Tuesday....October 13th....2009

Linda had her first infusion of Alimta today....she has 3 cycles of this chemo with it being infused every 21 days....Cycles 2 and 3 will be administered in Florida......

Linda talked to the doctor today about her hoarseness, coughing and belching...the best he could come up with was "cancer related" but no specific trigger or acceleration in the tumors or...or....

Linda is going to call the pulmonologist tomorrow as he was helpful before.....

Everything seems to be lined up for Florida..information is being sent down there to assist the Oncologist in picking up Linda's treatments while she is down there..should be no problem.....

Tonight was the DEFEAT CANCER dinner..interesting again....a lot of discussion about diet...eating plant foods for health and well being......

ALIMTA

Drug type: Alimta is an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug. This medication is classified as an "antimetabolite".

What Alimta is used for:
Alimta is used in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer after prior chemotherapy.

How Alimta is given:
Alimta is given as an infusion into the vein (intravenous, IV).
Patients treated with Alimta will usually require folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation to reduce treatment related side effects.

The following side effects are common (occurring in greater than 30%) for patients taking Alimta:
Low white blood cell count. (This can put you at increased risk for infection.)
Low red blood cell count (Anemia).
Fatigue
Nausea and vomiting
Constipation
Poor appetite
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Numbness or tingling of hands or feet
Depression
Rash, skin irritation

How Alimta works:Cancerous tumors are characterized by cell division, which is no longer controlled as it is in normal tissue. "Normal" cells stop dividing when they come into contact with like cells, a mechanism known as contact inhibition. Cancerous cells lose this ability. Cancer cells no longer have the normal checks and balances in place that control and limit cell division. The process of cell division, whether normal or cancerous cells, is through the cell cycle. The cell cycle goes from the resting phase, through active growing phases, and then to mitosis (division).
The ability of chemotherapy to kill cancer cells depends on its ability to halt cell division. Usually, the drugs work by damaging the RNA or DNA that tells the cell how to copy itself in division. If the cells are unable to divide, they die. The faster the cells are dividing, the more likely it is that chemotherapy will kill the cells, causing the tumor to shrink. They also induce cell suicide (self-death or apoptosis).

DEFEAT Cancer Program

DEFEAT Cancer is a year-round survivorship empowerment program for cancer survivors and their caregivers focusing on nutrition, physical activity, education and inspiration. Under the direction of oncologist Archie Bleyer, DEFEAT Cancer is sponsored by St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Sessions are held monthly (except August and December) from 5:30 to 8:00 PM at St. Charles Medical Center (2500 NE Neff Road in Bend, OR, with live broadcasts to SCMC-Redmond and Burns) unless otherwise noted. A light supper of soup and salad is served free of charge beginning at 5:30pm.