4 procedures and Rituxan

Thursday - May 17, 2012

If yesterday was a classic "hurry up and wait" scenario then today was a day of "getting medical things DONE!"  I am officially underway with my in-hospital chemo protocol.

Having had an early morning promise from the surgical chief resident and resident that they would return later in the day to remove my abdominal drain, I was surprised to see Dr. Kaplan around noon.  He was even more focused (brusque) than usual and was visibly irritated that my drain was still in place despite the earlier visit from his subordinates.  "Well, I'm taking it out," he informed me as he rummaged in the supply cabinet for alcohol swabs, gauze, and tape.  He removed some staples then after asking "Are you ready?" he then pulled out a startingly long tube from the base of my visible drain.  No wonder it was so uncomfortable!

Next, I transferred my "ER" viewing into reality as a very personable medical student was talked through my bone marrow biopsy by the on-call oncology fellow.  The entire procedure was completely discomfort-free yet I was reminded of my c-section with Jonathan when I could feel all the pressure and tugging disconnected from any sensation of pain.  Adding to this odd juxtaposition of sensory input was the oncology fellow's quiet instructions about how much pressure to apply and the (accurate) perception that my hipbone was being successfully accessed through a screwing / drilling motion.  In the end, the petite and slender female oncologist took over from the tall, strong, male medical student to finish the drilling and harvest the marrow.  He was sweating up a storm when I finally saw him.  Getting through that bone is hard work!

Step #3 of today's medical procedure parade was implantation of the device that enables me to receive the volume and intensity of my chemotherapy: my double Power Port.  Now this procedure was a full-born outpatient (but I'm admitted so aren't I "in-patient") procedure with a full team in Interventional Radiology and sedation.  I have two incisions:  a small  incision on where a catheter was inserted into my subclavian vein and then a second 2 inch long incision where the port was implanted just south of my right collar bone.  I am VERY sore with limited range of motion on my right arm.  I am also a tad weirded out about the whole idea of the implantation and am feeling VERY protective of my port.


With dissipation of the PET scan radiation, I returned (with magazine securely tucked alongside me on the stretcher just . in . case. ) for my MUGA heart scan.  It was a quick and quiet beautiful procedure.  I was able to see the colored digital imaging of my heart beating.  As was the case when I viewed the images of my brain vessels during April's catheter angiogram, my breath was truly taken away by the wonder of what my body achieves every day.

Finally, my chemo regime took off when my port was accessed (no pain, no discomfort, push and twist and done!) and then the Rituxan was started at 10:45 pm.  Gabrielle, my night nurse these last two nights, monitored me throughout the 3 hour infusion.  I slept through most of the infusion as well as Garbielle's blood pressure checks every 15 minutes. Good news:  I had no negative reaction to the Rituxan.  Let the chemo begin tomorrow!