Downtime in Richmond? YES! Carytown!

Thursday - September 20, 2012

Well, today is that oddball schedule day where I have consolidated a daytime Dalton Clinic blood draw with an 8 pm head and orbit MRI.  Non-hospital time is such a precious commodity that it's a bit of a gamble / head game in trying to figure out exactly how Megan and I are going to arrange our time for the afternoon and evening to minimize our time in and around VCU.  The issue, of course, is whether or not "bags will be hung" after my blood results are in.  I am feeling terrific but my bruising remains deep and dramatic, perhaps signifying that my platelets remain low and that a bag of golden liquid awaits me.  If so, then we have to allow at least 4 hours for the visit.  AND if I need red blood cells then an additional 2 hours are needed.  So how do we best consolidate our Richmond time when do we arrive at Dalton for the blood draw?  With the clinic closing between 5 and 6, should we arrive at noon to allow enough time in case of the worst case scenario?  Lord knows that I do NOT want to hear my RNs say that I need transfusions, time doesn't allow it, and please come back on Friday ("NO!") ....  So, I think in the end that Megan and I will head up by noon to allow time for any potential bags, perhaps explore Cary Town and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, introduce Megan to Stuzzi (why not?), and take the opportunity to embrace some downtime in Richmond.  I hope that we are back in Williamsburg by 10 p.m.

Yesterday brought some news about what comes next in bridging this end of my Hyper-CVAD chemotherapy and my upcoming Bone Marrow Transplant! With my successful pressing for specifics from my medical team, I have learned that my 11th hospitalization is scheduled for Oct. 1 or 2. This higher-dosage / higher-intensity methotrexate infusion will address my "probable" (possible?) central nervous system involvement of my lymphoma and will once again require me to be closely monitored in-hospital until my blood's methotrextate level is untraceable. Will the higher dose require more than the usual 4 days to purge? Will I receive Rituxan and methotrexate via lumbar puncture the day prior to my hospital admission?  Next Wednesday's meeting with my oncologist will firm up the details.

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Hanging out and waiting at Urban Farmhouse

Well, our Dalton trip was the FASTEST ever!  Megan and I were in and out in just one hour and ten minutes!  Amazing!  Although my platelet level is 20, a threshold where I am usually transfused, I was good to go because all of my levels are on the rise and - ta da!- I am no longer neutropenic!  We got the news and moved quickly and directly to valet parking and out into the autumn sunshine ....

Only SEVEN hours to kill until the MRI but we executed our plan:  lunch at Stuzzi and hours of wandering and browsing in Carytown (we bailed on the museum).  I don't think I have been on my feet that much since my lymph node surgery on May 2.  We wound down the last few hours before the MRI just below the hospital in Shockoe Slip's Urban Farmhouse enjoying their doors thrown wide open to the air and the view of black birds wheeling overhead.  Perhaps it felt a bit like enforced exile waiting between these medical appointments but it was truly a very relaxing, lovely bright-autumn day with Megan.  In the end, we got home just before 11:00, almost 12 hours after our departure.  What a haul.