Last week was a busy week.... Dad completed 4 days of radiation and he had his first treatment of chemotherapy on Friday. The plan is to treat dad with 7 cycles of Carboplatin. One treatment for 7 weeks (6 more to go). The dose of chemo is mild and takes over an hour to administer. The chemo is used to make the tumors more sensitive to radiation. There are side effects but the doctor does not believe he will experience any.
Well, first week of treatment is complete and now it's time to focus on week 2. Today was a very tough day. We are having a difficult time managing dad's pain. For the last 48 hours he has complained of pain with very little relief. None of the pain medication in the doses that we are giving him is helping. I am not sure why. When we spoke with the radiation oncologist today we were so focused on trying to come up with a solution on what combination of pain meds would relieve his pain, I forgot to ask the doctor why his pain meds aren't working or why his pain level has increased.
We are going to try to increase morphine just before bedtime to help him to sleep and get some rest. It is all so overwhelming. I am finding that once we start to feel like we are managing things, something new arises.... whether it be a side effect from meds (hiccups, constipation, nausea, swelling) or dose of medication that no longer works. It is a constant guessing game that we are hoping and praying to win.
Tomorrow is a new day.... we will focus on that!
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