Dad had his first round of chemotherapy this past Friday the 19th. But, let’s back up a wee bit first… 

Before traditional chemotherapy was prescribed, Dad was on the Option C of cancer treatments in pill form. And oh my, do we now understand why it is the third option. This last pill caused the most symptoms of any of the treatments he has had so far. Dad has been dealing with severe fatigue in the past few weeks. The pill also created fluid buildup in his lungs which gave way to a persistent cough. Safe to say the poor man hasn’t gotten much restful sleep since being on that medication. It also pretty much killed any appetite Dad had. 

This last week leading up to chemo has definitely been a rough one, on pretty much everyone. I think it’s a weird sense of relief to have the first treatment done, but at the same time we know this is just the beginning of a new big ol’ challenge. 

So back to Friday…

Dad and Mom made the always exciting trip down 52 to Mayo early Friday morning. They had an education session regarding the new chemo treatment before Dad’s first “cocktail” (I think he would have preferred his old go to of Crown, but as far as I know Mayo did not offer that option for him.) 

Dad will be receiving 1 chemo treatment every three weeks. For now the appointments will continue to be on Fridays. The session is blocked out for 4 hours as they mix up the “cocktail” as Dad arrives at the appointment. Friday’s treatment took a little over three hours. He gets a very fancy chair to sit in with massage and heating features and a tv in his curtain surrounded treatment space. Mom gets a regular chair…sorry Mom. 

Dad’s super exciting deluxe cocktail includes: chemotherapy, immunotherapy and steroids. The triple crown, yum yum!! This cocktail is supposed to have a lot less of the usual side effects we all think of when someone says chemo (hair loss, severe fatigue, nausea, fevers, etc.) 

This weekend, Dad has been very tired. He spent a lot of yesterday resting and a good chunk of today napping (as he should be!) Tomorrow is post chemo day 3 which is supposed to be “the worst” post day, but hopefully he can just continue napping and hopefully spend some time in the sun. 

This is 100% a new learning experience for all of us. I am the crazy one in the family who started researching, reading and reaching out to others who have gone through this experience as soon as we knew we were a go for chemo. But, even I know it is a day by day thing that can come with many unexpected challenges: health issues for Dad, everyone trying to practice self care for our mental health and making sure the grandbabies who have started to have a lot more questions feel informed but also at ease about the situation. 

So to wrap up, yep, cancer still sucks!! For those who have asked, what do we need, how can we help…..ya, we don’t really know…… so any and all continued thoughts, prayers and love is always greatly appreciated. 

One step at a time. 

Deep breathes. 

And continuing to surround Dad/Papa with all our love.