After enjoying dinner with the newlyweds, Crystal and Lee Fiochhi, on Monday night, Mom and I spent our evening enjoying the pool at our hotel. The weather was especially nice; and surprising for Houston!
Once we arrived at MD Anderson on Tuesday morning, our day went pretty quickly. Her first appointment (as always) was to have blood work done. We arrived around 10 a.m. and she was done there shortly before 11 a.m.
After blood work, there was a consultation with the doctor, followed by a visit with the nutrionist, then a meeting with a Genetic Counselor.
The counselor looked at extensive history of our family and determined that in our case, cancer is not hereditary. We have had a few instances of different cancers (i.e., breast cancer, lung cancer, etc.) but there is no evidence to link them to one another.
Simply because Mom has cancer, my sister and I have a slightly increased risk of having breast cancer ourselves. According to the counselor, the average woman has a 12% chance of having breast cancer. Melanie and I will have a 12-20% chance.
The Counselor told Mom to tell my sister and I to "eat right & exercise."
We do believe that the environment has played a big part in some of our family members developing cancer. The majority of family that had cancer were on my grandfather's side of the family, which had a lot of smokers. (In the 1930s, my grandfather's doctor told him that he should smoke in order to calm his nerves!) Additionally, my Mom grew up in a house that had farms/pastures on three sides of the property. When the city would spray DDT on the fields, my mom and her siblings would simply hold their breath as it passed!
Apparently, there were some issues getting the orders for her chemo. When they got the results from her blood work, it was determined that her white blood count was a little low. I think normal is 1.7 and she was 1.4. We weren't even sure if they would administer chemo today or not. When white blood counts are too low, they sometimes give a shot of something to boost white blood cells and have the patient come back the next day or they may just decrease the amount of chemo given.
As always, the doctor has to sign off on chemo orders before it can be given. Today, the doctor was in a meeting, so we had to wait for that meeting to be over before her orders were signed.
By the time we got started at 5, we were ready to be on the road back to Austin! The treatment took about 3 1/2 hours.
We hit the road shortly before 9 p.m. and were home a little before midnight. What a day! Next time we may consider driving to Houston the day of the appointment and staying the night instead...
Only two more treatments to go!
Side Note: It amazes me now, when we all know how harmful smoking is, that young people continue to pick up the awful habit. We stopped at Starbucks in Brenham around 10 p.m. last night for a little caffiene fortification. Outside was a group of teenagers sitting around smoking. If only I was a little more outspoken! I would have given them a lecture and (facetiously) offered them the chance to try on Mom's wig so they'd know the future of chemo that they have to look forward to!
