A Big Day for Mark

The first big day is behind us, and I am happy to report everything went well. Mark's first Chemo treatment started at 9:00 this morning, and he finished at 4:30 this afternoon. It was incredibly interesting, scary, peaceful, and just about everything else in-between over the course of the day. The treatment consisted of 6 giant IV bags being put thru his body over the course of the day. Each bag was programmed to dispense at different speeds and they took anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours each. The 6 different bags were saline, steroids, anti-nausea medication, magnesium, the Chemo drug, and then more saline. Only one person could sit with him at a time, and Maura and I traded off each hour to keep him company.

He was a rock the entire time....certainly stronger than I was. Fortunately, his appetite was great today, and he ate a lot during treatment.

About an hour into the chemo bag, he got very tired and pale. But by the end of the last IV of saline, his color and strength were back.

As if that wasn't enough for the day, when he was done with Chemo we went over to radiology for his daily radiation treatment. We finally left the hospital at 6pm, with Maura driving home to David in Westwood and Mark and I driving home to Laguna. Meghan met us as home, and Jane brought Grace back after being at sleepover camp with her for the past 2 nights.

He is on some heavy duty nausea meds the next 3-4 days, as this can still be an issue the first few days after Chemo. But not knowing how he would react today, we are very happy with the initial results. Tomorrow and Thursday we will be back at 4:00 pm for daily radiation treatment, and then starting Friday his radiation will start between 8:00 -8:30 Monday - Friday thru January 4th. His next chemo day will be December 5th.

About half way thru the Chemo today, Mark wanted to send a kiss to Team Mark and all of you. I know the outpouring of love and support he continues to receive is giving him the strength to fight and win. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Love, Perry