12 is done!

In the words of my red haired son Will: All Done, All Done, All Done.

If I can stay healthy over the next two weeks, I will be a happy guy.

On Deck:
- Port flush once a month till I have it out.
- I will have it out once I get another negative PET scan in 2-3 months (remember, negative is good).
- Then I will be be periodically checked FOREVER :D

More to come later, including comphrehensive #'s for each session.

Belly issues

I chatted with my nurse and she said the doctor wants to have treatment this Thursday and would hold off on the Nuepogen unless it is needed. I want to finish it sooner then later (in fact I want to be done), but I don't think I can do tomorrow. I was up in the middle of the night with a stomach bug that came out of NO WHERE.

I think I am going to call and reschedule.

On the mend?

Well,

Last night after an "All day" stay at the Hospital, I ramped up once to a fever of 101 before things came down due to Ibuprofen and/or Tylenol. They had asked me to come back this morning to get a new CBC and check whether the Neupogen shot worked. It did, my WBCs went up from 1.1 to 6.7 and I assumed my ANC was up drastically as well, but I didn't get that #.

I feel a bit better and I am still taking the 7 day supply of the anti-biotic Levaquin. I have had three doses to date. That coupled with the Vancomycin they infused yesterday should have my bases covered. We'll see. I feel better and when I do feel hot, it isn't shooting up like it did Thursday evening.

Needless to say, I am not a big fan of treatment next Thursday and will be asking for the treatments to be discontinued at 11 of 12. This is no doubt the worst I have felt during this process and the thought of hospital stays doesn't sit well with me.

All of the nurses and docs were great during this, especially since my Oncologist was out on leave. There is a great Nurse Practitioner name Rodney who really took care of us.

More to come later.

Daggers...

Jon wanted the post to be titled that... For the record...

Anywho. The past 24 hours have been eventful to say the least. We've been threatened with hospital admissions, taking many vital signs at home, lots of advil, and fever. FEVER. You heard me correctly. Jon spiked a fever yesterday afternoon after coming home from the treatment that wasn't. We weren't too worried at first, but when it came up and hovered around 101.5 I called shenanigans on the whole deal and told him a phone call to the Doctor was in order. Our on call Physician ordered us straight to the hospital, unfortunately my timing wasn't the greatest when making the phone call. It was 5pm, dinner was being served to the kids, the au pair was off in an hour, and we had just gotten over 4" of fresh fluffy icy snow... How on earth was I to get him to the hospital? So we did what any normal kids would do... We called our parents. Jon's folks got on the road immediately and arrived just in time for his fever to break and for him to inform me that we were NOT going to the hospital. Bullheaded he is. Smart, he is not. Anyway, I listened to his reasons for not going, and called our Doctor back. She agreed (halfheartedly) and went to talk with another Physician on call. They called us back with parameters by which he absolutely HAD to come in... We agreed and the rest of the night went fairly uneventfully. We were pleased to have Jon's folks there in case of a middle of the night emergency, I felt much more prepared. I would hate to have to wake our neighbor up to have to come and sit with the kids...
This morning came and we drove off to the Infusion office, they were very accommodating... Everyone seemed to be aware of our situation and how important this was. It certainly made us feel well taken care of. After getting settled in we were seen by a whole myriad of folks and got his blood drawn for cultures, as well as a shot of neupogen to help boost his white blood cell count. We're currently receiving a dose of vancomycin... I'd like to say that it's been going smoothly, but much like the past 24 hours, it's been a bit bumpy. Jon looked over at me about 30 minutes ago and I thought he looked pink. When he itched his head I tried to brush it off. 5 minutes later, I looked over and he resembled something out of a crayola box. He topped off the red coloring with a vigorous face rub. I then asked him if he felt ok... He looked at me with his beet red face and said "uh huh. I'm fine" Sure you are... This would be where I slowly got up from my chair and grabbed the closest Nurse to me and said, "Yeah... We've got a problem" and pointed at the glowing man that was once my husband. It was pretty rapid that every SINGLE Nurse in this office was on my husband... Vitals, Saline, Monitors... Freaked out wife... No matter how versed you are in this world, it still freaks you out when it's happening to you husband, the father to your kids, the big cheese people! Anyhow, he's currently a more normal shade of pink, and looking pretty good. They've restarted him on the antibiotics again, and hopefully we'll have no more itching...On the downside his fever is beginning to creep up again, what that means I have no idea... But regardless the day has been really long, long day. LONG. I'm ready for a nap, a drink, a chocolate bar... Something. Jon is doing so well, he's being such a trooper. As usual he's making all the Nurses laugh, hamming it up with the other patients, and trying not to ask for much from me. We'll keep everyone updated as new things arise, but at this point we're hoping for no news. If you're praying for us, keep on praying!

Kibosh part duex

Well maybe Part III or IV but you get the idea. They treated me like the laser disc above and trashed me. BTW, I don't know who that is in that picture so "jone" away on her. I went in today and had the lowest ANC for me ever. 190. Enough to be put on prophylactic antibiotics and sent on my way. Last one too. So they rescheduled till next Thursday all things permitting.

Trying to be positive of course, but I do always feel a bit inadequate from a biology perspective when this happens. It shows how little control over your system you have in the form of diet and other preventative measures when it comes to white blood count at least. I didn't feel great yesterday (which I normally do 2 weeks out from treatment), so I wasn't 100% surprised. Overall my levels have been lowest after feeling under the weather.

Well, lets wait a week, take my meds and give it another try.

"Middle of my last week" update

Okey dokey. I have gotten tons of love from my blogging peeps who have or had the hodge recently. They have shared their post-hodge plans and they range from the rough (more treatments then I am having and/or radiation) to the uneasy (too early a scan showing some weird anomalies) to the great (quick scan, all is good, go forth young person). With this feedback I feel better. Although I would prefer to have a scan done quickly after next Thursday (and then have my port remove). I also don't want to do anything to "jinx" it and now have proper perspective on what is more important.

I am feeling good and my belly and taste buds are back on-line. I am noticing hair growth again on my hands and other areas where it was lost. Sweet. Now if I can work on some eyebrows :)

I got some really cool news at work today. I was given an end of year award they give to only four people (out of hundreds) which includes a trip to Puerto Rico (YEAH!). I was really happy and also a little embarrassed, but that's how I get. They surprised me by getting my wife there when they announced it. Really cool. In the past six months, I have taken 1 day per treatment (10 in 2007, 1 so far in 2008) and at least 7 others for scans, port and biopsies. I have tried to stay as engaged at work as before and in some cases tried to overcompensate. I was really worried about not being as available as I should be or causing a greater load on others. It was nice to just be put in for the award and then, to be one of the winners....unbelievable. Working through this has been very theraputic. If I wasn't feeling good, it actually distracted me by keeping me busy. I'll "lower label" this post "reasons to work through treatment".

#11 in the books. One to go.

So we talked with Dr. Houck and found out the following:
- After my last treatment in two weeks, we won't see him for three months.
- No radiation like the plan was all along.
- Prior to that appointment, we will have a PET/CAT scan done.
- I will need to come in once every 30 days or so to get more port flushed.

My WBC count was 2200 this time, which is inline with the past. I feel better from that cold.

Today I pretty much slept through the entire time. My wife and I look like total mooks in there with our laptops on. Just about everyone in there is 55 or older and we look like complete marks for. I was really sluggish today and my belly wasn't doing well, so I just laid up stairs.

Sandy, Mary Jane: What are the plans your Drs have for you (outside of the radiation) for when they will do a follow up scan?

Jon