...on the transplant ward. I arrived yesterday at 1:00 in the afternoon. I got the information that they had a bed ready for me on Thursday. Even though I've been preparing for this, the finality of leaving my family was very hard. I put on a brave face for my children, and they took the departure very well, which was a huge relief. I was able to keep my cool until we left the driveway, then I fell apart :(
The admission process was pretty uneventful. The room is definitely the hotel version of the hospital. All room on this ward are private (to prevent the spread of infections; a huge concern as my immune system will be wiped out). I have a nice big window, and my own bathroom. The nurses are all super nice :) Nurse Ratchet would definitely not be allowed here!
Waiting to get here seemed like being on a huge ship navigating the waves, knowing that the land ahead would be the battleground. On that ocean voyage the swell of the water rising up to meet the ship as it travelled here to this new land gave plenty of time for reflection. How would the battle ahead be? Would it start right after coming ashore? The battle looming ahead seemed surreal.
I already had a chemo treatment yesterday. It went well, I didn't feel sick. I did get a post-chemo headache, and I felt pretty tired. I am in fact hooked up to chemo treatment number two right now...and another one will come at 11:00 this morning. I think it's only 2 today. I will have chemo for the next 4 days. It will probably be grueling. I wonder what side effects I will get, and how bad will they be.
All the saints in heaven are with me, your prayers are lifting me up, and I am summoning the strength of Boadicea (ancient warrior queen circa AD 60), and the courage of William Wallace (Braveheart).
The battle has begun in earnest: The chemo has been initiated...there is no turning back. Treatment is the juggernaut put into motion, it's rolling down the hill to rock bottom where it will go uphill on the road to recovery. I am intertwined with this juggernaut. Scarily exhilarating.
P.S. I added two other entries to my blog to catch up on the last month. Thanks for reading :)
Saturday 31 March 2012
Details and Delays
The days that passed after the stem cell collection were mainly uneventful health-wise. It was a breath of fresh air to feel like myself again, instead of the "toxic" version of me with chemotherapy effects flowing through my body. It was also great to get my energy back again.
I did have several doctor appointments. One on March 14th, was to discuss the impending stem cell transplant (a.k.a. bone marrow transplant). We went over my medical history, and how the chemo went, and how I responded to it, etc. We also discussed the results of my CT scan. I responded very well indeed to the chemo; the tumors are gone!!! Praise God!!! This news was wonderful :) It was also necessary, as a good response to chemo is part of the road to transplant.
So, all systems go for the slated date of hospital admission for March 20th, right? No, guess again. I had already developed a cold. Quick! Hurry up and wait! I was frustrated to say the least. We had tried to get everything organized for the 20th as being D-day. *sigh*. My cold turned into a semi-laryngitis situation. There were a lot of children sick at the school (including mine...) so getting sick was relatively unsurprising.
While things were still up in the air for the admission date, I still had to have my central line put in. It was put in on March 19th. It's similar to a PICC line, but it's inserted in the chest, not the arm. Here's a picture:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150614037276333&set=a.10150614036471333.379384.640446332&type=3
The procedure was fine...helped along with "twilight sleep". It's a medication to sedate you so that you don't remember experiencing it, but you are still responsive to what the nurses and doctors say to you. Creepy, but cool. Not to mention better than remembering the procedure!
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Images/Cancerinfo/Longdescriptions/Cancertreatment/Central-line_2011_large.jpg
Things went along fine until the evening of the 20th. My line started bleeding. Not lots, but it didn't respond to applied pressure. After a call to HealthLinks, off to the ER I went. I was not amused. This road has been far from smooth, and the thought of more complications was depressing. Fortunately, this time I didn't have to wait long at all. In about 20 minutes I was being seen by a doctor (MUCH better than the ER trip in February...). They changed my dressing, did bloodwork, and read my vital signs for awhile. The bleeding stopped, and so I went home. I was able to sleep in (thanks Moe and Mom!). When I awoke, the bleeding had started up again. So, this time I just went to CancerCare since it wasn't late at night. I had my dressing changed again, and this time they added some "steri-strips" that helped make a clot. (Why didn't the ER doctor do that?). Anyways, all has been well with it ever since. I was also prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection of the line, as well as to see if it would have any effect on whatever bacteria might be keeping the cold stay with me. Why did the bleeding start to begin with? Who knows, but likely my blood thinner, Dalteparin, was the culprit...despite not taking it for a few days as instructed. Oh well.
I now had to wait until I finished the course of antibiotics before I would be considered for admission. I felt stuck in limbo waiting to get things started. It was tiresome to not know when things would move along, as now "my" bed on the transplant ward was no longer available.
