Loose Strife

Laura began chemotherapy today. The 2nd opinion oncologist from Dana Farber finally made contact this morning and agreed with the treatment plan. So Laura spent the afternoon starting a chemotherapy treatment that will last through the end of the year and is administered every three weeks. She is taking “AC”, which is a combination of two drugs, Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) and Cyclophosphamide. This is one of the standard first line chemo combinations for breast cancer.
The anxiety leading up to this was far greater than the actual experience. Laura was gratefully relaxed and comfortable throughout. In fact, she slept most of the 4 1/2 hours that she sat in the “chemo room”. She rested on the way home and has been sleeping soundly since after dinner. So besides fatigue, probably partly due to the exhaustion effect after the end of days of anxious waiting, she seems to be doing pretty well.
Keep sending your good vibes her way. This afternoon as I sat with Laura I was reading more of Dr Susan Love’s Breast Book and after the chemo section there is some discussion about the validity of various alternative and complementary therapies — from prayer to crystals to mistletoe. (Strange enough, the NIH is indeed sponsoring clinical trials on the use of mistletoe.) Anyway, my impression was that the most important complementary “therapy” is a patient with a good attitude. This may be due to the comfort of knowing that people are praying for her, the confidence gained from a cancer support group, the calming effect of visualization or meditation or laughter, etc. At the very least, this sort of thing makes someone with cancer feel better in their daily life. But beyond that, there have been repeated clinical trials that show that the power of the mind can statistically improve treatment outcome, delay recurrence, and extend life. So if you were wondering what you can do to help, now you’ve got a lead.
By the way, there have been clinical trials that also show that the mind can have amazing negative effects, too. In a clinical trial in which men were given a chemotherapy placebo, 30% of them lost their hair!