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.