The 4th of July in Andrea's hometown is celebrated intensely with an explosion of amateur pyrotechnics in honor of the birth of our nation. It is a time of homecoming and family traditions, the kind you might find on a Norman Rockwell. It was a fantastic week to get together with loved ones and to see Andrea in the most normal setting she's been in for a while. I'm sure in a lot of ways it was just a calm before a storm as Andrea begins chemo tomorrow.
There is a lot more information available about chemo on Google than what you'll find from me, but after all the time we've spent talking with our doctors, here's what we are expecting on Monday. The chemo that Andrea will receive affects the fast growing cells in the body and their ability to replicate. Because Andrea has such an aggressive cancer, the chemo can be very effective in targeting those fast growing cells. Her first course of chemo will be a dose of adriamycin-cyclophosphamide every two weeks for two months. Andrea keeps calling this one the Red Devil, which is the name she's heard from other cancer survivors, so that's a fun name. This is the one that is hardest on the body and will likely cause her to lose her hair. The second round of chemo is pacitaxel which she will receive one dose per week for three months. She will begin the second round after she finishes the first for a total of five months of treatment.
Andrea also finished up the rest of the tests she needed this week and everything looks good. She continues to feel better and stronger everyday since the surgeries. She is ready to start the chemo treatments. We really have no idea how she will be feeling during chemo. Everyone has a little bit different reaction to the medicines. We hope that Andrea will feel well throughout the course of the treatments but we just won't know until it begins tomorrow.
There is a lot more information available about chemo on Google than what you'll find from me, but after all the time we've spent talking with our doctors, here's what we are expecting on Monday. The chemo that Andrea will receive affects the fast growing cells in the body and their ability to replicate. Because Andrea has such an aggressive cancer, the chemo can be very effective in targeting those fast growing cells. Her first course of chemo will be a dose of adriamycin-cyclophosphamide every two weeks for two months. Andrea keeps calling this one the Red Devil, which is the name she's heard from other cancer survivors, so that's a fun name. This is the one that is hardest on the body and will likely cause her to lose her hair. The second round of chemo is pacitaxel which she will receive one dose per week for three months. She will begin the second round after she finishes the first for a total of five months of treatment.
Andrea also finished up the rest of the tests she needed this week and everything looks good. She continues to feel better and stronger everyday since the surgeries. She is ready to start the chemo treatments. We really have no idea how she will be feeling during chemo. Everyone has a little bit different reaction to the medicines. We hope that Andrea will feel well throughout the course of the treatments but we just won't know until it begins tomorrow.