The silver lining to these delays meant that I was able to be at home with my children for spring break. It was nice to spend those lazy days at home with no morning rush. We didn't do very much, but it was pleasant. I was also able to get a few more things done on my "before going to the hospital" household checklist.
Then on Thursday the 29th, I was finished my antibiotics, and they had a bed ready...
I did have several doctor appointments. One on March 14th, was to discuss the impending stem cell transplant (a.k.a. bone marrow transplant). We went over my medical history, and how the chemo went, and how I responded to it, etc. We also discussed the results of my CT scan. I responded very well indeed to the chemo; the tumors are gone!!! Praise God!!! This news was wonderful :) It was also necessary, as a good response to chemo is part of the road to transplant.
So, all systems go for the slated date of hospital admission for March 20th, right? No, guess again. I had already developed a cold. Quick! Hurry up and wait! I was frustrated to say the least. We had tried to get everything organized for the 20th as being D-day. *sigh*. My cold turned into a semi-laryngitis situation. There were a lot of children sick at the school (including mine...) so getting sick was relatively unsurprising.
While things were still up in the air for the admission date, I still had to have my central line put in. It was put in on March 19th. It's similar to a PICC line, but it's inserted in the chest, not the arm. Here's a picture:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150614037276333&set=a.10150614036471333.379384.640446332&type=3
The procedure was fine...helped along with "twilight sleep". It's a medication to sedate you so that you don't remember experiencing it, but you are still responsive to what the nurses and doctors say to you. Creepy, but cool. Not to mention better than remembering the procedure!
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Images/Cancerinfo/Longdescriptions/Cancertreatment/Central-line_2011_large.jpg
Things went along fine until the evening of the 20th. My line started bleeding. Not lots, but it didn't respond to applied pressure. After a call to HealthLinks, off to the ER I went. I was not amused. This road has been far from smooth, and the thought of more complications was depressing. Fortunately, this time I didn't have to wait long at all. In about 20 minutes I was being seen by a doctor (MUCH better than the ER trip in February...). They changed my dressing, did bloodwork, and read my vital signs for awhile. The bleeding stopped, and so I went home. I was able to sleep in (thanks Moe and Mom!). When I awoke, the bleeding had started up again. So, this time I just went to CancerCare since it wasn't late at night. I had my dressing changed again, and this time they added some "steri-strips" that helped make a clot. (Why didn't the ER doctor do that?). Anyways, all has been well with it ever since. I was also prescribed antibiotics to prevent infection of the line, as well as to see if it would have any effect on whatever bacteria might be keeping the cold stay with me. Why did the bleeding start to begin with? Who knows, but likely my blood thinner, Dalteparin, was the culprit...despite not taking it for a few days as instructed. Oh well.
I now had to wait until I finished the course of antibiotics before I would be considered for admission. I felt stuck in limbo waiting to get things started. It was tiresome to not know when things would move along, as now "my" bed on the transplant ward was no longer available.
The silver lining to these delays meant that I was able to be at home with my children for spring break. It was nice to spend those lazy days at home with no morning rush. We didn't do very much, but it was pleasant. I was also able to get a few more things done on my "before going to the hospital" household checklist.
Then on Thursday the 29th, I was finished my antibiotics, and they had a bed ready...
Stem Cell Collection
Stem Cell Collection February 29th
That particular day was certainly a mile marker on this journey. I was on a double dose of Neupogen (bone marrow stimulant via self-administered injections) for 5 days prior to the collection. Since I usually get quite sore after a few days of this drug, I was anticipating a lot MORE pain with a doubled dose. Happily, I didn't experience greater pain :)
The collection (a.k.a. "harvest") was actually scheduled for the day before. However, I didn't have enough stem cells circulating in my blood on the 28th. So, Leap Year day it was.
Taking a quick step back from my story, I just wanna say that seeing some medical advancements is pretty neat. Stem cell collection used to be way more invasive/painful. In previous years (15-ish years ago), bone marrow was extracted from the hips under general anesthesia. Then the marrow was returned to your body intravenously. Now, after taking the Neupogen, the body makes enough stem cells in the bone marrow to "spill the banks" of the bones that they enter the bloodstream and can be collected directly from the blood with just two needle pokes (one in each arm). The machine used to collect the stem cells is similar to a dialysis machine, but is called an apheresis machine. Blood is taken from one arm, sent through the machine where it is put through a centrifuge, the stem cells are spun out, collected in a bag, and the rest of the blood is returned through the other arm. I think that is amazing! How does the machine "know" which cells are the stem cells? All parts of the blood have different densities, so by spinning it in the centrifuge, the components are separated into "layers" by weight. The nurses were looking for the "buffy layer" and tinkered with the machine until the proper level was reached. (The buffy layer is also called the buffy coat.). If your curiosity is piqued by medical stuff, please visit the following link for some more info about the collection:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apheresis
The whole procedure took about 4 hours total. During that time I was restricted to a bed, as both arms were attached to the apheresis machine. And I, of course, asked many questions :)...how else would I have found out that during the procedure my entire blood volume circulated through the apheresis machine THREE times!! As the blood goes through the machine it is mixed with an anti-coagulant. I also got calcium added back in as my levels get depleted during the procedure. The nurses told me to make sure to eat calcium-rich foods that evening. I took that to mean that I should eat ice cream ;). I was very, very tired after the whole thing, but felt pretty much fine the next morning.
