Chemo round 4 complete

The last seven days have been a bit like a roller coaster ride for us. But not a fun, new-age, theme park roller coaster ride. More like one of those shitty, rickety, houso, carnival rides that are held together with glue and sticky-tape and monitored by the guy with the trucker’s cap and a mullet… and I’m pretty sure one of the wheels on our carriage has fallen off… and my mother in-law is also in our carriage… and the kids are screaming… but who cares because we have a puppy in our laps. No wait, the puppy just jumped out. Oh look, fairy floss. 

Good times.

Anyway, Kirby had the port-a-cath surgery last Wednesday which resulted in some pain and tenderness in her chest, back, and arms. Her discomfort hadn’t subsided by the weekend and she was having trouble when sleeping and breathing deeply. So we went for a trip to the emergency department on Sunday to get her looked at.

She spent most of the day in the hospital and underwent some scans to rule out a pulmonary embolism or any other life-threatening condition. Thankfully, the scans confirmed that her pain was likely to be only muscular as a result of the surgery. However, the radiologist was concerned that her port-a-cath wasn’t sitting in the right spot. Not great news considering it was the day before chemo.

Nevertheless, she received her fourth and final dose of the ‘Red Devil’ chemo yesterday (via a regular cannula in her arm), and her surgeon followed up the port-a-cath concerns with some more scans. He said he was confident that the port-a-cath was ok and was suitable for use next time. 

Kirby now has two weeks to recover before moving to another type of chemo drug. She will then have weekly doses for 12 weeks. According to the oncologist, the next type of chemo won’t be as severe as the Red Devil. But I’ve come to realise that chemotherapy side-effects are shitty no matter which way you look at it. The Red Devil was a shit-sandwich. The next chemo is a shit-sandwich with the crusts cut off. 

Kirby remains in high spirits, although I thought it best to give her some time off from writing blog posts. Deb is doing great and we are all thankful she’s here. The kids are their usual crazy little selves and are keeping the house full of laughter (and hysterical crying). And—just because life was far too easy for us at the moment—we’ve welcomed the newest and fluffiest member of our family; Obi. He is a 10-week-old Australian Shepherd puppy and he is full of beans... for about 20 seconds at a time. From what we can tell he has really made himself at home and loves his new family. Kirby is doing her best to turn him into a cuddly lap-dog and I’m doing my best to teach him to round up sheep, detect explosives, and viciously attack terrorists on command. Although his name is Obi, he probably thinks it’s ‘Good Boy’ because we’ve said it to him a million times already. 

The back end of November will be quite busy for us. Not only because we’re coming into cricket season on TV, but because Kirby will be commencing her new chemo regime. We will also be meeting with the radiation therapist to discuss possible treatment at the conclusion of chemo from February onwards next year. I am still working on the plan to move to Townsville in January and then come back for Kirby and the kids (and Obi) soon after. 

The support from everyone continues to be amazing. We couldn’t do it without you.

Every setback is an opportunity.

Chris