Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Transplant B, Day -1

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Back from the final round of Melphalan, and the last dose of Dex for this go-round (thank God, as I'm bloated and up 11 pounds and it...
Monday, May 25, 2009

Transplant B, Day -2: Connectivity and Synchronicity

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First, the mundane. White counts continue to climb (8.4 today) as is expected -- the climb before the crash. Red counts basically stable f...
1 comment:
Sunday, May 24, 2009

Transplant B, Day -3

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Uneventful morning. Cold is better, cough almost gone. WBC back up to normal range (6.7) and platelets at 160, which is on the low end of ...
Saturday, May 23, 2009

Is the Opera over? Because we saw Heart perform tonight...

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...and Ann Wilson was singing up a storm. [ba-dum dum] There is a weekend music, food and...err....possum? belt buckle? moonshine?...fest...
2 comments:
Friday, May 22, 2009

Well, I *thought* that was going to be my last post of the day...

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...but I have to give a "shout out" to Dr. SF, who would have been my primary stem cell transplant guy had I stayed in LA for this...
1 comment:

A final brief story before round #3 of Chemo...

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This technically took place yesterday, but it deserves its own entry. One of the nurses in the clinic -- unprompted (as though one could pro...
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Plasma cells and bone marrow on the day before the next transplant begins...

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We went to the clinic yesterday to review all my tests and to discuss timing of beginning transplant #2, which I wanted to begin as soon as ...
3 comments:
Thursday, May 21, 2009

Notes from Ground Zero of pop culture

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Yes, I do mean Little Rock. Which normally would not be the ground zero of pop culture, but this year one of the two American Idol finalists...
5 comments:
Tuesday, May 19, 2009

48 hours, from the ridiculous to the sublime to the grueling...

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Yesterday started off very early. I was a little anxious about coming back here and diving back into things, to say nothing of bidding fare...
1 comment:
Monday, May 18, 2009

Back to the grind...

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Well folks, it has been a wonderful couple of weeks, treatment free (especially after being pulled of the Thalidomide), back at home with th...
5 comments:
Friday, May 15, 2009

Another lab update and more good news...

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It's funny...I've become so accustomed to getting daily labs from BB's clinic that it's an almost unimaginable wait to have ...
4 comments:
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Thanksgiving in May

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Just a quick little note here...I started this blog after Thanksgiving, and with any luck, by this Thanksgiving the posts will be irregular....
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Rotten little kids...or "I'm an idiot."

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So what's the one thing that could drop a turd in the ol' punchbowl, as they say, of my progress? Getting sick. As in a plain old c...
3 comments:
Monday, May 11, 2009

Numbers update...

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I've been getting my blood drawn once a week (hard to adjust to not having daily counts, but I'm managing!) at Dr. SH's place, w...
3 comments:
Thursday, May 7, 2009

A minor update, in which your humble narrator suffers from a myriad of minor ailments...

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Just a few odds and ends here. First up: the Thalidomide caused an allergic reaction on my face. It's not too bad to look at (I just l...
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Saturday, May 2, 2009

Weekend update

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Pinnacle Care's nurse (not Elizabeth, who is in bed with a 7-month twin pregnancy!) came by yesterday to supervise me changing my dressi...
4 comments:
Friday, May 1, 2009

Last comments pre-poison...

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It was a nice 48 hours, taking only a couple of pills neither of which would harm me. GI tract ALMOST fully back to normal (basically takes ...
Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I just flew in from Arkansas and boy...

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...are my arms tired and my meds lost! Never a dull moment. I arrived with five prescriptions to fill. I already flew out with several bot...
6 comments:
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

11th hour scare...

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When one goes to either the seventh floor or to BB's office, one gets one's vitals checked. Blood pressure (sitting and standing), ...
4 comments:
Monday, April 27, 2009

Discharged and happy about it...but not as exhilarated as I thought I'd be...

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First, sorry to be AWOL here but after my appointment on Thursday, they gave me a few days off so I took advantage of it by doing absolutely...
5 comments:
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day + 12 -- bring on the germs!

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Okay, I have an immune system again. White count is up to 6.16. High enough to ward off germs, and most importantly high enough to avoid th...
6 comments:
Monday, April 20, 2009

Day + 11 -- and a break in the cloud cover coming up!

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Hello folks. Jill returned from LA (and the kids) last night and my brother Pete departed for his home in Chicago. The water brigade of fr...
3 comments:
Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day + 10

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Well, I tip my hat to my fellow sufferer that made it out of the hospital in 10 days. I didn't quite get there, but that's okay! To...
Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day + 9 -- counts up, cancer down!

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I am beginning to feel the inevitable fatigue that comes from low red blood, and I'm getting the side-effects of the neupogen -- headach...
1 comment:
Friday, April 17, 2009

Day +8

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Have hit the bottom and am ever so slightly creeping back up now. White count today was 0.03...very, very low but higher, after all, than 0...
7 comments:
Thursday, April 16, 2009

Day +7

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White counts remained at 0.02. Platelets fell to 12(!!) so they infused me with some more to bring it up north of 20. I guess that makes a...
1 comment:
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Day +6...I hit the wall...and so does cancer!

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So first, the counts: whites are at 0.02. Lowest I've ever been. Literally, I think two white cells keeping each other company. Plate...
5 comments:
Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Day +5...and some thoughts on positive thinking

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First, the mundane: the APN was right on the money. White cells cratered today...count is at 0.2. I think that means there are 20 white ce...
5 comments:
Monday, April 13, 2009

Day + 4: I am strong like bull...or am I?

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So today was a good day. Other than being exhausted and continued GI issues, I felt pretty good. They took labs. It was peripheral (arm) b...
1 comment:

Recap of non-Easterly feelings

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Call me what you will, but yesterday was no day to mock my fellow Man. Today, however, is. I'm overdue for a bit of local color. First,...
4 comments:
Sunday, April 12, 2009

Day +3 / Happy Easter!

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Yesterday was a non-event, marked by exhaustion and depleting white cells (about 1.3...not quite neutropenic). We waited over two hours for...
4 comments:
Friday, April 10, 2009

Day +1

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Exhausted, so this will be short. White counts dropped from around 6.7 to around 2.8 today, expect neutropenia to set in tomorrow. Platelet...
4 comments:
Thursday, April 9, 2009

Day 0 - Transplant #1 finished!

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Well, it was almost a non-event. We went into the seventh floor, they ran labs, and pre-medicated me with Kytril and Emend (for nausea) and...
1 comment:
Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Day -1

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That's what they refer to the day before transplant as. I'm not sure if tomorrow is Day 0 or Day 1, but today was definitely Day -1...
4 comments:
Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Tuesday on floor 7...and sympathy for the Kurds...

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Yesterday my friend Tom from business school arrived so it was the three amigos for most of the day, which was a lot of fun and continued to...
3 comments:
Sunday, April 5, 2009

So far, so good!!

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I am pleased to report that so far, me and Mr. Melphalan are getting along just fine. I went to the seventh floor, checked into a semi-priva...
7 comments:

Ready to rock

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The last couple of days have been really nice -- almost normal, actually. I got a couple of pints of blood which gave me a bit more energy,...
7 comments: