Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, 4AM – The first sentence of this post consists of me spending 20 minutes telling you how thankful I am for anti-nausea medicine and how much of a difference it has made in my life during the past few days by keeping my GI tract in line.
The Next Few Days
Today is Day Minus Two! The four long days of chemo (Etoposide and Cytoxan) are over. They consisted of getting to the hospital at 730AM, getting fluids, zofran, decadron, emend, etoposide, mesna, cytoxan, mesna, fluids, mesna, and lots of fluids on between. We usually got done around 430PM each day. Today we have a shorter day. We don’t have to be there until 8AM, and hopefully we’ll be finished around 1 or 2 this afternoon.
Today I get BCNU, or Carmustine, to finish out the high dose chemo portion of this stem cell transplant process. The schedule is pre-drugs plus 1 hour of fluids, 2 hours of BCNU infusion with fluids, and 1 hour of fluids. Four hours total, plus we have to see the doctor. The funny thing about the BCNU is that it is alcohol based, so I may get loopy during chemo and provide entertainment. The GOOD NEWS is that we will be done with chemo after today!
Tomorrow is my Day of Rest. Fitting that it is on a Sunday. We will still go in to the hospital to have bloodwork done and make sure I’m doing ok, see the doctor, and then we can go home.
Monday is my Day Zero! My transplant day. My New Birthday! I’ll get fluids and my stem cells (autologous transplant). Then we get starting counting our days upwards instead of downwards. Day 1 through Day 30. The goal is to be a lot better by Day 30, and that is the schedule for the next few days.
A Big Thank You!
It is amazing how supportive everyone has been during this time. Cards, comments, phone calls, text messages, email, facebook postings… they do so much to brighten my day, and Jacqui’s as well. It means a lot to know that you care, and that you are in our corner supporting us. Thank you.
I want to also send a special shout out to Jacqui’s parents, who live in Nashville and have opened up their home for us to stay with them during this time. They have bent over backwards to get the house ready for us, to make sure that we are taken care of, and to be careful about keeping the house clean, etc. They are AMAZING!
We know that my immune system is going to be greatly compromised for the next month, and we are very appreciative that those of you who want to visit are taking extra steps to make sure you have your flu shot, you have not been around any sick people, that you are willing to wear a mask and gloves around me if necessary, and that it may not even work out for you to visit depending on how my body is doing. Gosh, I’m so high maintenance right now, aren’t I? However, Jacqui and I both GREATLY APPRECIATE the steps that everyone is taking to be careful in their interactions with me. It means more to us than you can probably imagine.
Secret Wedding Pictures
You’ve made it to the end of this post, and we have a surprise for you! Jacqui has uploaded our wedding pictures to her Flickr page!We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the wedding.
Happy Days!
Comments