Tolerating Chemo Better This Week

I finally have info to relay to you all after not talking to Terry for several days. I've been wondering how Steve's been doing since he restarted chemo on Friday. If you remember, Steve originally started his first chemo pill on a Sunday night. He took three doses before the nausea and vomiting had him stopping for two days for his body to adjust to it. Then he began again Friday and has taken it daily for the last five days. He is now handling chemotherapy better and has had no vomiting. The nausea is controlled with Zofran pills three times a day. He also is taking Benedryl to help dry up the excessive saliva that has plagued him and Maalox to help coat his stomach. He tried Prilosec but didn't have good success with it settling his stomach so he is trying the Maalox instead.

He is eating better than last week. Terry reports he is tolerating three small meals a day. She says his serving sizes are much smaller than they used to be, but he eats things like yogurt, salads, muffins and chicken pot pie and Chinese food one night. His weight is down 34 pounds from when this started so his family doctor just eliminated his Glipizide, diabetes pills. They were checking his blood sugar three times a day for a week or so while trying to determine his best treatment plan. Steve still takes Actos once a day and checks his blood sugar level once a day and they will continue to watch for changes as his diet and weight fluctuates.

He reports being pretty tired from all of this chemo and radiation. He takes a nap in the afternoon and is now sleeping through the night, usually 9 pm to around 5 am, without any sleeping pills needed. He tries to walk on the treadmill but has only been on it every other day this week.

Terry says the radiation is starting to cause redness on the skin, like a sunburn. This was expected. They were also told he may lose his hair but it hasn't happened yet. Mostly we make jokes about our favorite bald headed men, except I only know ones from the olden days and Terry had to educate me on who is currently fashionably bald (a Billy somebody from Smashing Pumpkins... how do you know these things?).

I'm glad it's going better this week. Terry says they are often changing Steve's medications and she is frequently updating his drug list (she has to show it at doctor's visits) and they are just taking it one symptom at a time, one day at a time. They are keeping a quiet lifestyle for now and not venturing out much. They are skipping a family event in the Bay Area in two weeks which is a good plan, I think. It wouldn't do to get overtired. We don't want any complications. Steve loves hearing from his friends. A quick card or e-mail is always welcome.