My Leafy View (+ My Knockout Chemo Dose)

Monday - October 8, 2012

Hospitalization #11 is underway!  My platelets came in at 119 and I quickly made my way upstairs to the Adult Oncology floor.  However, in a true change of scenery, I am on a completely different side of the building, looking west.  My large window overlooks some large leafy city trees, older brick buildings carefully repurposed by VCU, and the Confederate White House now used as the "Museum of the Confederacy."   I love the vitality and action of this new-to-me street view.  Ambulances pull along the "no parking" side of the street and the EMTs rush back into the hospital, later re-emerging with coffee, bags of food, and - once - a balloon.  Cars using the 4 precious parking spaces on the right hand side of the street are sometimes left with their hazards on, a plea perhaps to convey urgency and to ignore the neglected meter.  One truck had its hazards on for well over an hour and a security guard finally walked up to it and placed a note under the windshield wiper (what did it say?).  And, of course, with my Yankee bent and my "the war lasted 4 years, you lost, get over it" view, I am fascinated watching the tour groups exit the Museum of the Confederacy.  

I'm all settled into my space, familiar RN Allison has accessed both sides of my port, and the attending physician has talked to me about the "novelty" of this high-dose methotrexate protocol and how useful it should prove in targeting my Central Nervous System (CNS) involvement (now I understand that orbits and sinuses are considered part of CNS).  Now I am waiting for the pharmacy to deliver the chemotherapy and to get this treatment started.  I'm ready.

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YEAH!  The exercise bike has found a new home in room 114!
BOO! Has the hospital server blocked Facebook?  Neither the computer nor the iPad can access it.

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The chemo was hung at 4:30 - not too bad, 6 hours after getting upstairs.  The methotrexate dosage - as billed - is indeed HIGH:  6.4 grams infused over 4 hours.  In contrast, in my Hyper-CVAD even cycles, I received 1 gram of methotrexate infused over a 24 hour period.  This chemo is a knock out ... for any possible lymphoma lurking in my central nervous system I hope ... and not for me  :)   Actually, the two pharmacists and the four (yes, count 'em, FOUR) oncologists who have been in to consult with me today all state that side effects will be minimal despite this epic dosage.  In fact, the mucositis tied to my even Hyper-CVAD cycles will not be repeated here with such intensity since the main causal factor in that affliction is the cytarabine, not the methotrexate.

As for Facebook, I am back up (at least for the time being) after asking my nurse what was going on.  30 minutes after my inquiry - voila!  It finally loaded!  Being blocked from Words with Friends and my NYT Crosswords Subscription is a drag but a Facebook block?  No way.