First Chemo

Tuesday April 16, 1991

We arrive for my first chemo therapy at 9 a.m. I am assigned a nurse that will stay with me for the entire hour or so. Frank can stay. There are lounge chairs but I'm even more nauseous today so ask for a bed. I feel better lying down.

Yesterday they took more blood to compare with other blood tests each month in the future. First into the IV in my hand goes a tranquilizer, then an anti-nausea medication, then the chemo drugs--Cisplatin and Cyclophosphamide. The hour goes fast. I think I slept some. Frank watches me and some TV above the bed. We go home.

I am drowsy in a chair at home the rest of the day. Still not interested in food but trying to eat something. 7 Up and sherbet still tastes best.

According to the National Cancer Institute website Cysplatin is approved to be used to treat advanced ovarian cancer in patients who have already had surgery. Mom was participating in a study to determine if ovarian cancer was best treated with chemotherapy before or after surgery to remove the tumors. Mom had several large tumors and the cancer had metastasized throughout her abdomen. Her part in the study was to have chemotherapy before surgery. The chemo had alot of work to do to catch up with the damage already done.