Shelly

It was a lazy day Wednesday. I didn't even post anything.

Today however will be the beginning of a long, and we hope productive process of controlling Shelly's tumor. Each chemo day will consist of 6-8 hours of infusion of the chemicals designed specifically for the type of cancer she has. While the treatment itself will not destroy all the cancer cells, the hope is that it will either reduce the size of the tumor or at least prevent it from getting larger.

Chemotherapy is a day long process repeated approximately every three weeks with cat scans taken at intervals to determine if it's working. If not, we switch to other drugs.

The side effects of chemo are the result of the fact that the drugs destroy rapidly growing cells. Cancer cells grow the most rapidly of all and are the most effected by the drugs but there are also healthy tissues that grow rapidly and they too are damaged by the chemo . Hair, finger nails, the lining of the digestive system are all rapidly growing and this is the reason for the symptoms associated with chemotherapy - stomach upset and nausea, loss of hair, nail damage etc.

We'll be at the hospital by 8 am. I'm bringing a thick book.