Here, in Darla's words, is the report from Erin's oncologist and how she did with her first day of chemo:
"Erin has officially began chemo, which started on Wednesday, December 1st. Prior to starting chemo, Erin met with her oncologist and he went over the remaining two lab results that were not back when he met with her before.
(1) Thankfully Erin does NOT have the BRCA gene, which is the genetic type of breast cancer. So I guess the plan is 6 rounds of chemo each 3 weeks apart. . . surgery to remove the lump (or whatever is left of it) . . . then more chemo . . . followed by 5 years of Tamoxifen (or a drug similar to it).
(2) Her breast cancer is HER2 positive. The cancer cells have a protein on its cell surface. I found a link on the Mayo Clinic website that explains what exactly it is. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer/AN00495. This type of breast cancer was initially difficult to treat until a drug called Herceptin came along. Herceptin has been effective in killing HER2-positive cancer cells and decreases the risk of it reoccurring.
Erin's chemo drug regime, TCH, consists of three drugs - Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin. Before receiving any chemo drugs, Erin is given IV anti-nausea meds in addition to Benadryl (for possible allergic reaction to the chemo drugs) and Tylenol (for fever that can result in response to receiving chemo drugs). Then she gets Taxotere followed by Carboplatin then Herceptin via her port. The entire process took about 4 hours. Erin's first treatment went well. She ate a "healthy" lunch that consisted of 2 Taco Bueno bean burritos without the red sauce. As you can see by the pics, Erin kept herself busy . . . I'm sure you can check out her Facebook page to see what she posted . . . I wouldn't know, of course, since I have vehemently refused to be associated with Facebook.
Now back to business. Erin was a little sleepy afterwards from the Benadryl, but said she felt good. Erin's nurse, Colette, encouraged her to "graze" and no, this is not referring to an animal in the pasture, but instead Erin should snack on stuff throughout the day. The main side effects of chemo are nausea and mouth sores. Erin was prescribed some powerful anti-nausea meds to fight the nausea and a recipe for mouthwash she has to use at least four times a day to ward off the mouth sores. The chemo tends to make the mouth acidic, which causes the sores. Colette said that patients have told her that the mouth sores are the worst part of chemo and the mouthwash really helped. The mouth wash recipe Erin was given is a basic solution that will neutralize the acidic effects of the chemo. Not sure how tasty the mouthwash is, but it's basically made of water, salt and baking soda. Erin was given a TON of reading material she can read in all that spare time she has. Most of it was about the chemo drugs she's getting and how to manage their side effects.
Erin's next chemo treatment is scheduled for Wednesday, December 22nd and will continue every 3 weeks. When she arrives for chemo, the first thing they will always do is take blood to run some lab work. Before she gets chemo, they want to make sure her red blood cell and white blood cell counts are good to prevent anemia and infection. If Erin's lab work looks good, then she will get her chemo. If not, she will either need an injection and/or treatment will be postponed. Please pray that Erin's chemo is effective and her blood counts are where they need to be so that she gets all of her treatments on time. I'm sure she is ready to get them done and over with.
Friends of Erin gave her a "hat" party tonight (Friday, December 3rd). She got lots of cute hats, scarves and other accessories to help her with any hair loss . . . And I'm sure pictures will pop up on Facebook from the party. Erin was upbeat and looked great. She said that she was a little tired, but felt good."
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