This last week Sarah had her power port central venous catheter implanted,
her first taxol treatment, and continued looking at wigs.
The catheter surgery is not trivial, but it went well. The port is implanted under the skin on Sarah's chest just under her collarbone, and the catheter runs through her jugular vein into her heart. Sarah was sedated for the surgery, but did not need a general anesthetic, and the surgeon sang standards while performing the surgery. The surgery site is still a bit sore, and having the port under her skin makes her feel like a Borg-in-training, but otherwise she's doing well.
Sarah then had her first chemotherapy infusion the same day, using her brand new port. She was told by the chemo nurse that if she felt any different at all when the infusion started, she needed to let them know. Aside from the taxol itself, the solvent used apparently causes some people to have an allergic reaction. Fortunately, Sarah had no problems, and was able to sleep through the treatment.
Sarah spent the following day resting, and also shopping for wigs with her mother. She already has a nice collection of awesome inexpensive wigs, and she's found some nicer ones for special occasions.
Sarah was off work on Saturday, so she got to spend the day scrapbooking with her friends. She had an awesome day, and she received quite the basket of goodies from her friends who wanted to show their support.
So, right now, Sarah is doing well. Sarah's a bit more tired than usual, and it's all still rather scary, but she's moving forward. 11 more weeks of taxol to go, then 4 cycles of FAC, then surgery.
The catheter surgery is not trivial, but it went well. The port is implanted under the skin on Sarah's chest just under her collarbone, and the catheter runs through her jugular vein into her heart. Sarah was sedated for the surgery, but did not need a general anesthetic, and the surgeon sang standards while performing the surgery. The surgery site is still a bit sore, and having the port under her skin makes her feel like a Borg-in-training, but otherwise she's doing well.
Sarah then had her first chemotherapy infusion the same day, using her brand new port. She was told by the chemo nurse that if she felt any different at all when the infusion started, she needed to let them know. Aside from the taxol itself, the solvent used apparently causes some people to have an allergic reaction. Fortunately, Sarah had no problems, and was able to sleep through the treatment.
Sarah spent the following day resting, and also shopping for wigs with her mother. She already has a nice collection of awesome inexpensive wigs, and she's found some nicer ones for special occasions.
Sarah was off work on Saturday, so she got to spend the day scrapbooking with her friends. She had an awesome day, and she received quite the basket of goodies from her friends who wanted to show their support.
So, right now, Sarah is doing well. Sarah's a bit more tired than usual, and it's all still rather scary, but she's moving forward. 11 more weeks of taxol to go, then 4 cycles of FAC, then surgery.
No comments:
Post a Comment