Beth Morgan Multiple Myeloma Treatment Blog – Page 46 – My life as a myeloma patient for almost two decades

Last CBC

Beth 13 October, 20066 February, 2011 5

Today I had my last CBC before going in for the harvest on Monday morning. I feel ok, but my counts are all lower than ever.

	Result	Unit	Ref range
WBC	0.4	x10^3/uL	4.5 – 10.5
Hgb	9.4	g/dL	11.0 – 18.0
Plt	63.0	x10^3/uL	150 – 450
RBC	3.46	x10^6/uL	4.00 – 6.00

Cytoxan is powerful stuff, eh?

I took the staff at my oncologist’s office some treats today. They’ve been so nice that I wanted to reward them somehow. The treats are not on the neutropenic diet though, so I was unable to sample. :( Oh well, if all goes as planned, there will be plenty of time for that later on.

Categories Myeloma

WBC

Beth 12 October, 2006 0

I’ve been having CBCs every other day. Yesterday (Wednesday), my WBC was just .5! I’ve never had a low WBC before. My HGB was up to 10.1, I think. That’s good. Still lower than it’s ever been, but I know it’s only temporary.

Sunday night I’ll go to the Hawthorne Inn and check in, so I can be on time for my stem cell harvest (day 1) Monday at 8:00. There’s no being late for a stem cell harvest!

Categories Myeloma

SSID for a Cause

Beth 12 October, 20066 February, 2011 1

Do you have a WiFi network? Do you broadcast your SSID? You can help promote awareness of a good cause by renaming your SSID to myeloma.org! Maybe some curious people will check it out.

Categories Life

Home now

Beth 9 October, 200614 January, 2015 1

I’m home now. I’ve been home since Friday evening. I feel pretty well, but very, very tired. My Hgb is low, for the first time since I’ve known I have myeloma. . It’s been borderline low, before, but only 11.3. Now it’s 9.3. For some, that seems good, I know, so I’m not complaining.

The thing that’s most annoying is the triple lumen catheter. I feel it there every waking minute. I supposed it will take some getting used to. The harvest is the 16th, so I have to put up with it until at least then, right?

Thanks, Emily, for visiting me in the hospital and bringing the Lifesavers. The little drawing was cute, too. I would expect no less from someone who carries crayons in her pocket. :)

Again, I want to thank Joyce for getting me there and getting me through it. I think it might have been too hard, had you not been there! Thank you!

And thanks to Kelly, Mary, Cathy, Karen and all the staff who were there to help along the way. Dr. T., I’m glad I got to meet you.

Categories Myeloma Tags Joyce

Going for number three

Beth 5 October, 200622 December, 2008 2

Pretty soon I’ll be having my third dose of Cytoxan for today. It looks like it says 2925 mg. I’ll have to ask, to be sure. I’ll also have my Ativan, and to help with a headache I have, some Tylenol.

The psychologist just stopped by to see me. I remember reading someplace that all the specialists who poke their heads in your hospital room door get to bill you a tidy sum for their visits. I’ll have to look at my bill to see what the charges are.

I’ll stop writing now, because I have a headache. It’s annoying, but not severe. I’ve found that the time lapse between asking for meds and getting them can be 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. I should have asked hours ago.

Categories Myeloma

Zofran, Zofran, Zofran

Beth 5 October, 200622 December, 2008 0

I just had 3 tablets of Zofran. This is what Chris had told me is the “Rolls Royce” of anti-emetics. My chemo is set to start at 10:00 AM, which is a little more than an hour from now. I’ve been told by a few people that this isn’t going to be so terrible, and I’ll be ok.

It’s 10:40 AM now, and my Cytoxan/Mesna has been started. The Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) will go for an hour. It has such a charming name, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t chemo have pleasant and yummy sounding names to go along with the happy, smiling people in the ads? The Mesna will drip for 24 hours, and when that runs out, I’ll have about 6 hours more. I will get to leave here about 5 PM tomorrow (Friday, October 6). I just asked for some Ativan so I could be a little bit more calm. I actually asked for a bowl of them, but I’m pretty sure I’ll just get one.

The “lunch lady” just came around to see what I want for lunch. I’m so nervous that I can’t imagine eating. I ordered cream of mushroom soup and bottled water.

Categories Myeloma

Black River Falls

Beth 4 October, 20066 May, 2017 0

I just finished Black River Falls, by Ed Gorman. I think I need to buy all of his books now. This one was good. It was a fast read and kept my attention. I really haven’t been able to read much since I took thalidomide. I was fortunate enough to have an autographed copy, sent to me by Ed. Check out his bibliography.

Right now, I’m listening to Freakonomics on my iPod.

Categories Life Tags Black River Falls, Ed Gorman

Here I am

Beth 4 October, 200614 January, 2015 0

I’m in the hospital now. I had a Neostar triple lumen catheter inserted this morning and have had xrays and labs drawn. Other than that, not much else. At 10:00 PM, they’re going to start hydrating me in preparation for the Cytoxan and Mesna. Don’t let anyone tell you it doesn’t hurt to have a catheter placed in your chest. It would be a lie.

Thanks to Joyce for getting me here and helping me not to flee.

Categories Myeloma Tags Joyce