Yesterday's hospital admission was professional and efficient as I have come to expect from this great facility. We arrived at 7:30 as instructed and within 20 minutes we were on our way to our room with great anticipation to see if we were granted one of the coveted lake front water view rooms as we had for the last 2 admissions. Unfortunately we got a "city View" which they try to make sound attractive but it's sort of like booking a caribbean vacation on the ocean and getting the "garden view" which we all know is nothing but a balcony facing the trees... I'm making a strong case for an upgrade to more prime real estate. Rumor has it the room right next to me is the creme de la creme of hospital rooms. A corner room with glass windows on two walls. Bea and I while loitering around the grand entrance snuck a peak in yesterday but couldn't see past the foyer, that's right foyer, to this corner castle! I'm pulling out all the stops to gain access, but nothing yet. If there's no movement by tomorrow I will resort to plan B which may include but not be limited to a late night visit to the current occupier's room dressed as the Grim Reaper to subtley influence him/her this may not be the best place for him/her. And donuts to the nurses in the morning...
On to more mundane issues like how I'm feeling and what 's new with treatment. Yesterday we quickly broke in my new PICC line by inserting 2 lines to each port which means 6 different combinations of fluids, medications and compounds to get this party started. We began with the chemotherapy in the afternoon and all went well. The process begins with pre-medications including 16 mg. of Zofran to prevent nausea, 3.9g of Mesna to protect my bladder from one of the chemo drugs Cytoxan and rabbit Antithymocite Globulin which is a medication derived from rabbit antibodies that have a particularly effective method of killing the autoreactive lymphocytes and more specifically the T-cell lymphocytes which are the buggers we really want to destroy. This is one of those things that makes you wonder, who and WHY would anyone ever separate rabbit antibodies and put them in a human?!?!?! I have no clue but am glad he or she did.
The treatment was fine. Before the rATG chemo they shot me up with Benadryl and Ativan which makes for a couple of hours of life in an altered dimension. It coincided with a very nice visit from my sister Maryanne and her boyfriend Pat who just arrived to Chicago for family matters with Pat, and made some time for me. It was really nice to have them visit Bea and I. I think they saw I was losing a little focus from the Benadryl/Ativan combo after a while so they left.
The night was highlighted by a conversation with my son Matthew who offered to use his phone to Skype the Ranger/Devil playoff hockey game so I could watch it through my computer. It was a very sweet gesture and a nice way to spend a couple of hours with my buddy...
The last Lasix kicked off around midnight so I fell asleep shortly thereafter and got a decent 4 hours before nurse Sophie came in at 4:00 for blood, vitals etc. She seemed to be having some trouble with the connections while leaning over me so I asked her if she was alright. She muttered "I'm having bad back spasms" She looks like she has a powerful appetite for food and I gave it a 50/50 she was going south and from there I gave it a 90/10 she was going mattress (with me in it) and not floor. Thankfully, after a minute or two she slowly steadied herself and backed out of the room. Haven't seen her since... To no one's surprise, that ended my night's sleep so I got up and managed a couple of good hours of work to catch up before the Today show. It continues to piss me off that I have to watch Matt Lauer on one hour tape delay from Chicago. It's like watching old news! But they try to trick everyone by giving the right time in Chicago... Can't fool me!
Today has been a good day. Great breakfast burritos, oatmeal and a bagel. The food isn't bad really. From there I took my first shower here after seran wrapping the portals. The bathroom has a nice clean shower and it felt great! Then after some more work I took a walk around the hallway. They say 19 times around the loop is a mile. The problem is every time I made a loop I forgot what number I was on. I know around lap 7 I realized I had completely twisted my 6 IV lines around the IV pole and it took me a good 10 minutes to untangle them in my hospital mandated gloves and gown to protect germ.Tomorrow I will take one of the markers from the white board oin my room and make a line on the wall next to the nurses station to track each loop. All the while I was beeping beeping because the battery was low annoying all fellow baldies and nurses alike. After another 8-10 laps my batteries went into super beep mode so I decided to call it quits. I walked a mile, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I'm now headlong into day 2 happy hour with chemo cocktails! finishing the Cytoxan and starting the rATG and Mesna. The only side effects so far are are hiccups that just won't quit. I've had these before during IV treatments. They usually last all day for a few days but stop at bed time so it's fine. Bea cooked me my favorite meal for my birthday fricase de pollo con arroz with a small carrot cake and candles and balloons. A great party!
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