What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

It's been a while since I updated you, so I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my week. Monday and Tuesday were great and I felt normal. Wednesday was another long chemo day. So far I feel much better this time than I did two weeks ago. By this time two weeks ago I couldn't even take a sip of water without vomiting. Hopefully this round continues to be easier.

For now, I thought I'd tell you about the new drug I'm receiving during chemo. Remember, this is an experimental drug for stomach cancer and I'm one of the first to take it for this particular cancer. Also, this is the 4th drug I receive on Wednesdays. I still receive the original 3 chemo drugs and now receiving Avastin as well. All together it takes about 5 hours to receive chemo. Below you will find information I received from MDA on my new drug Avastin.

"Avastin is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels that provide nutrition for cancer cells. It is used alone or in combination with other cancer fighting medicines."

The Side Effects
-High Blood Pressure (My doctor has now put me on blood pressure medicine to counteract this side effect. Also, during infusion they check my blood pressure constantly.)
-headaches
-fatigue, lethargic and sluggishness
-Increase risked of blood clots (Now I'm on a blood thinner to counteract the blood clots)
-Decreased heart function
-low white blood cell count (My blood work is still good)

It's like all drugs, they have a list of side effects and it just depends on how your body handles the drug. I'm not exactly sure what effects it has on me because I'm taking 4 drugs at once. I'm not sure which drug causes my symptoms.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

"Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.

He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge..." Psalms 144:1-2