Sarah had her first round of the TCH chemo a week ago Monday.  We were all hopeful that it would be a little easier to recover from and get through, but unfortunately it was just “different”, not easier.  She was very weak and tired from it, and had several other side-effects as well, including tummy troubles and a rash.  It was a situation where, if the side-effect was on the list, Sarah had it.  She spent most of the week resting, and trying not to go crazy from the itchy rash and other issues.

Sarah saw the oncologist on Monday for a quick visit, mostly because of the rash, and he prescribed steroids to help with that.  He told her she can expect to have the same side-effects every time, which, as you can imagine, wasn’t what she was hoping to hear.

Her energy did return on Sunday night/Monday of this week, and she is hoping to have almost two “good” weeks before the next treatment!

We’d appreciate your continued prayers, especially for her strength, as the kids started school yesterday! 

Memo To: The Infusion Center

From: Sarah

Dear Infusion Center Nurses and Staff,

You all have been so very kind to me so far through my journey into the land of “chemo”, but I feel I must write and make one request.

No, two requests.

Request #1 - Please, please, please check with the doctor BEFORE you tell me that you won’t have to give me my booster shot. It is NO fun to arrive for a shot and have a few minutes of excitement over NOT getting a shot, only to find out after you return from asking the doctor, that YES, in fact I WILL need the shot today. I’d rather just GET the shot, than think even for a moment that I might be able to skip it.

Request #2 - Please, please, please, PLEASE check with the doctor BEFORE you tell me that I need to come in on both Monday AND Tuesday for chemo. I really only want to come in once… I can only handle it once… the doctor said I only need it once… please don’t tell me I need it TWICE in one week. The orders said OR, not AND… OR… OR… yeah.. Monday OR Tuesday.

Seriously (but most kindly), I must say - my heart can’t take the roller coaster ride that happens when you get the information wrong. (And my heart is actually really healthy, thank you very much!)

Thank you, that is all…

Sincerely,

Sarah Neubauer

On Thursday (the 14th), Sarah had an oncology appointment/check-up.  The doctor said that the tumors in her lymph nodes have been greatly reduced (from plum-size to raisin), and the other tumors are also continuing to reduce in size as well.  The doctor said that the cancer IS dying, which is good news. 

Sarah will have her first TCH treatment, the new chemo “cocktail” on Monday the 18th.  She will be going in every three weeks for six treatments of TCH.  After the sixth treatment, the doctor will schedule another PET scan to determine how much the cancer has reduced and to decide on how many more cyles she will need. 

The doctor said that she will probably feel less nausea with the TCH, but possibly increased fatigue.  They will be giving her steroid medicine to combat the fatigue, and he suggested an herb that can be made into smoothies that will help give her more energy.

Along with the new TCH drugs, she will also be required to go in for a shot of nupegin (not sure if that is the correct spelling) every day for three days following each chemo treament.  (She wasn’t very excited about THAT, as you can imagine.  She said to Mom, “I think God didn’t get my memo that I do NOT like shots”).

Regarding a future surgery - the doctor said they will discuss the details about that once the cancer has been reduced to a minimal state.  When they do surgery, they want to get out every bit of cancer, so there is less chance for return or regrowth. 

Thank you, as always, for your continued prayers and thoughts. 

posted by Charlene, Sarah’s sis

Last weekend we got away for our 13th anniversary.  Sarah really enjoyed getting away from home and spending some time on the coast.  We had to go before the start of Sarah’s next chemo cycle because the chemo makes Sarah far too weak to do any traveling.  This experience has reminded us to take time to enjoy the pecious time we have in this life.  Sarah’s is glad this is her last AC cycle and we all hope that the next set of chemo cycles will have milder side effects.  

We had our first meeting with a Radation Doctor yesterday.  While the oncoligist had told us that Sarah might not need any radiation or surgery,  the radiologist is recommending surgery and radiation after her chemo treatments to lower her chance of the cancer coming back.  So we are not sure right now what will happen.  Either way nothing will be done until this next set of chemo cycles is over which will be 18 more weeks.