Targeted Therapy
Targeted therapy is a form of chemotherapy used in tandem with radiation to treat (and hopefully cure!!) Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the larynx. Radiation is five day a week for six weeks and target therapy is once per week and starts several days before radiation. It's often administered in an IV drip. My dad had targeted therapy today. It took over two hours. The oncology nurse came into dad's room with a cart, a tool box, and a box filled with plastic parts.
Mom, Christy and I had visited with dad for a couple of hours then we went out to see Morningview and Fairpark to see what they had to offer. When we got back to the hospital I dropped Christy off at her car so she could go run a bunch of errands. Mom and I went in the hospital and went in search of a bite to eat for lunch. By the time we got back up to his room he was already an hour into his treatment.
The oncology nurse was sitting in the chair next to his bed. She was closely monitoring his vitals, as Erbitux has some rare, but awful side effects. They gave dad Benedryl as a precautionary measure because some people have bad allergic reactions to it. Luckily, dad did not.
I'm not sure if he was just sleepy or if the medication did it to him, but he was quite sleepy by the time the drip was done. Mom and I decided to leave so he could get some rest, but we had been there for a couple of hours during that visit.
Targeted therapy is a form of chemotherapy used in tandem with radiation to treat (and hopefully cure!!) Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the larynx. Radiation is five day a week for six weeks and target therapy is once per week and starts several days before radiation. It's often administered in an IV drip. My dad had targeted therapy today. It took over two hours. The oncology nurse came into dad's room with a cart, a tool box, and a box filled with plastic parts.
Mom, Christy and I had visited with dad for a couple of hours then we went out to see Morningview and Fairpark to see what they had to offer. When we got back to the hospital I dropped Christy off at her car so she could go run a bunch of errands. Mom and I went in the hospital and went in search of a bite to eat for lunch. By the time we got back up to his room he was already an hour into his treatment.
The oncology nurse was sitting in the chair next to his bed. She was closely monitoring his vitals, as Erbitux has some rare, but awful side effects. They gave dad Benedryl as a precautionary measure because some people have bad allergic reactions to it. Luckily, dad did not.
I'm not sure if he was just sleepy or if the medication did it to him, but he was quite sleepy by the time the drip was done. Mom and I decided to leave so he could get some rest, but we had been there for a couple of hours during that visit.
The funny thing ... At 7:50 this morning dad asked the nurses to call us to see when we would be up to visit him ... I think he's turning into a morning person!
Christy and I both have sore throats and now mom is complaining, too. Bill has been sick for several days. I'm guessing our entire family could use a few prayers for speedy recoveries!
Much love to you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment