Day 4 of 5 taking irinotecan. I don’t think I have really ever done a deep dive into any prescriptions that either me or my family have taken to gather information about the uses, side effects, precautions, and origins until November 2021. In my experience, Tylenol and ibuprofen help (well, are supposed to help anyway) when I get headaches, the medicines my PCP requires me to take to control my Type 2 Diabetes are essential in controlling my blood glucose levels, and I have just trusted that it will serve its purpose. But now, I find myself researching each and every drug that is going into Khloe’s body like I am preparing to take the Pharmacist Licensing Exam.
The basics here are that Irinotecan is one of numerous chemotherapy drugs and belongs in a classification called plant alkaloids. This particular family of chemotherapy drugs is cell-cycle specific meaning they attack the cells during various phases of division. Irinotecan is not a drug that was originally on our road map. However, with the revision in diagnosis, and investigating favorable histology versus diffuse anaplasia, I can see why this particular medication was added to the plan. I have visited a multitude of medical websites that explains anaplasia, diffuse anaplasia, cancerous cells, and all of the other pieces of “Stage 3 diffuse anaplasia Wilms tumor”. And to be clear, I cannot correctly cite my sources because I am a crazy deranged mother just trying to understand about this evil that has invaded my child’s life without simply referring to Wikipedia and citing was not a high priority. In non-medical terms anaplasia is another technical name for cancerous cells and cancerous cells are ones that are no longer “normal”. So, diffuse anaplasia equates to cancer cells that are spread out over a large area and essentially multiplying like rabbits. Irinotecan is presumed to put and end to this rapid growth.
None of the side effects are pleasant so it isn’t like we expected any of the medications to provide some sort of anti-anxiety relief, or that any of these treatments will give Khloe the few additional inches she desires as a basketball player, or will provide infinite superpowers. In spite of all of the misery Khloe has experienced from this week long treatment, her faith has not waivered. This wonderful child of mine has not complained about any of the side effects she is experiencing. Instead, she has put her focus on me and Ca Shan to make sure we are alright. This is not fair, not in the least, but all of this makes me wonder, that if she can handle such hell in such a selfless way, in what ways is she going to change the world?
Mr & Mrs Coach 