* Chemo Update from Kara *

Just received a call from my mom. I was not able to go with her today :( but she is doing fine. They had trouble accessing the power port yesterday so they asked her to go in early today. Two tries and they were in. She is very sore though! Yesterday she said it was the most horrific pain she's ever felt – apparently swelling around the implantation site made it difficult to access the port. So, she was nervous about them trying again today. Now, she has already received the Kytril, Benadryl, Decadron & Pepcid. The nurses were just going in to begin the actual chemotherapy: Paclitaxel, then Carboplatin. She said she felt great, but was extremely drowsy from the Benadryl. She was falling asleep mid-sentence. I told her to give the phone to my dad. This may be the first time she gets to sleep in weeks! Some patients can develop an allergic reaction to Paclitaxel; this would occur within the first 5 minutes after it was administered. My dad has orders to call me in 10 minutes to let me know how she's doing. :) More updates later.