My Labs & Visit with Dr Sidani turned into an infusion

Today was supposed to be a simple office visit and lab draw at with my local oncology team at Northwest Cancer Center. A quick check on my numbers to see if I am moving in the right direction to receive round two of chemo next Wednesday. That is the rhythm we are building, my local team here in Northwest Indiana administers all of my chemo close to my home in collaboration with University of Chicago.

First, a correction from earlier posts. I said I had FOLFOX last week. It is actually FOLFIRINOX. The liver spread is so aggressive that the team needs to fight with everything they have, and fast. FOLFIRINOX is the heavier hitter, and that explains a lot of how flattened I felt this week.

Bobby, Gina (my 28 year old), and my Aunt Tina were with me today. Having them in the room matters more than I can put into words.

**What Dr. Sidani covered**

We reviewed recent genetic There is a CHEK2 Variant of Uncertain Significance (VUS) that was already reported to an international database, and my children Gina and John are advised to begin cancer screening at age 30.

A big part of the conversation was managing what I am actually feeling day to day. The sharp pain is stabilized right now with a combination of long-acting and immediate-release oxycodone. The harder piece is the abdominal distension and pressure from the liver tumor burden, which is significant. My whole body is SWOLLEN. We talked through GI and urinary concerns, set up a plan to watch for opiate-induced constipation, and ordered a urinalysis to investigate some blood-tinged urine.

Nausea has been relentless, and I have now been throwing up a few days in a row. Dr. Sidani added Olanzapine and a steroid on top of my current Zofran and Compazine that will be added with each chemo.

**The unexpected part**

What I thought was a labs and visit day turned into another access of my port and an infusion session right there at Northwest Cancer Center. They ordered IV hydration and steroids for my acute symptom relief. The plan is to repeat this protocol on future chemo pump-disconnect days, so I am not white-knuckling through the worst of the after effects at home.

The encouraging note from the team, by the third cycle of chemo I should start to feel noticeable relief from the abdominal pressure. That is something to hold onto.

So today was heavier and longer than expected, but it was the right call. More poked and prodded than planned, more love in the room than I deserved, and a clearer plan walking out than walking in.

While I was in the infusion chair I spotted Sandi Brown with her husband Jerry. Carrie Chelle Brown (my dear friend since 4th grade and part of my lifelong girl girl group) happened to text me earlier but again, I have been really offline for a few days. I pinged her after I spotted Sandi and Carrie sprinted over to the infusion center. After all of this fluid refresh I feel better and able to write these updates. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Next Chemo will be Wednesday May 20.