Carboplatin Day

Today Carboplatin was added to my mom's chemo regimen. She has already had 3 cycles of irinotecan alone. Day was as follows.

Day before: I went to bed at 5:30am trying to catch up on work

• 12:30pm: Mom wakes up and says, "Isn't chemo at 1pm?" I shoot out of bed, brush teeth and remind my mom to get up. I rush downstairs and boil water to make oatmeal.
• 12:45pm: Mom's still sitting on the bed and I tell her, we really need to get going. She then gets ready.
• 1pm: Breakfast is ready (2 figs, a bowl of oatmeal with milk mixed in, and an egg drink (stir an egg in a cup of boiling hot water and add honey...it's an Asian thing ;))
  1:05pm: She eats as much as she is able...finishes the egg drink, has a few spoonfuls of oatmeal, and eats the fig.
• 1:15pm: Off to chemo
• 1:45pm: @ the doctor's. We're reminded we're late and I apologize. Mom gets CBC (blood counts check). We learn that hemoglobin (hgb) and red cell count is very low...HGB is 7.6 ...normal is about 10 and up. Nurse checks with doctor who allows chemo, but we must make appointment to go to RWJ hospital to get two units of blood this week. 
• 2:15pm: Mom starts chemo and I make appointments. While mom gets chemo, I give her feet massage. Mom says I give the best foot massages but I think it's cuz only I do it. Then I read a magazine. Forgot my laptop at home.
• 4:15pm: Decide to go pick up Chinese takeout to bring home for after treatment dinner. Noodle soup and tomato pork chop.
• 5:15pm: Pick up mom and head home.
• 5:45pm: Mom tries the pork chop with rice and takes one bite and gags. "Onions," she says. I tell her to try the soup. She sits there for a very long time and then she says she wants to sleep. I tell her she can sleep after she takes a few bites of the noodles. She finally does and then heads upstairs. 
• In the meantime, I make papaya soup (see pic on right....thank you Chinese Soup Lady).
• 7pm: I check up on her, bring water and soup. She drinks the water and takes 2 sips of the broth. I feel her body is hot. I get the thermometer and her temperature is 103.4. Give Tylenol.

• 

  papaya white fungus soup w dried dates and almond

• 8pm: Get a call from grand aunt (grandfather's sister in Hong Kong) who talks to mom. Later she hands the phone over to me and talks about how worried she is for my mom and my family. She then starts crying and talks about how helpless she feels. Tells me to stay strong and do whatever I can to support her. She wonders why such things have happened to our family...(brief history: My grandfather deserted my grandma before my youngest uncle was born, then my father, her nephew passes away when I was 8 and my brother 10, and now my mom is dealing with cancer. Diagnosed at stage 4. Talk about unfair.).  After wiping my own tears and saying goodbye to aunt, I go upstairs and bring mom porridge. She takes a 2 spoonfuls.
• 12am: Since she hasn't eaten much, I make a drink...spoonful of protein powder, quarter cup of ensure, juice carrots and spinach and mix. I tell her she needs some nutrients in her system. She tells me she'll drink it later, but it's more like, I need to remind her.
• 1:30am: She calls me from downstairs and wants to try the porridge again. I heat up the porridge and the soup and bring it to her. I then feed her the both items (4 spoonfuls of porridge), and she finishes the papaya and the broth of the soup.
• 2am: try to finish up some work. Her temp is now 99.4 and hopefully will continue to go down.

She's so tired today and spend most of it in bed. I'm sure this is the carboplatin and cumulative effects of irinotecan. I just hope with all my heart these drugs are effective. My mom keeps saying she does not want to be sick. And I keep saying, I know.