Category: Life

Today I’m at Duke for tests to make sure I’m healthy enough to undergo high dose chemo. I did this last year at WFUBMC, but didn’t go through with the SCT at that time.

Right now I’m waiting to have an EKG. There’s one person in line ahead of me.

This morning I woke up feeling kind of crummy. I have achy muscles and did have a headache. I’m sure it’s that bug bite, and I’m doomed to die a lingering and painful death. Nah, I don’t really think that. I showed the bite on my leg to a PA at UNC on Tuesday, and he said it was a bite for sure. I told him I had done Internet research on various spider bites and had convinced myself that I was going to die (soon). He verified that I AM going to die. We all are.

Now I’m waiting for an echocardiogram.

Back to the muscle aches. It feels as though I spent the day at the gym. We all know I didn’t. I walked and swam yesterday, but that’s something I do almost every day. I’m sure it’ll pass, but I’ll mention it to the doctor when I see him.

Dr. Orlowski is moving to Houston, to head up the MM program at MD Anderson. We’ll miss him. I feel a little less safe than I did before, but I can still email or call him if I need advice. There was a little party for him on Tuesday. J and I brought a pecan pie and some brownies. Rey made flan, which looked like something from a magazine. I was sure he bought it. I bought the pie & brownies, of course. I don’t think I could bake anything even if my life depended on it. Fortunately, my life has never depended on my ability to bake a pie.

I did the 24 hour urine collection to bring along with me. Karen has wonderful descriptions of her own experiences, so go on over to her blog (Adventures of Cancer Girl in my blogroll) to read about it. I’m with her. It’s my least favorite of the tests. I don’t think ANY test qualifies as a favorite. They all include some sort of discomfort or inconvenience. It’s possible that MRI is at the top of the easiest though. I just get comfy and sometimes take a snooze. Anyway, After I was about 30 minutes from home this morning (on my way to Duke), I realized that I forgot the jug. I called my nurse, Martha, and asked if it was more important to have the jug or be on time for my appointment. She told me to go back and get it.

Ok, now I’m all done with the cardio stuff and the pulmonary function test. I did very well, which I attribute to swimming.

Blood has been drawn, and I’m waiting for the doctor. I’ll write more later.

When I got home from having Doxil and Velcade yesterday, I could hardly stay awake. I have benedryl in my IV to try to keep me from getting those hives from the Velcade. They’re not completely eliminated, but much less severe with the benedryl and dexamethasone. However, it makes me very sleepy! It’s amazing that when I have IV benedryl, it has this effect on me. When I take a pill, I hardly feel it at all. I can feel the benedryl move up the veins in my arm when it’s pushed. It burns. Then I feel like I’m drunk. When I get home, all I want to do is sleep. So, that’s what I do. It’s not as though I have a choice.

Today I got up early. I bought some sod for the back yard, and someone came to lay it down, but his helper left at lunch time. After lunch, I looked out the window and saw him and his mamacita working out there, so I decided to go help them. Boy, is that back breaking work! I had done another part of the yard a few months ago, which is why I decided to hire someone to do it this time. Thank goodness it started to rain. We all got to quit then.

Anyway, after working hard today and having chemo yesterday, I’m beat. It will be an early night for me.

Tomorrow is my last Velcade & Doxil before SCT. I’ll have two more doses of Velcade alone next week. After that, I’ll just have tests (MUGA, BMB, EKG, etc).

I’m glad to be nearly done with the Velcade/Doxil regimen. There’s some painful neuropathy developing in my legs and feet. I don’t think I could do much more. Someone once told me they’d be surprised if I got through 8 cycles of Velcade. I did, but I missed a few doses for various reasons. I know what she meant though. It’s better than steroids, but I’m all rashy, I’m hurting from the neuropathy and the skin is peeling off my hands.

I don’t think I can stay awake any longer. More tomorrow!

The people at Duke were wonderful. I saw nurses, 2 doctors, a social worker and someone who went over all the insurance information with me. My blood was drawn and I was scheduled for a return visit after I complete one more cycle of Velcade and Doxil, which I started Tuesday.

Dr. Long says that I should start the process at the end of August and be finished by the end of September. They will collect more stem cells for the transplant and let the cells stay on ice at Wake Forest as a backup for later on. I won’t have to have more chemo for mobilization. We’ll use 2 types of injections for a week beforehand, then I’ll have a catheter surgically implanted for the collection and chemo/transplant a week later. There are no specific dates yet. I need to have all the usual tests to make sure I can safely get through it, which I’m sure is no problem.

My sister, Rachel, will be coming to Durham to help me through this for a couple of weeks. That’s a huge deal, because it means being away from family and running all the errands. I’ll need to be taken to the clinic each day to have drugs and transfusions as needed.

Since the procedure is outpatient, I am looking for a Reiki Master and someone to help with visualization during this time to help me get through it and possibly recover more quickly. I’m hoping they’ll be able to come to the apartment and I won’t have to go out for this.

I’m hoping that J will be able to do hers about the same time, so we can get through it together. I don’t know if many friends schedule theirs for the same time, so this might be a novelty.