Chemo-

Now that we knew Auzzy had cancer he got really excited and said, “Does this mean I can do make a wish and go somewhere fun?” I promptly informed him that make a wish was for children 18 and under and he was 20 years old now! Haha!

Austin’s chemo treatments-

When we first started we had no idea what to expect. Each cancer patient is unique and each chemo treatment is different. Some patients were coming in once a week, others twice / three times a week. Some lose hair, others don’t. Some get sick, some do not. Ect. Ect. Ect.

Our Oncologist told us that he could not attend college. That this treatment was one of the worst…..he was right. We thought he could maybe work at a job the 2 weeks in between treatments, but he couldn’t.

Our regiment was 1 week on and 2 weeks off. 1 week consisted of 5 days (Monday through Friday). We would do chemo a total of 4 full weeks which took about 3 Months.

Patients were in the chemo room for a variety of hours also. I found that everyone seemed to come and go while we were there. The shortest amount of time we were there was 6 hours and the longest around 9.

He had an Ipad, Iphone, books on tape, many things to pass the time. We found that he was so worn out he couldn’t open his eyes. He couldn’t really watch movies. Sometimes he would listen to music. A few times the books on tape. But he would find that he would doze in and out of the recordings and couldn’t follow the story line. We would read to him at night until he was too sick for even that.

Week 1. He was a walking Zombie. His friends came over and spent a lot of time with him and he never remembered that they were there.

Week 2. He was miserable. Sat in the chemo chair wanting to throw up the whole time every day. And yes they gave him about 5 different types of Nausea medicine.

Friends coming to visit helped sooo very much. He would look like he was dying and when they showed up he would perk right up. Mom and Dad 24/7 just doesn't cut it!

Week 3. He sat in the car and wouldn’t get out. He told me he had other plans and he couldn’t make it. We sat for about a half an hour until I pep talked him out of the car. It was a long week…

Chemo drugs kill cancer cells. They also kill good cells. His cell counts were low after this treatment and he needed a blood transfusion. After scheduling everything he told me to cancel it and he went on a vacation with his friends. I was worried, but he had a great time and it did him a lot of good. It was the right choice. Thank you Chessa, Berkley and Family!

Week4. Wasn’t easier. _ _ _ _ , _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _. You get the picture.

He got to ring the bell at the very end! This part was over!!!!!!!!

After we took this picture and everyone left, he couldn't stand and he had to lay on the floor. We went straight up to get ready for a blood transfusion…..with his barf bag of course. Never go anywhere without one!

(He's had 2 transfusions and now they want him to increase his cell count on his own.)

His weeks in between treatments are another story! it could be summed up however to….miserable, weak and lots of throwing up! ….among other things...

Even though we had an aggressive treatment and Aust was really sick. About ¾ of the patients we sat by had a worse story than we did. Most had incurable cancers. They were there to just live a little bit longer.

Their stories were incredible to me. Each one was an inspiration. Most hadn’t lost their hair, and it struck me how many people might be walking around sick that I didn’t know about.

A common question was “What’s your prognosis?” I’d say that we didn’t have one. His cancer was rare and could not be accurately assessed. But statistically a 50% chance of survival.

They would respond something like, “That’s fantastic! We only have a 2 %” I became grateful very quickly for our own cancer.

In the beginning my friend Lorena told me that after this experience I would never be the same. She was right. I look at people differently, with much more compassion and understanding.  Before this I would feel for others, now I ache for others.