During yesterday’s appointment I was given the names of the medications I will be taking during my chemo. Irinotecan, Fluorouracil, Leucovorin, Bevacizumab. Say those 5 times fast, I dare you. It was interesting to find out what these drugs are suppose to do to the cancer even though they won’t cure me as the doctor plainly stated. Some of the drugs are meant to interfere with dividing cells and preventing an increase in the number of cancer cells. The Leucovorin works by enhancing the effect of Fluorouracil and strengthening Fluorouracil’s ability to reduce the number of cancer cells. And finally Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody, which is a type of protein designed to target and interfere with the growth of blood vessels. I have no idea what any of this means, heck, I can’t even pronounce this stuff, but I am hoping it will at least do what it is suppose to do. They tell me the intended benefits of these meds are:
a) this therapy is being given to destroy and/or limit the growth of cancer cells in my body. This treatment may improve your current symptoms, and delay the onset of new symptoms.
b) It may take several treatments before your doctor can judge whether or not this treatment is helping.
All of this information is from the hand out the doctor gave me yesterday before leaving the cancer clinic. On one hand I am very thankful for the health system Canada has but on the other hand, they don’t seem to provide you much hope. As I sat in the waiting room, I could literally feel the sadness and hopelessness in the air. Watching the people come and go and seeing pain in their eyes grieves me. Many of them have no hope at all. The treatments are to last for three months and will be administered every two weeks. I will spare you all the details of all the side affects but it doesn’t look pretty. In the coming weeks my goal is to do all that I can to keep my body in the best shape possible. I have an incredible wife in my corner who does so much for me and the kids. She has put together a great meal plan and in the next post I hope to share some of my favorite meals. We are amazed by all the changes we already in see since making the dietary changes and we are believing that these changes will benefit us moving forward.
