Pretty good night's sleep. Got 2 units of blood overnight, so the pre-treatment with Benadryl helps to wipe you out a bit! My HGB went to 6 something, therefore the 2 units... It's interesting, you get to sense when you're a bit low. I've been running in the mid 8's post chemo for the most part, and when I go into the low 7's, I can feel it when walking up stairs, etc. You get winded a bit, and just 'feel it'.

They took blood for cultures this am (have to get them via needle now that I don't have the Hickman anymore!). That'll help determine how I'm doing, and how long I'll stay. The doc came by this am and said he'd like to get me back home taking the antibiotics - I'd like that....

Got my vincristine push today. First time without a catheter. The intersting part is that Vincristine is a vessicant (sp?) - a drug that will kill your skin. So, when they run it through the catheter, no big deal, it goes right into your vein, and somehow causes no damage to your body. If they run it through a regular IV in your arm/hand, the nurse giving the chemo is usually ademant about being the one to put in the IV. They want to make sure they get a good vein, get good blood flow, that the patient doesn't knock the needle out, etc. If the Vincristine seeps out of the vein, or if the needle's not in right, it can leak out and kill the skin, and then there's skin grafts, etc. It sounds a bit dramatic, but I've heard enough about it to have some concern over it. It's to the point that since I had blood drawn from my right arm in the morning, they needed to watch where they gave the Vincristine, and the hole that was put in my vein to get the blood in the am, could become a leakage point when the vincristine is administered - and back to the skin issues. Neat stuff. The also administer it very slowly, mixed with saline, and they check for blood return every so often to make sure the needles still exactly where it should be. So, they mapped out where the blood was drawn from, found an unrelated vein, and then still picked a point above the blood draw site to add a measure of safety. (Ironically, I was on a conf call when the nurse - actually the nurse trainer was called in for this one - was inserting the IV and moving it around - when the client said 'John - can you take a stab at that one' - in reference to a question that was introduced. I had to tell them of the irony.... I know, it doesn't hurt much, but it's also not a pleasant experience - and trying to answer client questions at that time was not easy.) She found the vein, but even then had to move the needle/line around to get a good blood flow. Once that was acheived, she gave me the push, slowly, and kept checking with me to see if I had any burning, discomfort, etc. Of course, your mind plays a few tricks with you at that time, and any sensation you have makes you wonder. Mind you, they'd just been moving a needle around in my arm, placing and removing tape from my arm (pulling out arm hair, etc), and rubbing it with alcohol. So yes, there were a variety of sensations I was feeling - but none of them felt like burining, and it all went fine. that's pretty much it for the med stuff today, just getting antibiotics and fluids, still don't have an idea of when i'm leaving.

NOTE - Be an advocate for your own health. The docs and nurses are great, but you still need to stay on top of things. I was talking to the nurse about my meds, and she said something about my last Neupogen shot being tonight. That was only day 7, and I usually get it for 10 days post chemo, starting 24 hours after chemo. The doc can 'throttle' it, if the WBC is up to an acceptable level, you can skip a day, monitor, go back on, etc - nice way to handle it. So I raised the issue, we went to my chart, and for some reason there was a note that Mon w/b my last Neupogen shot. We called out to the doc to verify, and he said that it should go for the full 10. Important because my WBC was 2 on Mon am, and day 7-10 is really your low point, so I think I still need it raised up. Again - just make sure you, or your caregiver, or someone has an extra eye on these things. As good as your doc and nurses are, there's a whole lot going on!

Chris came up this am - GREAT to see her. And that's not just because she brought up food (quiche, chicken, rolls, birthday cake, soda)! We got to chat a bit, and then she ran off... Thanks Hon!

Alex and Kristine came up for a visit - Thanks! We played Bogle, and I even won one game. I think Kristine's still reeling from that one. She doesn't lose. (just trying to make me feel better, I know...)

I've got a great roomate - Frank, 70 years old. Tongue cancer. Apparently fairly common. He's getting 3 doses of chemo, then he'll get some radiation and chemo. This is better than the old treatment that used to involve surgery, and impact your speech significantly. He's in phenominal shape, but man, they have a hard time getting his veins. 9 attempts to do an IV last time, at least 5 this time. And he's got these sinewy arms, but apparently the veins roll.