Two Down, Hair, and Big Things Coming

Hello Everyone-

Brooke had her second scheduled chemo treatment two days ago (Friday, Dec. 7) and it went well, although by tonight (Sunday) she is feeling quite sick again.  She also lost her hair in the last week which I'll talk about below.

Jake took her to chemo this time and that turned out great.  His wedding is now less than three weeks away, and he really wanted to have the time with his Mom before he moves (he and Maren will leave for their honeymoon three weeks from tonight and from there go straight to North Carolina).  Brooke was happy to be with him and they had a good day together.  Although we know it's hard on them, our kids continue to be great through all of this and we are so grateful for them.

Overall, this treatment went well and was better than the first.  There were a couple of things that made this treatment better.  The first time she had a bad reaction to benadryl that was given intravenously.  This time they just had her take a claritin pill and there was no reaction at all.  She also didn't need the extra dose of herceptin this time which saved some time and more importantly wasn't as painful and didn't make her as tired.  She was done in probably just under four hours.

She didn't feel nearly as tired immediately following this treatment -- in fact she did remarkably well for the rest of the day Friday.  She and Jake actually went to Brick Oven right after chemo, and although it didn't really taste good to her (many things don't now), just the fact that she had the energy to do it and wanted to do it was great.  She continued to be very alert and felt pretty well through the evening Friday, even playing some games with the family late that evening.

Saturday morning I took her back to get the neulasta shot (the shot that stimulates the bone marrow and promotes the growth of white blood cells to help fight infection).  After the shot, she was still feeling better than expected.  We made a few Christmas stops on the way home and she even felt well enough to go in to the stores.  

She slept a fair bit Saturday afternoon and by Saturday night she was starting to really feel it again (nausea, fatigue, etc.), and that has continued to get worse today.  She slept most of the day today, and by tonight was feeling the "Christmas Tree Light" pain again although not quite as bad as last time (see my last blog post if that doesn't make sense).  She just generally feels lousy at this point, but unfortunately, that is to be expected for the next couple of days.

The other significant thing that has happened since my last post is that Brooke lost her hair.  It started to fall out last weekend, exactly on schedule as predicted by the doctors.  It happened a bit differently than when she lost her hair 14 years ago.  In 1998 when it started falling out it actually hurt to have hair -- a weird sensation and one I certainly can't relate to :).  That time, she wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible so she asked me to shave her head right away which we ended up doing about 2:30 in the morning -- we actually laughed our way through it.

Fast forward to this last weekend and this time it didn't hurt as much to have hair so she waited a few days.  Although it had been falling out for a few days and was getting pretty thin, on Monday of this week Brooke felt well enough to go out on her own with just a hat and do some Christmas shopping (this was the first time she had been out on her own in a long time).  By Monday night though, she was tired of cleaning up hair and ready to get rid of it so for the second time in our married life, I shaved her head.  I can't say that we laughed our way through it this time, but it wasn't especially traumatic either -- just one more thing that had to be done.

Leading up to chemo on Friday, Brooke felt pretty well and was able to do more than she had in quite a while.  Looking ahead now, we obviously hope she will recover and feel strong as she gets through the next week or two, and then as we head into the big events at the end of the month.  It's going to be a bit crazy, but should be a wonderful time for our family.

The schedule looks like this:  the wedding is on December 28th, which would normally be her next scheduled chemo treatment but will be delayed a few days.  We timed it deliberately so that she will hopefully feel as well as possible.  It will be quite a whirlwind though.  Following Christmas on Tuesday, the 25th, we will head to St. George Wednesday, the 26th.  Thursday the 27th we will be with Maren as she goes through the temple for the first time.  Friday the 28th is the wedding, luncheon, and the St. George reception that evening.  Saturday the 29th we will drive home in the morning and get ready for the reception in Alpine that evening.  Sunday the 30th Jake and Maren will open presents and then leave for their honeymoon.  Then Monday morning (New Year's Eve) Brooke will go straight into chemo treatment number three.


I get a lot of questions about how people can help.  Right now in response to that question I have a definite answer and a request for all of you:  Pray for Brooke specifically to regain her strength during the next 2 1/2 weeks so that she will be strong enough and feel well enough to get through and enjoy Christmas, Jake & Maren's wedding, and be ready for the next treatment.

Thanks again for checking in on Brooke.  It's not always the easiest path, but know that Brooke and all of us are doing pretty well.  We know that many people are thinking of and praying for Brooke and we're very grateful.  We are blessed with wonderful family and friends, and we feel our Heavenly Father's blessings and love in our lives.

Best to each of you-

John