BWH up to Day 7 (3/29/2013)

Well it's been a crazy past few days.  The mouth sores have continued but they respond well to the pain killer.  I've receive 3 units of blood, 1 on yesterday and 2 on Wednesday.  We also have been keeping an eye on my platelets which were 3,000 /cc3 this morning so I be getting a unit of those today.
White counts are the biggy.  I've gotten 2 shots of neupogen and today I'll get another. My count today was 0.05 /mm3 which is actually up from 0.02 and 0.03 the past few days.  That's good trend.
Doctor Wu and her PA came in today and the "D" word was used a couple of times.. no not diarrhea, but discharge.  Cathy and Andy are here today..  Joni and Kayla are on the way.  Peter, Holly and Annie will come out on Sunday..Jon and Sammy...maybe Saturday.  Some staff are saying .. Oh I'm off later this week and you will probably not be here when I get back..
These are all very encouraging but I'd like a date please.. :-)

Also I just noticed today my hair is falling out yet again..  I can always tell because my mustache "feels sore".. Then I do the back of the head test and sure enough, hair between the thumb and the index finger.. but the funny thing is I mentioned it to the doctors this morning and she said, I looked good bald..  lol .. Oh well, the third time is a charm right..  

BWH Day +2 (Sun.) and +3 (Mon.)

Yesterday was a relaxing day,  No visitors, but I did have a Skype call with my mom and brother Joe.  The rest of the day was truly a  day of rest.  I watched a couple of movies, MIB3 and Joyful Noise.  I liked both movies.
I am still feeling well although last night I did notice that my throat is a little sore.  Kinda like a lump in it.  This is a known side effect of the chemo.  The chemo effects rapid growing cells which includes the lining of the esophagus and intestine.  Once my cells come back these symptoms will subside.

Today is day +3.... Was visited by a very nice PA student who was doing some clinical rotation.  I agreed to him interviewing me and a physical examination.  He was an EMT who went into a PA program.
Cathy is here today and we walked outside of the room around the 30 feet or so of the wing.  It's funny to see the nurses I've only know with masks on, unveiled in the lights of the hallway.  Marissa, Courtney and Shannon.. great servants to the sick.  God bless them all.  Had a nice shower, and who does not feel better after a shower.  
WBC count is low.. 90 cells /mm3.. normal levels are like 3000 - 7000 cells/mm3, so yeah it's low !!
From what we are told, I have neupogen shots scheduled for Day +5 which will help boost the stem cells to produce cells.  That will be Wednesday.  So I am hoping to see counts start to go up this weekend..
I'll keep everyone informed.

BWH - Day 0 - +1

As a transplant patient when you are admitted the days are counted don backwards from the date of your infusion. 
As I told the nurse... oh it's like golf... -2,-1,0 (or par), +1,+2 etc..
So the past few days I did not blog because I was taking the chemo drugs.  Those went in well but I did get sick once...  They hype you up on fluids and you know the old saying.. what goes in must come out.. and be measured ...

Yesterday was Day 0.. Happy Birthday to me !!
My cells were infused around 12:30 yesterday,  over about a 25 minute period.  I took the infusion well.. So now we sit tight.  My counts will drop and then rise again... hmmmm sounds familiar ??
Supportive care until discharge.
I'll be getting a cell count chart today from my nurse.. so I can keep track of them too..

One thing that is really funny ...  I've had some real crazy dreams..
Here's a taste..
I was driving our old van south on 787 with Gandalf the grey following me on one of those spider motorcycles. and there was a storm coming in...Right by the olde D&H building a HUGE blast of wind hit the van I was in.  I looked behind and saw Gandalf on his bike getting blow off the road by the wind... Then I woke up.

Weird huh ??

Transplant - Day 2

Last night I did not get much sleep.   Between the vitals needing to be taken, and the hanging of meds, and the occasional beeping alarm of the infusion pumps, yeah I kinda slept in 1-2 hr blocks.. Oh and the bathroom runs also.. lets not forget about the bathroom runs.. 
My mom and brother Joe stopped in today and spent the day with us.  We had a nice masked visit.. Cathy has been great.  Right by my side the whole time. I was also visited by the chaplain this afternoon.  It was nice to chat with her and she prayed for me and my family. 
Appetite is a little light but I think I'm actually eating a little too much 3 times a day...

But all and all I'm still hanging in there, strong just tired. 

Transplant.. day one..

Was admitted yesterday afternoon about 5pm.  After a short stop on the 5th floor a room opened up on the 4th floor which is one of the stem cell wards. Cathy, Jon and Annie left before I moved down to the 4th floor.  So it's like once you get into the room and the door is shut that's it.. you are isolated.  Nursing folks come in with gowns, masks and gloves. I have a small fridge in the room but apparently they frown on stocking it with Sam Adams... Gee... I wonder why ??  The room is not near a street and that has good points and bad. It's quiet.. you do not hear any traffic or sirens as we did when we stayed at the hotel.  Chemo will start today.. probably in a few hours if not sooner.  Cathy will be here this week and although the solitude is good at times.  It's good to have company. Expecting to get the Hickman covered up so I can get a shower and a better fitting pair of hospital scrubs on.  Would also like to loose the hospital gown... they are just uncomfortable.. and way too hot for me.  I do have temperature control of the room which is great because I do like a cooler room.. Hopefully a food menu will be coming in soon .. I wonder if I'll get a cup of coffee.. ???

Milestone 1 - NAILED !!!

Milestone 1:  White cell boost, Stem cell harvest..
As I mentioned yesterday I spent the whole day on the pheresis machine.  Came back to the hotel, ate dinner and by then I was pretty wiped.   About 7:15 we got a call from my stem cell nurse.  I needed 2 million cells to move forward and get admitted... I actually harvested 3.1 million.  So we were cleared to come home today which we did after a decent night's sleep and a good breakfast.  we were on the road no later than 9:30 and home just before noon.  So I'm relaxing.. NOT reading work e-mails, and watching basketball with my kids.  Saturday we will head back over to Boston for the admission and the long stretch.  I figure with an extra million stem cells that might help my recovery a little huh ??  More tomorrow after I get admitted.. and I'll even post some pics, now that I know how to..lol...

first day of the harvest..

ok so today is the first day of the stem cell harvest. my nurse draws a cbc on me and when the result come back 20 min. later.. i was a bit shocked that my white count was over 50,000.. being on chemo and getting used to wbc counts less than 5 or so i guess the neupogen works.

One year when we went to Toronto to a conference there was a speaker there named Melinda Fish. Melinda had a term coined an "accidental intercession"..
Sunday when I went in to get my shot, there were two other patients there. I really did not notice.. then on Monday the same nurse that gave me my shot told me that one of the women who was in the office on Sunday was going to Boston also. So I kinda pushed that down in my priority list because, what are the chances... really of meeting up with a fellow Albanian. ..

So we come in today to get my harvest going and our nurse asks us where we are from, of course we say Albany. Well to our surprise, the nurse says.. you know the women in around the corner is from near Albany.. so Cathy goes around the corner and introduces herself and would you believe, this was one of the girls from my Sunday office visit.. and she knows my sister in law.. so we shot a picture..
May God grant you peace and health Barbara. May the Holy Spirit comfort you and give you strength and peace. May Jesus our healing touch you with His hands of Grace.

Accidental intercessions.. you gotta love them.