Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Loopy Me

Good Night/Good Morning,
As I write this it is 11:30 pm, Tuesday, June 3. 

I was admitted to the hospital Monday, June 2 at 8:30 am as scheduled.  I guess someone  told them that I was pretty onery because they put me right across from the nurse's station.  The room is pretty small, even for an old hospital room but it is extremely clean and the whole staff so far has been great. 

Visitors have to wash their hands upon arrival after checking in with the staff.

When I arrived it took basically all day to get all my lab work drawn and getting all the standard medical questions asked and answered because in between I had to have a chest x-ray taken to make sure my lungs had cleared after having fluid on them the week before.   The chest x-ray showed clear but just to be sure they decided to send me to get a CT.  Today they told me it was also clear and they would proceed to chemo........

Well, it is now 6:20 pm on June 4 and I will finish this blog.  I has so loopy when I started this because they had given me Adavant at 4:30 pm and I couldn't wake up.   I thought starting my blog when I was up one of the dozen times during the night that it would keep me awake until their next round to do vital signs but it didn't work.

So, to go back to where I left off...   I did get my chemo last night in a 30 minute dose of a hanging drug run through my IV line.  But about an hour before they started that they gave me the Adavant, some steroids and Zophran (an anti-nausea medication).  I was pretty out of it by 6:30 pm and did get a lot of rest last night but the IV fluids they are giving me also have a drug called Lasix in it.   In case you don't know that is a med to get rid of fluids.   So they pump it in and then I have to pass it out.  Lots of times up and down but never fully awake and certainly not steady on my feet.

Today has been a pretty good day.  My sister Stacy came by to see me and brought me a Black with pink polka dots fradora (a hat) to wear when I get up and start walking the halls to keep my energy up.  It will certainly make me feel more chipper than the scarves.

I am now almost finished with the second round of chemo and that is the last one!   Yeah.

Tomorrow is what they call a rest day.   No procedures.

Friday I get my stem cells back.   It is done like a blood transfusion so is completely non-invasive. 
They tell me I will start to feel the effects of the chemo within 4 to 5 days but it is already working.  From the treatment last night about 5:00 last night until they drew blood at midnight my red blood count had already gone down.  This will continue to go down until it gets really low.  That means the chemo is doing it's job.

More after I get my stem cells back on Friday. 

Have a great day and even greater week.

Love to all.