A Little Tardy on the Update...

I know its been over a week (I've had a few inquiries... sorry), and I've been all over the place.  Just as soon as I wrote about coming home the previous Friday, I spiked a temperature on Saturday night and you guessed it, right back to the hospital.  Always a great night when you arrive at the ER around 11:00pm...

I have to say, all of the ER reduced waiting time commercials on radio/TV may be making a difference in the industry.  I have always assumed that its like the fake TV shows where its jammed, they sort you out by priority, and you are hopefully seen that night.  Each time (I think we are at 3), its been smooth sailing and pretty responsive.

The problem with me getting a temperature is that it indicates some type of possible virus in my system that has to be addressed.  I've been fortunate that all of the fevers have been viral and not bacteria related, meaning they are treatable with regular meds and you just have to wait it out.  If it is bacteria related, it can set the whole process back until the bacteria is gone, holding up treatment and possibly affecting the recovery.  That's about as far as I go as an analyst...

It appears that damn near everything is a result of hemoglobin... damn hemoglobin.  If that stuff gets too low, things start to go haywire.  Sure, I have no white blood cells, but I'm blaming hemo from now on.  So, once I hit the hospital, its more transfusions, and platelets, and cultures, and waiting.  The new blood brings everything up and I start to feel much better.  The short term goal is to get my system to reproduce these things on their own and it just takes time after the chemo destroys everything.  Fortunately, this started to happen throughout the week as the counts of most everything started to stabilize.  By Wednesday, even the white blood cells were showing and increase.  Again, this doesn't mean I have anywhere near the right amount, but, if you are hitting .090 and you get a couple hits, at least its noticeable.  So, yes, I am comparing my blood to a bad national league pitchers batting average.

MORE FUN WITH NEEDLES

I had my previous (and as I count, #4) bone marrow biopsy on the 23rd to assess how I was doing with the recovery.  That biopsy was required by the experimental protocol medicine that I am supposedly taking.  Remember, I could be on a placebo, and will never know, so I guess its more of a "what the hell, let's do that biopsy thing again" on him.  Actually, I'm like Pavlov's dog, they just tell me to roll over and I'm giving more marrow and bone cores...  my Doctor has is pretty good at this and while there is still pain, we get it done pretty quickly.  Its still the weirdest pain sensation I've ever felt, and the nice part is getting a pain pill as a reward.

The schedule was to get me out of there on Thursday, but not before they wanted another bone marrow biopsy, moving the count up to #5 in a month.  (I had a buddy ask me how many can they do in a month...  well, at least 5, and I'm not sure they can't do double)  I've been getting them done in my hip bones, but I read where the sternum is also a place to get them taken...  no thank you, I believe I'll have Swiss cheese hips before the sternum thing happens.  Back to the Thursday biopsy; Lynn and my mom wanted to watch this one, just to see the process, and it was a process alright.  My doctor was there but wanted to have one of the fellow doctors do the procedure.  This doctor had been monitoring me all week, so I knew her and had no issue, as if I had a choice.  She, the one who weighs about 105 lbs, got started with the prep, numbing the area, getting the needles ready, and began inserting the needle in the bone.  Well, all that milk consumption is apparently still paying off as she worked on getting the needle through the bone for about 10 minutes.  It wasn't happening.  Hell, I though the chisel and tap hammer were next, but my doctor decided to step in and finish the job, but he had to take the needle out and re-insert another time to get a "good" sample.  Mission accomplished, but this one would be sore for a few days.  Ultimately, no big deal, and I would be ready to head home that afternoon.

I may have mentioned before, but the hospital is not for rest.  Wake ups for blood samples, EKG's and taking vital signs ruin all normal sleep pattens.  Once you get to know the nurses and staff, they give you a break here and there, but I could count on antibiotic IV's up every 8 hours and medicine being delivered in between.  I still havene\'t figured out why I got Pepcid 3 times a day when I couldn't eat anything (the mouth sores) except for protein drinks and the occasional yogurt, but I took them.  A couple other hospital observations:

-  Wearing Ohio State shirts and walking around invites illicit comments from the hospital staff
-  There was an older lady on the my floor who didn't like her call button, so she just yelled for a nurse whenever she wanted one.  Actually quite humorous in its own way.
-  Its quite amazing to see how much it takes to make those places run 24/7 and you get a good sense that everyone working there likes their job and is in it for all the right reasons, which is refreshing.

HAIR UPDATE and OTHER STUFF

I've been home since Thursday afternoon and and that's a good thing, selfishly because of all the good sports that I could control with the home clicker.  I see it as a home field advantage.  When you are on the road (hospital), it just isn't the same, you can't pace at crucial times during games, get on the phone and bitch about a pitcher, play calling or what a choke so and so is on the golf course (a couple times in the hospital, a nurse wanted to check and make sure everything was OK while the Reds closer was walking people in the 9th inning).

My brother was back in town to seem me and to play in the Cup (the little known Concord Cup) to take my place this year, so we got to catch up and dominate the TV for a couple nights.  He assisted my Mom and Lynn in completing the painting of the family room before he and Dad were off on Saturday to play in the annual event.  It was tough to miss this event as it was the 1st time in 16 years I had missed a match.  But it was great to have our family together.  One highlight came when I got to shave his head on Friday....

Once Charlie and my Dad were gone for the golf, I had a very nice couple days with the ladies in my life; Hannah, Lynn and Mom.  Lynn and I discussed having her support the team by shaving her head, but I think the vote wasn't going to get anywhere.  (Hint to John/Melissa, if you can get her in for a cut and color before November, it would be really cool....).  Being home this weekend did allow me to see Michael and Hannah dressed very well and looking like young adults before they headed off to homecoming.  I think Michael is growing at the rate of 1/2 inch a week,

Sport doings and observations from the weekend:

-  For a 3rd consecutive year, the the right team won the local version of the Ryder Cup
-  Doesn't look like the US will fare as well in Wales.  If a captain can affect the result, Pavin never seemed to me to be the right guy.  I think you can assess the Ryder Cup captains by deciding who would be more fun to have a beer with...  advantage Monty, love him or hate him.
-  My Reds will be the big underdogs in the playoffs, but since I rooted for the Tigers in '06, how about a little love for the Redlegs from the Michigan crew?
-  The Big 10+1 (+ another 1 next year) can't be figured out.  Alabama looks much the best, and even if the Midwest football is better than the Pac 10, it doesn't look as exciting.
-  Be careful UM, don't get Robinson killed, you've rolled through some mediocre teams on offense, but find a D for #^$& sakes.
-  Wondering if Jimmy (freshman at MSU) is converted to green and white yet?  Next week will be revealing at the MSU/UM game.
-  And just this from watching too much CNN world overnight news...  can we just surround Yemen and find a way to fence them in?  What good comes out of Yemen?  Does anyone support Yemen, can you vacation in Yemen?

Last, and I know this has gone on long enough, my mouth finally has healed the point of being able to eat real meals, which is cool.  It may only last until the next round of treatment, but I'll take it, even though everything tastes like metal.

I have an appointment to get some good guy vs. bad guy white blood cells on Monday, and we are all keeping a positive frame of mind.  It doesn't mean treatment changes, but it will give us a clue on the next steps and when they will start.  And as always seems to be the case, there will be another bone marrow biopsy this week...  seriously. 

And as always, huge thanks to all the support from friends, family and all those at work who have been so supportive with cards, calls, meals, and making this process easier on Lynn, me and my family.