morph in

So, Gopilila is on a new painkiller - morphine. She was on 15mg(one pill) twice a day. But, by the time she took her second pill the first one was wearing out and she was in pain. So, the doctors have doubled her dose and asked her to take it every 8 hours (2 pills three times a day). This has helped significantly with the pain. Otherwise, it was so uncomfortable for her when the meds were wearing out. However, one of the side effects of the meds is constipation. So, more meds equals more...
We had house visits by the nurse a couple of times. The first one who came in was concerned that the pain levels were not under control and spoke to the doc who then revised the dosage. Even though the docs have suggested that she take two pills three times a day, Gopilila takes only one three times . She does not really like being drugged out. Once she remarked that if anyone asked her how she was she should just say that she's high.

no pain no gain?

The last couple of days have not been so good for Gopilila. She has been waking up in intense pain and has thrown up, too. Just when it all seemed that things were "under control", that her pain seemed steady (or appearing to be in decline) under medication, she woke up last morning and this morning in severe pain. THe pain and the throwing up doesn't help because it knocks out all her energy and her appetite.
Today, she starts on a new pain med that is time released (she was taking Tylenol 3 with codeine for the last few weeks). Hopefully, it will help.

chemo-puko

yeah, this chemo is heavy.
Gopilila is really wiped out. She has had no apetite and when she eats something it's throws up.
we were warned that nausea, fatigue and constipation were some one of the side effects of the chemo. In fact the docs prescribed pills and meds for the nausea and constipation ahead of time.

Chemo- round 2

Gopilila started with her chemo therapy for her lungs. The program is 4 days of chemo, 28 days of rest, 4 days of chemo, then 21 days of rest, 4 days of chemo for the next few months. The doc says that there is at least one quarter sized growth in her lungs and several smaller ones. He has had patients with similar growths in their lungs and has had "success" in treating them. Incidently, the chemo that she is being given, topotecan, is derived from some chinese herb. It's main function is to stop cell division, meaning "all" cell division.
Anyways, Gopilila was wiped out after the chemo. she has been in a lot of pain, especially in the left side and back of her chest.
Tomorrow, we got more chemo...
We were blessed with some wonderful visitors and association this last week - Narottam, his wife Tanvi and baby Lila visited us from Columbus for a couple of days and then Vrindavanath and Sita-Rama from New york. It was so wonderful meeting old friends and catching up. Devotee association is so special and enlivening; gopilila especially was really appreciative.

Chemo again

So, the word is that the cancer in Gopilila's lungs has spread from her cervix. Unfortuntely, the docs have not offered any alternatives to more chemotherapy. So, as it stands, Gopilila is in for more chemo on monday, december 10th.