Hori's chemotherapy timetable - first 40 days
4 September 2021This update is to inform you of Hori's chemotherapy timetable for the month ahead.
We've all become familiar with the term chemotherapy because Cancer has permeated society for decades. It is a health issue from which we are never too far removed.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells. It usually works by keeping the cancer cells from growing, dividing, and making more cells. Because cancer cells usually grow and divide faster than normal cells, chemotherapy has more of an effect on cancer cells. However, the drugs used for chemotherapy are powerful, and they can still cause damage to healthy cells. This damage causes the side effects that are linked with chemotherapy (fatigue, pain, mouth and throat sores, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, constipation, blood disorders).
Hori is experiencing most of these side effects and two days ago was told that he has mucositis - damage to the cells inside the mouth and throat, which causes painful sores in these areas. So in addition to the chemotherapy drugs, he is on morphine for pain management.
The drugs that are used as part of the chemotherapy treatment are -
Dexrazoxane - to protect the heart
Doxorubicin - slows or stops the growth of cancer cells by blocking an enzyme called topo isomerase 2 (which cancer cells need to divide and grow)
Cisplatin - used to treat a number of different cancers, usually in combination with other chemotherapy drugs
Cotrimoxazole - an antibiotic used to treat certain bacterial infections
Methotrexate - helps stop making and repairing DNA, which cancer cells need to do to grow and multiply
Pegfilgrastim - used to stimulate the growth of "healthy" white blood cells in bone marrow, once chemotherapy is given. White blood cells help the body fight infection.
CHEMOTHERAPY TIMETABLE
25 Aug Day 1 (Dexrazoxane, Doxorubicin, Cisplatin)
26 Aug Day 2 (Dexrazoxane, Doxorubicin, Cisplatin)
15 Sep Day 22 (Methotrexate chemo - 4 hours)
22 Sep Day 29 (Methotrexate chemo - 4 hours)
29 Sep Day 36 (Dexrazoxane, Doxorubicin, Cisplatin)
30 Sep Day 37 (Dexrazoxane, Doxorubicin, Cisplatin)
Antibiotics (Cotrimoxazole) every Saturday and Sunday, morning and evening
Blood tests - 8th, 15th, 21st, 28th, 27th September
This is just the start of Hori's fight for life. He will have to go through this for at least the next three months. No parent wants this for their child.
Please lock in these dates and spare a thought for what Hori is going through. If you want to do something extra for him, you can send gifts to Hori Bellass at Starship Hospital, 2 Park Road, Grafton, Auckland 1023 or mail to Starship Children's Health, Private Bag 92024, Auckland 1142.