Tomorrow is Round Two with FOLFIRINOX!

WHAT’s HAPPENING TOMORROW?

Gearing up for my second big fight! Yep, it’s here and Wednesday I’m back in the ring!!! The day will be very hectic and exhausting. So many people are asking me how I am feeling and what is next. Let me try to lay it out, included another infographic just focused on what’s to come in next 60-75 hours! I report to the infusion center at 9 AM to draw labs, then go straight into a block of pre-chemo infusions that prepare me for another 50+ hours of straight chemotherapy. The pre-chemo concoctions will run 6-7 hours and include steroids, anti-nausea meds, Benadryl, plus the parts of the cocktail that will NOT travel home in my pump.

After a full day at the Northwest Cancer Center in Crown Point, the fun continues at home. Dr. Sidani’s Nurse Erica calls the pump “your little friend” - that runs for 46 hours straight. I am told it looks like a little grenade. How appropriate, and how meaningful, because I want to destroy cancer's ass. How apropos just like 5-FU 🖕.

After the 50+ hours of straight chemo, I go back on Friday for “pump off” day, detach from the poison, and I will go straight in for fluids to try to mitigate some of the side effects I had the first time around. It is amazing how your body responds to hydration when it comes straight through your port.

Who is with me???

Aside from Bobby who has been by my side for it all, My son Johnny will come after work from Chicago to be with me AFTER the infusion center portion and will stay through Thursday evening, right around the same time Gina leaves for the airport to fly back to Austin. Johnny is here to help me through that first full day with the pump at home. Remember, my first treatment was all in the hospital under close supervision.

While he is here, Johnny is also putting together my little vegetable planters, I am so excited about this. Some of my greatest childhood memories are going into my Nonna's garden and picking tomatoes, mini cucumbers, peppers, all of it. John started this project on Mothers Day, looking forward to sharing photos when he’s finished!

Once Gina is back in Austin and Johnny is back in Chicago, I will really be missing them both. Gina will come back in a few weeks since her job in tech is remote. Johnny's job is very hands-on, so he has more structure to work around and will take a day off every other week to help me get through the at-home chemos. I figured it would be best for him to do that, versus being at the infusion center where there are a lot of people coming in and out. We will all settle into the schedule as best we can.

How I am actually feeling

I continue to receive beautiful gifts and crazy amounts of food, and I am hoping to have a better cadence soon for understanding my nausea patterns. I spent a good chunk of time yesterday vibe coding my symptom and medication tracker which is password protected in this site. I am trying to chart out, analyze and predict patterns after a few cycles as I need to understand these different drugs and when side effects hit me the most.

Looking back at last week, the vomiting was definitely top of the list of things I never want to go through again. I need to be all over that.

One more bright spot to share…. Yesterday Gina swept me away to get my nails done, which was desperately needed, but I also had a ninety minute Japanese head massage and spa treatment at this new place called DJ’s Head & Nail spa. It was pure BLISS. I felt so out of this world that I cried. I know it seems like I cry a lot, but I literally cannot explain how amazing this felt. If I could get that done once a week, I would do it for sure. I was trying to articulate my appreciation to the technician, Jenna, but there was a language gap since she is Vietnamese. So I used Gemini to translate what I wanted to say, and she just smiled and looked at me with so much compassion.

More to come, PLEASE keep the messages flowing! I am trying to improve the site every day, feel free to send suggestions too!!!!!

Oh and thank you to CAFE FRESCO and the custom coffee sleeve note encouraging me to take care of myself, I am and will continue! Love you all