Chemo Treatments

After being discharged from Sacred Heart Hospital on March 18, 2013, I was set up to receive weekly chemo treatments at their Regional Cancer Center.  Most of my doctor appointments consisted of lab work and chemo throughout April and May.

Sacred Heart Regional Cancer Center

Eau Claire, WI

The actual chemo used was called Temsirolimus.  Luckily, the side effects weren't nearly as horrific as I have heard about.  I did not lose my hair, and I didn't spend a lot of my time in the bathroom getting sick.  I guess the first thing I experienced was fatique.  There were days that all I wanted to do was sleep.  Some of the other side effects were loss of appetite, change in the taste of food, and occasional car sickness.

I went to chemo for about 7 weeks when they decided to do another CT scan.  Though my oncologist was hoping for a 15% shrinkage in the size of the mass, it had only shrunk approx. 5-7%.  I can't say that we weren't disappointed with the result, but it was better than no shrinkage at all!

Dr. Delmastro contacted the surgeon and it was decided due to the seriousness of the operation, it was better to try and continue to shrink the mass with continued chemo treatments.  So, the operation was put off, and I continued chemo treatment for another 6 wks.

I had another CT scan done on May 29th  that showed little to no shrinkage of the mass.  Dr. Delmastro and Dr. Wernberg decided to waste no time in scheduling my surgery.  I had to wait at least 2 weeks because the chemo had to be completely out of my body.

Now I had to wait for the call from Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, letting me know when I would have my surgery!