I finished my chemo for this round yesterday. This treatment was the same as the prior round. I am getting high doses of cyterabine every other day for 5 days. Was very tired the first 2 days and have become less so over the rest of the week.
Unlike the last 2 rounds, I am dealing with some nausea. It has been pretty mild and manageable. The nausea seems to be passing now that the actual administration of the chemo is done. The doctor said that with some patients the nausea does get worse with each treatment. That has me somewhat concerned about the cumulative effect of all these treatments.
The doctor visits every day, but the visits are short. Other then the mild stomach issues I have no other problems to report. Today he commented "You're doing very well considering the high dose of chemo you are getting". I'll try to remember to ask what condition he expects I should be in.
So now we are waiting again. My counts have dropped a bit since I got here (as they should). They will continue to fall for the next week. I am hoping that my visit here will be no more than 3 weeks.
Andrea's mom, Marsha, stayed with Andrea and the kids last week so Andrea got to come visit everyday. I can't tell you how much easier it has made the first week. I've been able to see the kids a bit too. They can't come to my room because they are not allowed in my wing, but we make it work. I had such a craving for Wendy's of all things so Andrea brought me lunch yesterday (spicy chicken Sandwich & fries). I'm usually begging for a Godfathers combo pizza right about now, but will wait a few days for my stomach to settle down before I annihilate one of those.
The week has passed quickly. I am thankful for that. Family and friends continue to be a blessing, helping us out in so many ways.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Cheap Medicine: Our Anniversary
On the 26th of January, Andrea and I celebrated our 9th anniversary.
If asked "What have I learned from all those wonderful years with my wife?"
I would respond, "Well, I've learned that marriage is the best teacher of all. It teaches you loyalty, forbearance, meekness, self-restraint, forgiveness --and a great many other qualities you wouldn't have needed if you'd stayed single."
If asked "What have I learned from all those wonderful years with my wife?"
I would respond, "Well, I've learned that marriage is the best teacher of all. It teaches you loyalty, forbearance, meekness, self-restraint, forgiveness --and a great many other qualities you wouldn't have needed if you'd stayed single."
Thursday, February 24, 2011
AML: Round 4... Full House
I am back in Sanford for round 4 of my chemo treatments to treat my acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I have resided on the 6th floor - C wing of Sanford Hospital for all my treatments since I was diagnosed Sept 23rd, 2010. The C wing is mainly for leukemia and blood cancers.
I guess it has been pretty busy here the last few weeks. It's a full house. When I was checking in, there was only one room available on the C wing and it was being assigned to someone else who checked in just before me. I was going to be assigned a room somewhere else in the hospital with a staff I would have been mostly unfamiliar with.
But, it's nice to be popular...
The C wing nurse assigning rooms was one of my nurses from a prior treatment. Evidently she saw my name come through, reassigned the other person and slipped me into the last room on C wing. I'd like to think it's my sparkling personality that has endeared me to the nurses here, but I am guessing it is becasue I am pretty low maintenance.
I'm by far the youngest person on the wing this time and by the looks of it I am one of the few capable of getting around on my own. That being said, I am relatively sure everyone else on the floor will be released before I am. Only a very few patients have the extended stays that I do.
So I am settled back in to the C wing now. I don't have one of the special rooms with my own air flow, but I imagine I will be moved in a week or so when my counts start dropping. For now, it's like being back in the college dorm. I have my door open so I can see people passing by and I feel like I have a hangover... yep, just like college.
The treatment for round 4 is exactly the same as my prior round. The doctor tells the the cumulative effect of the chemo over multiple rounds is what is probably making me so much more tired this time. The doc has also made it very clear that I will not be going home until fully recovered this time. I am getting the impression he doesn't care for my suggestions regarding my treatment.
I am settled back into a familiar place with familiar people undergoing a treatment I am familiar with. Familiar is good.
On a final note: We had planned a family trip to the cities for last weekend, but canceled because of the weather. Turned out to be a good decision. It was super icy in Sioux Falls and the cities got something like 15" of snow. We had a lot of fun in town. We took the kids bowling and to movies. Andrea and I even imagined to get away and do a little shopping.
I guess it has been pretty busy here the last few weeks. It's a full house. When I was checking in, there was only one room available on the C wing and it was being assigned to someone else who checked in just before me. I was going to be assigned a room somewhere else in the hospital with a staff I would have been mostly unfamiliar with.
But, it's nice to be popular...
The C wing nurse assigning rooms was one of my nurses from a prior treatment. Evidently she saw my name come through, reassigned the other person and slipped me into the last room on C wing. I'd like to think it's my sparkling personality that has endeared me to the nurses here, but I am guessing it is becasue I am pretty low maintenance.
I'm by far the youngest person on the wing this time and by the looks of it I am one of the few capable of getting around on my own. That being said, I am relatively sure everyone else on the floor will be released before I am. Only a very few patients have the extended stays that I do.
So I am settled back in to the C wing now. I don't have one of the special rooms with my own air flow, but I imagine I will be moved in a week or so when my counts start dropping. For now, it's like being back in the college dorm. I have my door open so I can see people passing by and I feel like I have a hangover... yep, just like college.
The treatment for round 4 is exactly the same as my prior round. The doctor tells the the cumulative effect of the chemo over multiple rounds is what is probably making me so much more tired this time. The doc has also made it very clear that I will not be going home until fully recovered this time. I am getting the impression he doesn't care for my suggestions regarding my treatment.
I am settled back into a familiar place with familiar people undergoing a treatment I am familiar with. Familiar is good.
On a final note: We had planned a family trip to the cities for last weekend, but canceled because of the weather. Turned out to be a good decision. It was super icy in Sioux Falls and the cities got something like 15" of snow. We had a lot of fun in town. We took the kids bowling and to movies. Andrea and I even imagined to get away and do a little shopping.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
AML: Round 4... Road Trip First
On Friday I had may regular appt with my oncologist. I am still in remission. My counts are back in the normal range (hemoglobin is a tad low, but that is normal for someone going through chemo).
The doctor confirmed that I will have 3 more treatments. I go back in on Feb 22nd. At this rate I am hoping to be done with treatments by June.
Unfortunately, the doctor is not going to let me go home after the chemo to wait out my recovery this time. So I will be in for the duration (about 3 weeks). With that in mind we are planning a little family road trip to the Twin Cities this weekend. My parents and sisters's family will be joining us. (6 adults, 5 kids.)
Family time is so important to maintaining my sanity through this whole thing. For me that applies to my extended family as well. I have a close group of aunts, uncles and cousins. I had the Christmas holiday before my last treatment and will be creating my own holidays as needed to make sure I have excuses to get people together.
I get asked often, so I thought I'd recap how my treatments work. The first 2 rounds of induction chemo were to kill the active leukemia cells in my body. Because AML is so aggressive, most people without bone marrow transplant relapse fairly quickly (1-2 years). The following 4 rounds of consolidation chemo are intended to make sure it does not come back. I don't have a related bone marrow donor so we have decided to see if the chemo is enough. Based on what I have been told, there is a 33% chance that chemo alone will be enough to keep the leukemia away. I am optimistic because of my age and my response so far. You can read by earlier post about my chemo\bone marrow decision here.
I'll be writing more regularly since I am headed back for round 4.
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