Round One

Tonight I watched as my Dad took the last pill of his first round of chemo. We all clapped and cheered after he had swallowed it down. He now has the next two weeks off and we are hoping that he will feel like himself again. He said that so far the chemo and side effects are better than he anticipated and for that I am very grateful. His biggest complaint over the past four weeks was not having the energy that he is used to having. And so we are crossing our fingers that for the next two weeks he will have his energy back and be able to function like he used to.

I am so impressed with my Dad's positive attitude. He has definitely lifted the spirits of those around him during this tough time, even though it should be the other way around. He really doesn't complain, even though I told him it is okay if he does. But even though he won't openly complain, he will tell you honestly how he is feeling when you ask him, which we all do often.

Besides fatigue, my Dad has suffered from a few other side effects. His appetite has decreased and he has had to avoid spicy or acidic foods. No more tomato-based meals. Mild foods are easiest on his stomach and my Mom said she is craving Mexican food. Hopefully they can add a little spice to their lives for the next couple weeks. He also had some mouth sores develop, but after using a mouth wash that the doctor prescribed, he said that they cleared up. And lastly, his hands have suffered. Before chemo, my Dad had eczema flare ups on his hands from time to time. Now things are worse and he has several spots/sores on his hands. He continues to use the medication prescribed for the eczema, but his hands still look painful.

My Mom is still having a hard time dealing with this change in their lives. I know it has affected her the most. She said that it is hardest when she is alone and then it is all she can think about. My Mom lost her own mother to ovarian cancer over 20 years ago and it just isn't right that now she has to watch her husband endure the same trial. The word 'cancer' is now my least favorite word in the English language.

My Dad has to go through one more round of chemo before they will do another scan to check the size of the tumor. Which means we won't know until sometime after Christmas if the chemo is working. I can wait for some things, like finding out the gender of an unborn child, but not this. Waiting for this just stinks.

**Side note, I was wrong on the price of the pills. My parents only knew the portion that the secondary insurance was covering and based on what percentage they figured the primary insurance should cover, they came up with a figure of $18,000. However, turns out that primary insurance is covering just slightly more than half the cost, which means that the total for the pills is in the $9,000 range. Not quite as bad as we initially thought, but still ridiculous.