helping devo kick cancer's butt

Devon and Erin are both enjoying mom visiting them in Whistler this month from Northern Ireland. Mom really wanted to be with Devon to help out as much as she could, especially for one of her treatments.

So Monday morning, they head down to Vancouver for a day of blood work and a visit with Devon’s oncologist, Dr. Connors. Providing all goes well with her blood work, Devon will then complete 2 full days of chemotherapy (that’s 1 more day than last month).

The hardest part about this last round of chemo for Devon has been the fatigue. She finds she has enough energy to go out, perhaps for lunch or to run an errand or two, but that small outing often wipes her out and she needs to spend the following day resting to recover.

She’s anxious about her next round of chemotherapy on Tuesday and Wednesday as the side-effects will be tougher. She could use some encouragement in the coming days to keep kicking cancer’s butt!

Devon, Mom and Erin visit the Bearfoot Bistro together.

Devon and Eric are Vancouver bound on Monday morning to see Devon’s oncologist, Dr. Connors. This trip is to determine if she is well enough after her last allergic reaction to continue with chemotherapy on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Its been weeks since Devon last did chemo and she is desperate to start again. Yesterday (Sunday), unfortunately, Devon headed back to the emergency clinic in Whistler because she was feeling so lousy – still having bad side effects from her last allergic reaction. She’s experiencing neck, eye and facial discomfort. After some medication was given to her, she headed home and is anxious now to see her oncologist to determine next steps.

Some tips on helping Devo practically right now:
1. Please keep phone calls and visits short (like really short!) as she’s tired and has a hard time concentrating on anything for very long. Even listening takes a lot out of her. Thanks for understanding!

2. We’ve added another date this week to the meal train as she’s just too tired to do much cooking. If you haven’t signed up for a meal (even delivery is a possibility!), please consider signing up here. This is a very practical way to help Devon out and she is so thankful for this support. We have dates on the meal train throughout August. More dates will be added as we know her treatment plan each month.

Thanks so much! We’ll post an update once she hears from Dr. Connors.

Well, what a trip to Vancouver its been for Devon. Her oncologist has confirmed that it was the clinical trial drugs causing the allergic reactions, which means she can no longer participate in the clinical trial.

That being said, she will continue with chemotherapy once she has rested and recovered from this reaction.

She’s headed home to Whistler and feels pretty crappy – her skin is itchy, red and feels like it’s burning. She’s back on predizone, which makes it hard for her to concentrate or focus on anything for more than a few minutes.

Praying she recovers quickly as she’s like to start back on chemo next week – but that is up to Dr. Connors and her blood work.

Thanks for your positive thoughts, prayers and support.

After the good news about Devon finally being able to start chemo again after recovering for weeks after an allergic reaction, she unfortunately had another (more severe) reaction when she started her trial again.

In Erin’s words:
“It hit her hard. She has white lips, red eyes and her body looks like Barney. She’s so purple.. She has trouble breathing and I had a fit…I ran as fast as I could to get the car. Devon couldn’t be believe how fast I ran!! Got her in the truck and drove to the hospital as we called the cancer agency. Well no Emerg wants a cancer patient.. We turned around after talking to the nurse and went back to the room. Dr. Connors called and he is worried about her. He put her back on predizone and said call if she gets worse.”

After a short time back in the hotel trying to get Dev’s swelling down, she got worse. Erin drive her to Vancouver General Hospital where she was admitted due to a fever, swelling and raised heart rate – has an IV drip and lots of medication.

Dr. Connors will decide later today if she can continue with her treatments.

Great news today! Devon’s blood work is good so she starts back on the clinical trial drug!

Chemo starts at 11am tomorrow. She is off the predisone from the reaction so she should feel a lot better in a day or two.

Awesome news!!

Devon really needs our prayers and support as she heads into her appointments in Vancouver today.

Devon will start her day by getting blood work done (11 vials minimum) followed by an appointment with her oncologist, Dr. Connors. The results from her blood work today will determine if she is healthy enough to continue with her chemotherapy and clinical trial over the next 2 days.

The allergic reaction she had to the chemo last time has been very hard on her. In her own words she describes the last couple of weeks as follows:

“I have a bit of ‘chemo’ brain, much like prego brain. I can’t seem to concentrate for long & need to “de-noise” a lot, meaning I just sit or lay and listen with my windows open to Whistler’s scenery/air – no TV or music. I wish I could actually finish a movie. Thank you to everyone for the books. I will read them but right now my eyes and head hurt too much to read and concentrating is hard right now. I go randomly on online at all hours, as I can’t seem to sleep from the predisone. I hope to be off of it by Monday and will find out from Dr Connors what the next step is for the chemical reaction (allergic reaction).”

Devon has really been struggling with concentrating on anything lately, which both frustrates and exhausts her. Movies, books, even short conversations can be exhausting – even if she’s simply listening. It takes a lot out if her to focus or follow a conversation.

Devon really wants to start chemo again to beat cancer and is also making an appointment in Vancouver for some holistic health support as well.

Thank you for your well wishes, prayers and support. We’ll update again as soon as we know what Dr. Connors says.