It's the Weekend!

Update 9-26-10 (Sunday)  If yo haven't read below, there were some decent status updates, but the most pertinent is that as of today, I am back in the hospital and can't seem to avoid getting fevers that require attention.  I am not expecting to leave today, but I'm out of the prediction business....

I've never been one to be very superstitious, unless it involves some type of roulette or where you sit when big plays need to happen, but I purposefully stayed away from posting anything while I was a home this week for fear of having the Doctor (or something) indicated that I need to go back in the hospital.

It almost happened Thursday when I went for my 4th bone marrow biopsy.  That procedure is relatively easy at this point and takes no more than 30 minutes, but you have to wait an hour after before you can go home.  As is the case every day, they check my blood levels.  Those results can back and the hemoglobin and platelets had dipped below the comfort level and if I were going to make it through the weekend, I needed more transfusions.

I'm all for transfusions as I know they are the "speed" of the process, almost instant energy, but they do take a while to get started and completed.  Getting the platelets has been the adventure lately, with my reaction last Sunday.  So now they have to pre-medicate me for any platelet transfusion.  That involves getting some liquid Benadryl and a little morphine through my IV port (and a couple other things).  Wow!, it is instant relaxation and comatose feeling all in one.  You can drool, don't care, you mumble, don't care.  And it got me some needed sleep as well.  I ended up getting the platelets first and the 2 units of blood, and the whole process took an extra 12 hours, so when I got home, I felt good and couldn't sleep.

The best news of the day is that Lynn and I were finally reunited and she was given the OK to come home.  So we spent it back in the hospital until 11 pm :(   But, we made it home and the house is back to normal., the dog is still blind, mom and dad are giving us big help, and Hannah keeps everyone in great spirits.  Looking forward to a nice weekend and catching up with everyone here and not looking a hospital walls.

The bone marrow tests from Thurs will be critical to the next steps.  We should know results and get a lot of direction next (selfishly hoping I will be at home next weekend as well), but we'll follow the protocol as given by the doctor, but put a good one in upstairs for me to be home next weekend.

I never knew what to think about losing my hair, and not from the angle of being vain.  First, it was more of a macho thing, as in "it won't happen to me."  I didn't really believe it, but I hoped.  A week ago I was able to start pulling a bunch out just by running my fingers through my hair, it was a strange feeling, and it was the first day that the Leukemia became more that just this disease that was out there in my body and blood.  That has to sound strange, but somehow I tied hair loss to the reality.  (It’s not like I hadn't already had a bunch of side effects to make me completely uncomfortable!).  Over the next few days it continued to thin and once Lynn got home, it was a bunch of thin wisp, not hair.  So we took it off!

I had to brighten the picture with Hannah....

Bottom line is I'm ok with it, and actually like a little.

So, everyone have a great weekend, be safe, Go Reds, Bengals, Bucks...  Eat Pork, and I'll catch you on the flipside.

Keep the comments coming and huge thanks to the meal providers...

I Didn't Realize I Had Not Updated

Actually, I intended to a couple of times, most notably last Friday when I was supposed to come home, but then could not due to a small fever.  Then, it was to be Saturday, but I had to have an EKG on Sunday per the timing of the chemo and follow up tests.

While being sent home sounds a bit much at this point, if I stay clean (wash hands, same with others) and stay reasonable, I'm at no more risk than I would be at the hospital where all the germs hang out.  Still, any fever over 100.5 will have me right back in the hospital.

Ten minutes after getting platelets Sunday morning, of course I had a reaction and had to be treated with IV Benedryl, and morphine.  That resulted in another EKG and waiting a lot longer to leave.  All was pulled under control. but you have to start wondering about being snake bitten.  Ultimately, the reason they are able to send me home is that the white blood cells are starting to grow and get detected.  The doctors say I have been ahead of the curve in this respect, but have had a couple other side effects they wouldn't have expected.  I know...  keep 'em on their toes!

This is day 10 post chemo, and I've still had no nausea, but with some of the other side effects, it can get challenging at times.  The mouth sores resulted in me not talking for several days, but feeling better about getting the vocab out there again and having a real meal.

It is very hard to explain to anyone how you feel when you are "blaaaaahhh."  It's tired, its headaches, its stress, its unable to get comfortable in any position, no food sounds good, its sleeping anywhere from 25 - 90 minutes at a time, and then you hope to get back to sleep sometime.  And it doesn't matter when...  And its not wanting to talk to anyone.  Sometimes the silence of no TV and just laying still is what you can deal with.  I think it goes in cycles and I'm coming back out of one.

That's why I'm writing this at midnight!  Got back from a routine blood check (which I will have to do every day while I am home) which ended up lasting 9 hours today, because I needed more platelets.  I guess the ones from Sunday didn't take, seriously.  But, I feel as good as I have in days, and wanted to get this out there while I could.  I do have another bone marrow biopsy for Thursday...  this will be pretty critical for those little white blood cell bastards.

Maybe some brevity writing tomorrow, and certainly an update on the world of my sports.

Last, I need this hair to be gone, I'm losing it, but its like the follicle gods want me to have this drag out as well...