Here we go...
Lots to update you on the past few days and by the title above, I am on schedule and just got hooked up to my first dose of chemo... important update, the TV guy just visited and was able to work his magic and get the Playstation 3 hooked up, more later... This chemo treatment will be very different from the initial induction chemo that I received back in September. The September treatment was administered 24/7 for a week while this one will consist of 2 drugs (Fluderavine and Busolphine sp?) that only take 4 hours per day. But, the other side of it is that these 2 are more potent than the initial treatment. I'll be on them for 5 days, take a 1 day break and go directly to transplant.
Earlier in the week we had a couple of procedures; a CT scan to look at my lungs and organs again from the Pneumonia and on Tuesday, I had the surgery to put in the catheter that will be used to put the drugs in me or take blood out of me. Previously, I had a "PIC" line in my arm which served the same function, however, that was removed and I have upgraded to the catheter with 3 lines. This one is running out of my upper let chest area. Putting this one in required surgery. While overall tolerable to a degree (except when sleeping), my left shoulder area is very sore since the surgery and I'm told it will clear up in another day or so. I am taking some pain medication when the area throbs or becomes pretty agitated.
All of this led to Wednesday and check in at Karmanos. No reason to get there too early and a bed wasn't available until the afternoon regardless... we arrived about 3:00 to the palatial estate that is otherwise known as room 11 on the 10th floor. This floor is dedicated to bone marrow transplant recipients and and they have an area for bone marrow donors. Because everyone on the floor effectively has very little, if any, immune system throughout the process, this floor has its own air filtration system to minimize the air born bacteria that could affect the patients. An additional benefit of the system is that the patients don't have to wear masks when walking outside their rooms. It may seem minimal, but it is some type of small freedom we get on the floor.
Because everyone on the floor is in for a longer stay than most patients, the nurses are assigned more specifically to patients. While they all work the nursing schedule, whether it be 8 or 12 hour shifts, I will essentially have the the same nurses throughout my stay, at least that's the idea that my primary nurse outlined.
The food service here is a little different than the service at the previous hospitals. They have a small menu of items to choose from for the snack menu, but they also offer 3 meals a day that are an either/or type of choice. I didn't know they would be delivering food this morning and when the service came at 7:00 am, I probably wasn't the most friendly patient. They don't exactly help things by waking you up at 3:00 and 4:30 am to take vital signs and draw blood. I was pretty happy when one of my choices for dinner was Salisbury steak, seriously. It reminds me of the TV dinners we used to eat as kids when the parents were going out... will give a full report if it lives up to expectations or not. Here is the best part of the whole meal thing... you get served dinner between 4:30 and 6:00. I can't help but think of Del Boca Vista. Maybe I'll run for 10th Floor Mayor while I'm here.
Now that the Playstation 3 is hooked up, I have made a commitment to watching less TV... kidding. Actually, I need to improve my hand/eye coordination so that when I get to play golf again, I still have some sense of the game. What better way than video games? One of the nurses on the floor told me I should be playing Call of Duty (and I might), but I feel obligated to get the Bengals out of the 2-8 hole I put them in on the Madden football season I started a week ago. 10-15 years ago, these games would be a piece of cake to play and progressively dominate, but now... I'm a chump to the kids, someone they can string along in the games and win at any point. I haven't played Michael or Jimmy lately but I know the result before we even start. I tried to get them into the Tiger Woods golf, but it didn't stick (probably too little action).
I think I mentioned that my new doctor was Dr. Uberti. As it turns out, Uberti is one of the Co-Directors (co-doctors) on the floor and each of them makes rounds for 2 weeks at a time. Currently, the other doctor is making the rounds and his name is Dr. Ratanatharathorn. Thank heaven he goes by his first name. (Just thinking that his family should have taken a cue from many of the Europeans who moved to the US and shortened their name to make it easier... Dr. Ratan sounds nice). We met him last night and he was pretty darn cool and knew all about my case. He answered all of Mom's questions (critical for anyone to gain her confidence) and came back this morning to check in on me before the chemo started. Between he and Uberti, I'm very confident in the team they have together for treatment.
Thanks for asking... here's an update on my health. Obviously we know I am here to get a transplant, and that has not changed. Some positive news is that the latest bone marrow biopsy revealed that my Leukemia had not increased at all in the last month, essentially meaning that I have found a state of remission. However, my condition is still such that I need the transplant as I have what is called Myelodysplasia. Essentially this is very good indicator of bad cells and lets us know that even if I am considered in remission, the Leukemia is coming back unless they do the chemo and transplant. The doctors have said that this is a better situation than having my Leukemia counts much higher, even though it doesn't change the treatment. They like the fact that the counts are low and believe that the chemo will kill off the remainder of the bad cells before treatment.
Many people have asked about the donor process (as have we) and what we know is that it is a male and the blood stem cells are not here yet. They try to bring the transplant in the same day, depending on where the donor is located. Currently, my blood type is B positive, when we get through with the transplant, my blood type will be that of the donors', AB negative. It makes sense given his cells will be the ones growing, but I would never have guessed that one of the qualifications for transplant wouldn't be blood type, but it actually has no bearing on the "match."
Enough for now... the treatment has started and in a way, I have no idea what to expect (even though I've gone through chemo before). It seems like a long time ago since the diagnosis, and as always, we appreciate all of the support from everyone. My hope is to be home by the New Year (it is possible) and watching the bowl games on the big screen (yes, the TV is pretty bad here). And those of you wondering, the bowl pool will be out this weekend, so start studying the games.
