Update, October 21

Yesterday, Allison had her first of twelve weekly chemotherapy treatments. This round of treatment includes a couple of new drugs. The first drug was administered with no problems. The second drug, which was supposed to slowly drip for an hour, caused an allergic reaction of sorts. One minute she was laughing and playing games with Maggie Bentley, and the next she felt like she couldn't remember what she was doing. This was after only about 20 minutes of receiving the drug. Allison's throat closed up with tightening in the chest that it became very difficult to breathe, lost her voice and could hardly speak to communicate. Always a good thing for hand signals at this time. They were able to quickly reverse the reaction with about 4 or 5 other injections. It took about 30 minutes for her to recover. During that time she even received oxygen. Once she was recovered, she had to have an EKG to be sure there was no damage to the heart. What should have been only a few hours turned into an all-day ordeal, though in talking to Allison last night, I would have never guessed at what she had been through during the day. She was peppy and upbeat and sounded great.

Allison is still scheduled for treatment #2 next Tuesday, though at this point her doctors are unsure what drugs she will receive. Based on her allergic reaction, they need to choose another drug, and hope that her insurance company will pay for what they want to use. Allison said this is one of the most frustrating parts of the process. Being at the mercy of some pencil-pusher at a desk at an insurance company is unreal--it is her doctors who know what the best treatment options are. They should be allowed to treat the patient without fear of the insurance claim being denied.

Allison said it is frustrating hearing that her reactions from the beginning of cancer, surgery and into chemo is "an exception, highly unusual, rare, seldom occurs, not the norm." Is there really a "norm" when it comes to treating cancer? This is definitely a process--a puzzle--to find what will kill the cancer without causing too much harm to the patient! No two cancer patients are alike.

In other news, the new website for signing up for bringing meals is working very well. (In case you haven't seen the website, it is http://www.carecalendar.org. The Calendar ID is 23876 and the security code is 8103.) As ever, thanks for all your concern and support.