Update! Sorry it took so long!

Hey Jesse, It's GREAT about all that you're doing to help Jennarose. I think you should ALWAYS call the doctor with your concerns. After my surgery I couldn't think about eating for 3 weeks. The only thing I was eating was Jello and soup. I lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks.

I would not stress so much about her eating solid foods. Even just SMALL amounts of different jello's she likes, broth, sipping on healthy shake maybe watered down some so it's not so thick and heavy. I would DEFINATELY give her a table spoon of Gatorade every 15 - 30 minutes. How are her spirits? I wish I was there to help out and give you a break I would do it in a heart beat.

My thoughts and prayers are with you ALL. Don't stress about keeping up with everyone on here you have A LOT ON YOUR PLATE. We definately understand and will wait patiently in prayer for you all.

Love and Blessings, Sharon Give her hugs from us PLEASE...... A HUGE HUG FOR YOU AND ALL YOU'RE ARE DOING.

Jesse:
As everyone has said, eating is a major issue when going through this. Little bits maybe every 1/2 hour or so is better than nothing. As for the nausea, there are so many things she can take for that. I hope that they give her premeds the night before chemo as well as during and after. Zofran, for example, worked well for me. But it has to be taken before the onset of nausea, as a preventative. When you lose weight that fast you are primarily losing muscle weight, and that's not good. Try some protein shakes with ice cream. Maybe freeze a power shake into popsicles so Jenna can just let it melt slowly in her mouth, which would also give her the fluids she needs. Protein is vital for tissue repair and recovery. I bought a snow cone machine and used it a lot, little bits at a time. It also helped because I had horrible mouth sores, no taste buds, and my tongue was often swollen.

I can imagine the schedule you are keeping. Don't worry about writing everyone back personally. We all understand. We only write personal notes to let you know we are thinking of the both of you and praying for you. A quick post here once in a while will keep us up to date and make it easier on you.

God bless you both! Our love and prayers and HUGS.
Monika

Jesse - thanks so much for giving us an update. I think of Jenna so often and wonder how you both are doing. The ladies all gave excellent advice as always. And really, we don't expect you to send emails individually - at least this way we can all hear at the same time how you are doing. You are doing a super job - it's hard work being a caretaker - but I am sure Jenna would do it for you if the roles were reversed. In sickness and in health - right? My best to you both and know you are in my prayers always. Kris

Sounds very much like what I went thru, I went for Bleo and Cysplatin every three weeks with etopicide in the mix as well. I had four or five antinauseas that helped. If I can remember there was zofran, this one that had three pills in a pack and was very $$, ativan (this helped when nothing else did as its also antianxiety), benadrill was also used to help with reaction and thats all from the top of my head. I still have all the notes at home just not with me.

As for eating tips, they had me eat meals from a childs plate, to make it less overwhelming and easier for me to finish. I lived for the entire time on boosts and a sirian(sp?) dish my neighbor made that was lentels and wheat germ, sound gross but its not bad and its easy going down with protien.

Also do not hesitate to call her doc especially if she has cramping (think labor type pains) in her stomache, I had this problem twice when my white count bottomed out (literally was 0).