| 8:45 PM Wednesday August 29th ( 2 of 10) -She has not felt well all day. She stayed home from work today and went to the MO (medical oncologists office) for IV fluids. She has also been very nauseous. So much so that just looking at food set her off today. Her hair is starting to fall out, which is a bit of a surprise because this is not a typical symptom of this particular chemo. Nita is coming up tomorrow to help. 8:30 PM Tuesday August 28th (1 of 10) - Kara went to bed as soon as she got home. 7:45 PM Monday August 27th (7 of 10) -Kara had a consultation with Dr. Folbe (Chemo) today. He told her, very straight-forwardly, that her reactions to the next chemo therapy would be more intense than before, and there is nothing we can do about it so get used to it. Her next chemo starts in one week on Tuesday. Her mom, Nita, will be up here with us that week. -She is actually feeling pretty good today. She worked all day, and was able to function normally this evening. The burns on her neck are becoming visable so she has hydrocortosine to encourage healing. She also has thrush, an infection of the mouth caused by the radiation. (swollen tounge and numerous sores inside the mouth.) 7:30 PM Sunday August 26th (Kara rates how she feels overall as a 3 of 10 today) - Kara's throat is starting to really bother her. She says that everything tastes like saltwater, and anything spicy or greasy irritates her throat. She has had a strong, persistent headache for the last three days. She is quite worn down; for instance, she had to take a nap after standing up in the shower for 10 minutes. - Everyone in the house took Sully's pink eye medication and we were able to keep it from spreading. He is much better, too. 8:30PM Friday August 24th (4 of 10) - Kara worked from home today because Sullivan has pink eye again. She remain very fatigued at the end of the day. She went to bed shortly after 7 tonight. She says that her throat is starting to get quite sore from the radiation. 7:00AM August 24th - (5 of 10) Kara worked a full day today, but may have overextended herself a bit. She went to bed at 6:30 and slept through the night. 8:00PM August 22nd - (7 of 10) - Kara worked a full day today and ate three complete meals. At this point she considers most of the side effects from the chemo to be over. The side effects from the radiation remain mild. The side of her neck and cheek is mildly burned, and she reports that her throat constantly feels like she just drank hot coffee. 8:30PM Tuesday August 21st- On a scale of 1 to 10, she is a 6 today (6 of 10) - Kara went to the medical oncologist's today for fluids. She also spent two hours at the office. She was able to drink 64 oz of Gatorade (Treson calls it alligator drink) and eat two small meals. Her nausea has greatly subsided, but she is struggling with some digestive complications. All in all, she is starting to act more like herself again. 9:00PM Monday August 20th - On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), Kara says she feels like a 3 today (3 of 10) - Kara is doing much better today. She was able to eat 1/2 bowl of chilli, 2 cookies, some crackers, and a popcicle. She also drank lots of fluids. She remains quite fatigued and rested all day long. The ringing in her ear continues intensely, which is a strong indication that she is losing her hearing in that ear. Megan S. will continue to take her to radiation every morning at 730AM, and to work starting tomorrow. 2:00AM Friday August 17th - Kara was better today. She went to radiation, but did not feel the need to get fluids today. She responded to a few work emails, and we were able to have 2 or 3 conversations, but that is about it. She spent the remainder of the day resting and sleeping. She again had a few bites of food, some soup and crackers. She also tried some pudding, but it did not sit well so she stopped after only one bite.. 8:45 PM Wednesday August 15 - Kara was in and out of radiation today without a hitch. She also went to the medical oncologist's office for another bag and a half of fluids. The nurse also gave her a new nausea medication to help keep Kara's stomach calm. -She spends most of the day resting. Her rest is far more calm than it was two days ago. She even falls asleep for short periods of time. She has not eating or drinking anything, but she is staying hydrated due to the fluids at the doctor's office. Her episodes of nausea are far less frequent today. Tuesday August 14 - Both of Kara's treatments were uneventful. She reported minor throat soreness immediately afterwards, but nothing else. At 8:00 Monday night, she became nauseated. This continued intensely through the night and the morning. She could not go to radiation this morning because of her frequent nausia. We are going back to the medical oncologist's office this morning for IV fluids and nausia medication. We will go to radiation from there. - We spent four hours at the medical oncologist's office today. Kara got a bag and a half of fluids, and an different anti-nausia medication intraveneously. She quickly had far less frequent incidents of nausia. She also felt good enough to go to radiation afterwards. She has spent the evening sleeping, but with far more soundly than last night. Saturday August 11 - The pathology report from the Cleveland Clinic came back poorly differentiated. So we still do not know exactly what kind of tumor it is, but both Dr. Lorenz of the Cleveland Clinic and Beaumont's pathology department have told us that this is common among parotid tumors. - Kara did a practice run with the radiation laser on Friday. She was a bit clostrophobic when they put the mask on her face and bolted it to the table, as well as, a bit uncomfortable with the positioning of her neck and head. She has too much hair. - She starts both radiation and chemo on Monday at 7:30AM and will get out at 2:00PM. We both have the week off to help Kara acclimate to her treatments and finalize everything for the wedding. Wednesday August 8 -Dr Gustfason (raditation oncologist) has finally decided on a date for the start of treatment. She will begin both radiation and chemo on Monday the 13th at 7:30AM. Joel and Susan will stay with us next week. Thurday August 2 -Kara's radiation oncologist wants to wait to start treatment so as to not hamper the healing of her recent surgery. They have a conference call Tuesday morning to put together a new timeline. Her new tenative start is Monday August 13th. Wednesday August 1 - Kara had a second opinion at the Cleveland Clinic today with Dr. Lorenz, an ENT. He confirmed most all of what we have been told by Kara's team, that chemo and radiation are the only viable options at this point. He was impressed with with Dr. Arden's surgical work with respect to Kara's facial nerve. - Kara's records were also sent to Dr. Remus of Akron General. She also agress that Dr. Arden has decided on the best course of action |