On November 5th 2012 a grade IV glioblastoma multiforme tumor was removed from my 56 year-old mother's right medial temporal lobe. She passed away January 29th 2014. My hope is that these pages help me work out the myriad ways in which our lives so drastically changed, and maybe also help other caregivers.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
and more pills
After six months of only Avastin, the doctors cleared mom to once again take Temodar. She would be taking a low daily dose of 80mg. We began Monday night, and Tuesday she woke up with a pink, swollen face. Nearly two days later the reaction hadn't subsided and the doctors have started her on a steroid. We are, of course, not taking the Temodar.
She's extremely disappointed. In her mind, Temodar is a sort of wonder drug. It was the first anti-cancer drug she began taking after her diagnosis and resection, and we saw shrinkage of the tumor. After a few months on both the Temodar and an experimental drug from Eli Lily, she was hospitalized with pneumonia. At first they thought it was an infection, but eventually realized it was a drug-induced pneumonitis--one of the drugs had caused the reaction. Since the Lily drug was still in testing we all hoped it was that and that, eventually, she could get back on Temodar. After this past week, however, it seems that it wasn't the Lily that was the problem.
In short: cancer sucks. Being allergic to the proper chemotherapies double sucks.
Image: Beverly Fishman's "Pill Spill," installation, 2011.
Labels:
Avastin,
cancer,
chemotherapy,
gbm,
Temodar
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