Chemo Cycle #1 Ends Today!

Monday - May 21, 2012

My "get dressed before Dr. Sawyer arrives" challenge went to the resident today.  I was still stretching in bed when she greeted me with confirmation that my discharge orders are ready.  After my 10 a.m. cytarabine infusion, the process will begin.  I will also be meeting with the Oncology Attending today to review results of the PET scan and the Bone Marrow Biopsy.  Rachel should be here;  I am thankful for her second set of ears as well as her medical background and experience.  I assume I will have a rather detailed discharge meeting to review at-home instructions and receive my prescriptions.  Sounds like a busy and PRODUCTIVE morning.   

Sleepy morning.  Is it the rainy mist?  No, it's probably another somewhat disrupted night.  Lab draws, medication at both 3 and 5 a.m., and air-in-line alarms with my sodium bicarbonate drips woke me up intermittently.  Oh well, these nights simply make me more excited to go home and snuggle with Joe and the hounds.  And now, without my abdominal JP drain, I will forgo my nest on the downstairs couch and return to the comfort and company of our room  :)

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I have been forgetting to mention that my headaches are almost completely clear.  Yesterday I had about 12 "slicing stabs" which is a new low.  I awoke again this morning WITHOUT the crippling pain of my January -early May condition.  I am blissful, grateful, and energized to be headache free.  In fact, when I am sliced by one of the familiar pangs (1 of the 3 types of headaches I suffered before the Lyrica and Cymbalta kicked in mid-April), I am overwhelmed.  How did I manage?  Pure stubbornness, I think.  


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My sister Rachel is a wonder!  She drove down AGAIN from Winchester to spend the day with me.  What would I have done last Thursday and Friday without her help in acclimating to my hospital routine?  Today she left her house once more at 3:30 a.m. to join me for the day in room 144 for pack-out prep.

More importantly, she was present for my meetings with the Attending.  No results yet on the bone marrow biopsy but we reviewed the PET scan.  My kind of lymphoma is not presenting in my lymph nodes but in my bones, mainly around my shoulders.  In addition, both of my sphenoid sinuses behind my eyes show signs of activity - no surprise - BUT the left eye shows minimal activity.  So, it was truly an act of grace that this small and less aggressive spot of lymphoma was located in such a way that it impacted my cranial nerves.  Without my headaches and vision loss, the lymphoma would not have been discovered.  I feel VERY fortunate.

I was discharged in the early evening and Joe and I drove home through the lush green corridors of trees surrounding 64.  Such a lush, beautiful drive.  The dogs of course went crazy with joy when we came home and we quickly grabbed the leashes and headed outside for a walk - my first headache-free walk in almost 5 months.  The frogs bellowed, the brown bats swooped, and the dogs pulled us down their favorite route.  Pure bliss.