Return of the Chemo

We're at the hospital again today. Tim's blood counts were so high throughout the first cycle that he did not need a single blood transfusion, which we're told is a very good thing. He took the opportunity to get ill last week and recovered at a relatively regular rate. As a result of his maintained blood counts, though, they increased the dosage to give him a more intense round for this cycle, so there is a chance that the side effects of this cycle will be more severe than for the last.


Speaking of ill, I am. Consequently, when I am cooking for us I get to utilize the lovely masks that mother graciously gifted us with, which one individual in our household finds endlessly entertaining and about which the other gets almost equally grumpy. Another effect of my cold is that T may be going to stay with his family this week. When he is wearing the chemo bags, he gets nervous about catching the tubes on something. As our apartment isn't exactly colossal, he feels a tad squeezed in the home space, another reason to visit his parents' more spacious abode. I'm all for it, as it will afford me time to clean and do schoolwork, but I wish he would have told me before we dropped a load of cash stocking up on superfoods last night. Le sigh. If he thinks it's that easy to avoid my sauteed kale, he's another thing coming...there will be a plate prepared and waiting for his return on Friday!

We obtained a second car this past weekend, so we'd like to give a shout out to my parents and Becky for that. Ever distrustful of Chicago drivers, my dad lent my sister one of his cars and she gave us hers for the time being, so now T can drive himself to the hospital and to work when he is feeling well enough to do so. Now we're rockin' two Chevy Cavaliers at our place, Goldie and Corn Hunter. This should definitely make things easier for us. Thanks, fam!


We took advantage of fall a bit ago with Tim's family by visiting an apple orchard near their house.

Awesomeness...

I'm happy to report that Tim's blood counts were high enough on Friday that he did not need a blood transfusion! We go in Tuesday for what will possibly be his first. The shot that they gave him to make the blood counts go up more quickly is still causing some flu-like symptoms and he has a bit of a cold on top of that, so he's not exactly comfortable right now. However, he is in elevated spirits because of the high counts and he should be able to kick the cold pretty normally. Right now it's just tons of rest and vitamin C for him. We are at his parents' house this weekend and are going to have dinner tonight with family and our friend Josh. I think he rests best here; in fact, he's napping as I type...perfect opportunity to squeeze in some homework!

Achy-breaky body

Tim is feeling the discomfort in his bones, especially in his jaw. Other than that, no updates. Still no nausea, hurrah! His first blood transfusion is on Friday...wish us luck!

Bionic Man

Possibly because it is his first time with this regimen, Timmeh is feeling pretty good right now. His nausea is controlled by the medication and he's been sleeping a good amount. The chemo bags were taken off yesterday morning and he had a push of one final type of chemo for the week, which did make him a little ill, but only for about an hour. He's eating well and in good spirits, just more tired than usual. We weren't sure what to expect, but this round has been easier than the last round, which I've found out might be because all of the drugs are diluted and over a longer period of time, which makes sense (thanks for the tip, Candy!).

Tomorrow we are to go in to the hospital for a shot of neupogen/neulasta. From what we understand, there's nothing they can do to prevent his blood counts from going down, thus suppressing his immune system and making him susceptible to illness and infection, but this shot is meant to make him recover from the low blood cell counts faster. Our nurse from yesterday said that days 8-11 after he starts treatment are when his immune system is at it's lowest, so during that time Tim will be avoiding his usual evenings of taking public transportation to the most crowded clubs downtown (sarcasm, moms). By Saturday, with any luck, his counts should be on their way back up.

We had an adventure this evening. After we had a nice short walk around the neighborhood, T took a bath and then we did the first Heparin flush. Every day that Tim does not have chemo or a transfusion, the PICC needs to be flushed with a Heparin solution to prevent clotting in the line. What this means for us is yet another test in trust, me injecting Tim with solution nightly. As some of you surely know, I'm not exactly the picture of grace and coordination, so T was understandably nervous. I come from a long line of nurses, though, and it must be innate. It went as smooth as butter, I'm elated to report!



Someone really needs to learn Photoshop.

It starts...

Tim started the new regimen yesterday. Today we are sitting in the hospital room getting the Rotuxin treatment, which is the one that takes 4-6 hours. T is tired, but in good spirits. He didn't feel any nausea until this morning, which is what we expected after the last round.

Yesterday they placed the PICC line in his upper right triceps, which means there are two small tubes dangling from his arm at all times. Currently there are bags of chemo attached to the tube, each about the size of a quart-sized Ziploc bag. He has a shoulder bag holding the chemo packs around his body and it fits under his arm, reminiscent of leather water pouch favored by travelers or adventuring archaeologists. The attached bags make bathing and sleeping a challenge. Last night as Tim was trying to climb into the bathtub, I held the pouch for him and prepared to help him wash up. I remembered that I hadn't brought in a towel for when he was finished, so I went to get it...while carrying the chemo bag. Had it not been so utterly terrifying, it would have been hilarious. Sleeping has also been interesting. I set T up in the middle of our queen sized bed with the chemo bag on his right side and his phone and a light within reach, so if he needs help getting up and I'm not answering his pleas, he can ring me from the bedroom. I am for the time being sleeping on the recliner in the living room.



We made sure to plan a fun weekend to preface the new regimen and our new schedule. My cousin Dan was married on Saturday and we stayed in a hotel for that both Friday and Saturday. Tim got tired toward the end of the eve on Saturday and he went to bed a bit early, but at the beginning of the dancing portion of the reception, he was a twisting machine! Sunday we had a quiet day of reading, napping, baking tomatoes and general recovery and on Monday, we had lunch in Chinatown with our friend Richard and his roommate and saw the lovely Jessica and her Tim for a bbq that night. It was a tiring weekend, but a nice lead-in to the long week ahead.