Surviving Two Cancers – Page 5 – Couldausedanotherday

Waiting for Normal

Wednesday I turned 61. I celebrated my birthday in style….. Well, in the style of some folks in their sixties. First was an appointment with my oncologist. They took blood and said the numbers were good.

When I asked about returning to work, she said the transplant was a real big deal and I need more time to recover, she would not release me to work until after she sees me again in two more weeks.

She said the bad taste, sores in my mouth, food not tasting good, stomach feeling weird, being easily out of breath, and my worsening vision were because of the strong chemo I received, and will eventually get better.

I haven’t shaved in over a week, but no whiskers are growing. She said that is also from the chemo. She recommended multi-B complex vitamins to help repair the (painful) nerve damage in my feet.

The achy pain in my legs may be due to the stuff going on in my bone marrow, and hopefully will subside soon.

She prescribed something to help me sleep through the night (I’ve been waking around 3am every morning since returning from the hospital).

Diane asked her if I would be able to go out dancing soon. The doc was still considering it when Diane sighed, “Oh, well, he couldn’t dance before the transplant, so I doubt that has changed.”

After the doctor visit, we went to see a movie, “Turbo” (in 3D). That’s one fast snail! We grabbed a bite to eat at KFC and came home. Our younger son and daughter-in-law called from Kenya that morning and we video chatted with our older son and daughter-in-law in Michigan in the evening.

The support and encouragement from family and friends has been awesome. Even reviewing my list of complaints here, I can only thank God for a life overflowing with blessings.

*Resting at home, enjoying a visit from my nephew, Dwayne*

Hey, I made it

Hi, everyone. I made it through the stem cell transplant process, and am resting at home.

I checked into the Portland Providence Cancer Center on Friday, June 28th. Monday July 1st was my “Zero” day, the day they put my harvested stem cells back in me.

By July 10th, I was being told my numbers were excellent, and I may be able to go home soon. I got out on Friday, the 12th, after two weeks. It wasn’t like doing, “Hard Time,” but two weeks confined to one room can really wear on you.

I certainly appreciated my visitors there; also those who phoned, emailed, and prayed. A special thanks to you, Don MacDonald for rebuilding (during my hospital stay) the little ship my Grandpa Martin carved from wood, probably sixty years ago or more.

Everyone I came into contact with in the hospital treated me with great kindness, still – I can’t express how good it is to be home.

*I was confined to this room for two weeks*

The Harvest

I got the call on Friday, June 14th to be at the hospital in Portland at 6:30 AM to begin harvesting stem cells. The process involves a Red Cross Technician, an intricate machine called the Cobe Spectra, and me lying on a bed for most of six hours.

The goal was to harvest 10 million stem cells. Saturday brought in 2.55 million.

Sunday was a carbon copy of Saturday, but brought in only 1.94 million cells. I was called back to the hospital Sunday evening for a shot of Plerixafor, a very expensive chemical to supercharge my stem cell productivity.

Monday brought only 1.94 million, and after another Plerixafor shot, Tuesday brought 1.51. The good news is that they add up to “Close Enough.”

When Mike, the Red Cross Technician was shutting down the stem cell transfer machine, I heard it beep an SOS. I asked if that’s what it was and he looked quite surprised.

He said I was his first patient who recognized the signal. I didn’t tell him I knew that code because of a 70’s music group, SOS – Sounds Of Success.

The harvest season ended for me with a bag of platelets to be infused into one of those handy tubes hanging out of my chest.

Before being connected to the bag, I was asked to sign another waiver. There seemed to have been several each day and they all basically said, “We’re doing our best, but you must understand – this could kill you.”

The nurse explained that the platelets were from a human donor, and I could have bad side effects. I asked how long the side effects might take to show up. She said, “Oh, in 15 minutes you might have a lot of trouble breathing….. we’ll know.”

There must be something good in platelets because I felt much less exhausted at the end of this day, or maybe it was just knowing this part of the process was over.

I was discharged to go home in fragile condition and instructed to avoid any activity that could lead to bleeding, internal or external (I always try to avoid activities that could lead to bleeding anyway).

Friday I will check into the hospital for my long-term stay, receiving “Brink of Death” chemo Friday and Saturday. Monday they will put my stem cells back in me and by about July 11^th, it will become apparent if they are doing as we hope.

July 15^th on my hospital calendar is marked, “Home soon if doing well.” During my stay, I will be able to send and receive emails and have visitors who are not sick.

Thank you again to my cousin, Abraham, for all the great help and support when my wife couldn’t be there.

Now Begins Real Adventure

After finishing the chemo treatments, food tastes good again, constipation is gone, and I am not so easily out of breath. Ending the treatments also meant ending my sanctioned boycott of professional dental cleaning.

With Wednesday’s teeth cleaning I received a mouthful of x-rays to make sure there were no impending infections that would interfere with the stem cell transplant process.

I apparently passed my pre-transplant tests, the electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram, and a pulmonary function test. They wanted to see that I’m likely to survive this adventure.

*“Line” is a much friendlier name than Central Venous Access Device*

Yesterday was a full day at the Providence Cancer Center in Portland. Everyone I came in contact with was more than kind, starting and ending with my cousin, Abraham who drove and spent the day there with me. My Central Line was installed and I received a strong dose of chemo.

I was awarded a box full of supplies including those needed for cleaning the Central Line daily, and some pre-filled Neupogen syringes for the twice daily subcutaneous shots to be administered by Diane or myself through the next week or so. This is to encourage stem cell production.

In about nine days, stem cell collection should begin. Sometime after that, I will move into my temporary home in the hospital. God knows the end of this fascinating story. I must play it out one day at a time to see how it concludes. Thank you all for your prayers and support.