Back on meds

Tonight we are officially back on meds.  Before bed we administered Temodar, one of the oral chemotherapy medications that Ty will be on for the next 21 days (at least).  We gave Ty a large variety of anti-nausea medications and sleeping meds an hour or so beforehand so hopefully he will sleep through any discomfort it causes.   We will be giving this to him twice a day.  The last time Ty was on Temodar was in June.  At that time he was also on Cisplatin (a different, stronger chemo)  and the dosage of the Temodar was different, so I don't know what to expect this time around.  In June his taste was very altered and he did suffer some nausea, but he didn't lose his hair and the medication was otherwise tolerated pretty well.  I hope the same happens this time around, but my fingers are crossed that it was the Cisplatin rather than the Temodar that altered the taste of food because getting him to eat is already such a challenge for us.

Over the past six weeks, Ty has been weened off almost all of his medicines.  I can't even begin to tell you the kind of freedom I felt.  Although his "med bag" still goes absolutely everywhere with us, there were a couple of times where I almost forgot it! We went days upon days upon days without even opening that damn thing, and it was glorious. I got so used to not needing to give him anything and for a while he was even eating enough of a balanced diet that I didn't need to give him supplements anymore.  Yesterday I cleaned out our medicine chest which, over time, had overflowed onto three additional shelves in our storage closet - that's right, I purchased what is fundamentally a piece of furniture with four drawers to hold all of his supplies and yes, it was overflowing - anyway, I am happy to say that I have a big box of medical supplies to donate to Haiti.  Despite the fact that we are going back on chemo, we are in good shape for now.  Good riddance!

Sadly, the med bag will be weighing me down a bit more from now on, but I am embracing it.  This is how we cure Ty.  Whatever it takes.  I hope I never need to set an alarm clock for around-the-clock medication every four hours, but I've done it plenty of times before and I'll do it again if I have to.  For now, anti nausea meds twice a day, followed by oral chemo an hour later is a walk in the park.  Really.  I am actually happy to have him back on medication because I don't want to take any chances with this disgusting disease.  Of course it is sad and I wish I didn't have to do this to him, but I believe with all of my heart that it will be successful and I am happy about that.  Some day..... Some day.....

On a lighter note, I tried to get out of our daily trip to the supermarket because of the certain pandemonium in advance of Hurricane Irene.  My clever Ty wasn't fooled.  Just because we went to the deli and CVS... that wasn't exactly the supermarket and it wasn't gonna cut it for that stubborn kid.  Sure enough, at the end of the day we waltzed through the aisles at the local A&P and stocked up on snacks we don't need.  Not a bottle of water in sight, I swear.  Over the past few days I've seen people buying enough bottled water to fill a pool!  But, hey, I'm not making fun.  I hope this isn't as bad as it potentially can be, but I don't blame people for being prepared for the worst.  I know better than anyone that it can always be worse than you expect.  Fingers and toes double crossed.  To all of my friends who are evacuated in Long Beach, come to my house in Pawling!  You are all welcome here and we would love to have you.  We have plenty of food, water and beer to get us through the weekend :)

TGIF!  With love from the Campbell's.