Preparations with Nurse JanSara did great today during her initial round of Chemotherapy. Only 7 more rounds to go. She feels great and had no troubles during her session. The "stuff" that chemotherapy drugs do is AMAZING. Read the following excerpt (from wikipedia) and see if you can make sense of it...
The exact mechanism of action of adriamycin is complex and still somewhat unclear, though it is thought to interact with the DNA by intercalation. Adriamycin is known to interact with the DNA by intercalation and inhibition of macromolecular biosynthesis. This inhibits the progression of the enzyme topoisomerase II, which unwinds DNA for transcription. Adriamycin stabilizes the topoisomerase II complex after it has broken the DNA chain for replication, preventing the DNA double helix from being resealed and thereby stopping the process of replication.
Diagram of two Adriamycin molecules intercalating DNA
In Dr. Brad terms... This wonder drug attaches itself to the rapidly dividing (cancer) cells and messes with their genetic makeup, inhibiting the cells from dividing and multiplying, thus stopping them dead in their tracks.
Adriamycin Injection
(HOT chemo patient)
The dreaded side-effects of chemo usually onset within the first 24-48 hours after the injections. Sara received lots of anti-nausea drugs prior to chemo and we brought lots of drugs home to fight off the nausea. Hopefully it works.
After we got home from chemo, Sara had an email from the ladies from our Bible study back in Japan. They wanted to send their encouragement, support, and a picture from afar. These ladies are awesome and some of the many reasons Misawa was such an enjoyable part of our lives. THANK YOU!
The exact mechanism of action of adriamycin is complex and still somewhat unclear, though it is thought to interact with the DNA by intercalation. Adriamycin is known to interact with the DNA by intercalation and inhibition of macromolecular biosynthesis. This inhibits the progression of the enzyme topoisomerase II, which unwinds DNA for transcription. Adriamycin stabilizes the topoisomerase II complex after it has broken the DNA chain for replication, preventing the DNA double helix from being resealed and thereby stopping the process of replication.
Diagram of two Adriamycin molecules intercalating DNAIn Dr. Brad terms... This wonder drug attaches itself to the rapidly dividing (cancer) cells and messes with their genetic makeup, inhibiting the cells from dividing and multiplying, thus stopping them dead in their tracks.
Adriamycin Injection(HOT chemo patient)
The dreaded side-effects of chemo usually onset within the first 24-48 hours after the injections. Sara received lots of anti-nausea drugs prior to chemo and we brought lots of drugs home to fight off the nausea. Hopefully it works.
After we got home from chemo, Sara had an email from the ladies from our Bible study back in Japan. They wanted to send their encouragement, support, and a picture from afar. These ladies are awesome and some of the many reasons Misawa was such an enjoyable part of our lives. THANK YOU!
3 comments:
Sara & Brad,
You guys are such sources of inspiration for me! Thanks so much for providing the blog, Brad. Sure hope the nausea is still at bay, Sara. BTW, I've been assigned Lackland AFB Nov-Jan 9,2010! Lucky for me, because I know some awesome folks there that throw a great Christmas Eve party! This year might be postponed though, as 2009 has placed a bit much on their plates...! :) Hoping to get a peek at Baby Sullivan while I'm there. Much love to all three of you.
Renée Gigoux
This is interesting. In addition, for fun, I think you would like life science cartoons on VADLO search engine.
What a wonderful support group!
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