After First Chemo Treatment

As you might guess Karen is not feeling well so she ask me to let ya know what's been going on lately. First though, I'd like to thank everyone for your kind words concerning the loss of my sweet sister Claudia. We will all miss her terribly. The last time we saw her was when Karen was in recovery from her surgery. Three of my sisters , including Claudia, came to visit . Claudia was giving K a scalp massage while Joan was rubbing her feet, Juanita was being in charge. lol
Anyway,,,,Karen had her first chemo treatment on the 29th. We arrived at the center at 8:30 am and left at 6 pm. The whole thing was a bit surreal. The treatment room reminded me of someones family room. There were about 10 or 12 others there. All in soft leather recliners with their individual iv's going. The treatment is basically pain free, so everyone was talking , joking ,reading, etc. I brought the laptop with a couple dvd's , but the atmosphere was such that comraderie with the other patients seemed more appropriate. No one was outwardly sad or depressed, more like encouraging each other and sharing their stories. The next day we had to go back for the follow up injection of a drug intended to stimulate white cell production. Then the fun was over.
Karen has been alternately nauseous, lethargic, in pain and weak for the last week. Food is something she must force herself to eat. Not only does it not taste right, but she doesn't know which bite will make her nauseous. I spend a lot of time running back and forth to the market trying to find something she can eat and more importantly keep down. She has zero appetite and only eats for survival. We called the Doctor yesterday to get a prescription for something that will give her some appitite. I will pick that up as soon as the pharmacy opens this a.m. She has already lost more weight than she should at this point. As you know she didn't have much to spare before this all started.
Even with all this she does have short good spells. I bought one of those fold up awnings and put it in the front yard. Put a chaise lounge and a little table under it so she could be outside enjoying the scenery, critters, birds and all those things she loves so much about living where we do. Yesterday she was out there for awhile and the next thing I noticed , she was snuggled under the quilt you folks from the quilting guild made her, sound asleep and peaceful. Of course the lounge was being shared with three or four of her animals. Don't try to convince me that the cats and dogs don't know something is up. I think this will become a daily ritual for us.
Hopefully Karen will be able to personally update this in the near future. Until then I'll try to keep you up to date.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.