then start all over again.
When Chemo is finished, we will be driving to West Chester daily for radiation. All in all, the whole process should take about 5 months. If everything goes as planned, chemo should be finished by March 2nd, and then radiation will probably start about 2wks after that.
We are thankful that it wasn't stage 4, which could have meant daily chemo for up to 10hrs a day. We were also told today that Jimmy's treatment is one of the shortest of anyone they currently have, some kids are there for 3 yrs. That just broke my heart for the children and their parents, some of which are toddlers. I think about my cousins going through this at their ages and I can't even imagine. Since Jimmy is 17, he is able to take much stronger drugs to combat the disease than if he were younger.
Two things I know for sure: One--We are going to beat this and Jimmy is going to be healthy and cured. Two--We are going to have one hell of a party when it happens!
No comments:
Post a Comment