The whole thing was made very tolerable, indeed pleasant, by bringing along my lovely assistant, Nadine <3 She kept me entertained, photographed the proceedings, fed me chocolate, and helped me drink my "martini". If you want, you can check out some pictures on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150582915711333.375090.640446332&type=3
That particular day was certainly a mile marker on this journey. I was on a double dose of Neupogen (bone marrow stimulant via self-administered injections) for 5 days prior to the collection. Since I usually get quite sore after a few days of this drug, I was anticipating a lot MORE pain with a doubled dose. Happily, I didn't experience greater pain :)
The collection (a.k.a. "harvest") was actually scheduled for the day before. However, I didn't have enough stem cells circulating in my blood on the 28th. So, Leap Year day it was.
Taking a quick step back from my story, I just wanna say that seeing some medical advancements is pretty neat. Stem cell collection used to be way more invasive/painful. In previous years (15-ish years ago), bone marrow was extracted from the hips under general anesthesia. Then the marrow was returned to your body intravenously. Now, after taking the Neupogen, the body makes enough stem cells in the bone marrow to "spill the banks" of the bones that they enter the bloodstream and can be collected directly from the blood with just two needle pokes (one in each arm). The machine used to collect the stem cells is similar to a dialysis machine, but is called an apheresis machine. Blood is taken from one arm, sent through the machine where it is put through a centrifuge, the stem cells are spun out, collected in a bag, and the rest of the blood is returned through the other arm. I think that is amazing! How does the machine "know" which cells are the stem cells? All parts of the blood have different densities, so by spinning it in the centrifuge, the components are separated into "layers" by weight. The nurses were looking for the "buffy layer" and tinkered with the machine until the proper level was reached. (The buffy layer is also called the buffy coat.). If your curiosity is piqued by medical stuff, please visit the following link for some more info about the collection:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apheresis
The whole procedure took about 4 hours total. During that time I was restricted to a bed, as both arms were attached to the apheresis machine. And I, of course, asked many questions :)...how else would I have found out that during the procedure my entire blood volume circulated through the apheresis machine THREE times!! As the blood goes through the machine it is mixed with an anti-coagulant. I also got calcium added back in as my levels get depleted during the procedure. The nurses told me to make sure to eat calcium-rich foods that evening. I took that to mean that I should eat ice cream ;). I was very, very tired after the whole thing, but felt pretty much fine the next morning.
The whole thing was made very tolerable, indeed pleasant, by bringing along my lovely assistant, Nadine <3 She kept me entertained, photographed the proceedings, fed me chocolate, and helped me drink my "martini". If you want, you can check out some pictures on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150582915711333.375090.640446332&type=3
Sunday 4 March 2012
Gratitude is the music of the heart...
...when its chords are swept by the breeze of kindness.
Last weekend there was a most amazing event...a fundraiser called "Hats off to Heather". A truly wonderful group of women joined forces and planned, organised, and orchestrated the beautiful afternoon tea. They also created a fundraising website. Never have I been so humbled in all my life. Never have I been so aware of God's graces and blessings as He worked in the hearts of everyone who was involved in every way (their planning, their donations, their attendance, etc.).
To have our family and friends come together with the communities at St. Ignatius and St. Gianna's to pour out their love and support for my family is incredible.
I am SO very thankful and SO very blessed.
Heather
Last weekend there was a most amazing event...a fundraiser called "Hats off to Heather". A truly wonderful group of women joined forces and planned, organised, and orchestrated the beautiful afternoon tea. They also created a fundraising website. Never have I been so humbled in all my life. Never have I been so aware of God's graces and blessings as He worked in the hearts of everyone who was involved in every way (their planning, their donations, their attendance, etc.).
To have our family and friends come together with the communities at St. Ignatius and St. Gianna's to pour out their love and support for my family is incredible.
I am SO very thankful and SO very blessed.
Heather
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