Chemo, Week 1

1st Chemo Treatment

Felicitas had her very first chemotherapy treatment last Friday. The treatment should normally take a few hours because pre labs must be completed beforehand and pre meds need to be administered first. Unfortunately, this treatment lasted a long 7 hours. The first chemo drug she was scheduled to receive was Taxol. Her mom had been severely allergic to Taxol, so they had a nurse and physicians assistant monitoring her, ready to step in if Felicitas had a reaction to the drug. Her oncologist, Dr. Parker also checked in before her infusion, to make sure the nurses were aware there could be a possible allergy to the drug. Within a minute and a half of the Taxol infusion, she began having severe stomach cramps, was feeling extremely hot, and was unable to breathe. This was understandably very frightening. The staff explained that she isn't allergic to the Taxol, but was having a reaction because of the rate it was being administered. After a short recovery period, they tried giving her the Taxol again, but ended up decreasing the rate in half. So it took twice the amount of time to administer the drug, but Felicitas was able to handle the infusion well with this change. After receiving the Taxol, she was given her second chemotherapy drug, Carboplatin. She will get this drug once every three weeks. 

Felicitas and Lisa

Obviously after being there for 7 hours, she was completely exhausted! After chemo, she was able to come home and sleep for 3 hours. Her amazing comadres and friends of 15 years, Lisa Shimomura and Kristine Sterchi were at her first chemo treatment, along with Junior. They had been in town the week prior, helping the Rayray's prepare for chemo, run last minute errands, watch the kids, take care of the house, and keep Felicitas company. They also helped put together the kids' schedules, Felicitas' medication chart and organize all her medical paperwork. These were all tasks that needed to be completed before the Rayray's have family and friends staying with them to help. It meant so much to Felicitas to have had these two helping her through this difficult week. She feels so lucky to have you both in her life and loves you both so much!!

Kristine and Felicitas

For the most part, Felicitas has been feeling okay. She's definitely exhausted and feeling short of breath, but her nausea has been mild, although she doesn't have much of an appetite. She's currently taking anti-nausea medication, so hopefully that combined with a lower dose of weekly chemo treatments will help her not feel so sick. Thanks again for all the love, prayers and kind words!!!! It means more than you know!