Thursday - Monday (Days 16 - 20)

Good news!

Blood Transfusion

So, on Wednesday I scheduled a transfusion that I then had on Thursday. This was my first outpatient transfusion, and it went well. I shared a room with several people and some of their guests, but other than being noisy, it was a smooth 5 hours of receiving irradiated blood and platelets.

The big thing was that I did not get a fever.

Weekly Checkup

I spent the weekend as a hermit and it seems to have paid off! On Monday, I went in for a regular doctor visit and my White Blood Cell counts were high enough that I could cancel my daily neupogen shots, and start my week of freedom. 

My doctor told me she has never had anyone recover so quickly from a round of chemo (17 days from the start of the chemo) and more to her surprise, she has never had any outpatients go without contracting a fever. My isolation seems to have paid off!

A Reprieve

So, now I am in the week of freedom between my chemo-therapies where I can do essentially what I want. Some blood counts are a little low, and I am not used to exercise, but I am basically my own self again, minus some hair and energy.

On Monday I go back for my next checkup and to schedule my next round of chemo for Tuesday. That will be the last round!

Then its 5 days in the hospital and 14-21 days of recovery (or maybe just 12? :) ). 

Woohoo!

Friday-Wednesday (Days 10-15)

Time for an update...

Resting

So--its been a few days since an update. In general, everything has been going well--and I have not written about it since there was not a lot to say except "Everything's going well". I am living the life of a hermit--staying home--seeing almost no one--and resting.

I missed out on some things I wish I could have done--but that was the worst of it.

I have one outing a day, where I drive up to the hospital and go to the Ambulatory Care Center (or something like that) where I get my Neupogen shot. 

So not a lot to tell.

Blood

On Monday I went for my weekly doctor visit. They took my blood, and though my counts were low (I recall my White Blood Count being  1.4 and my hemoglobin being 8.8) they decided it was not time for a transfusion. I visit the doctor's office every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday--though Wed and Fri are just for lab work.

It's expected for my blood levels to be low, and to be decreasing, all before they build back up.

On Wednesday, I went back for my labs again. This time my counts were lower.

• White Blood Cells:  .6   (normal range is 4.8 - 10.8) 
• Hemoglobin:        7.8   (normal is 13.8 - 18.0)
• Platelets:        10.0   (normal is 159 -388)

And so that means its time for a transfusion...

Type and Cross

Before you can get a transfusion, they need to check your blood type and do a crosscheck among donors to find a match. They take your blood, then sepnd a couple of hours analyzing it and finding a match.

To have teh blood drawn I had to go down the hall to a lab where they do all sorts of hospital outpatient work. 

My nurse took my blood from the inside of my elbow (is there a term for that? elbow-pit?) and put some gauze on it. I left, and wandered back to the car where I notice my arm felt wet. The gauze was sodden. I walked back to the lab, and by the time i came in blood was streaming down my arm. They took me right in, changed the dressing,wrapping the bloody hole all up with a pressure bandage. 

With such low counts clotting is a problem too of course.

The strange thing was it was not my first puncture of the day:

• 3:30 - Neupogen shot at 3:30 near my left tricep - no bleeding.
  
• 4:00 - Drew blood in left elbow-pit? for lab work - cotton ball and band-ade stopped bleeding.
• 4:45 - Drew blood in right arm for type and cross - gauze was not enough...

Go figure.

Moms Cooking 

Over the last week or so several moms in my wife's moms club have been bringing us meals. We are really so fortunate to have so many so willing to help us out. Everything has been delicious and a big help!  

Thanks all!

Nurses

A lot of people have commented on my encounter with a couple of nurses who seemed a bit detached from the people-side of their work.

Just for the record, I think they were an exception, and, I think part of my reaction was because of my own grumpiness and lack of patience. I was in a bad mood, impatient, and I am sure that tainted it all too.

In general, I have been in the care of a lot of wonderful nurses, and am really impressed and surprised by how much of themselves they give to everyone in their care.

Money

So--I am very fortunate to have insurance, otherwise we would be bankrupt. It's interesting to see how this whole process works, and the numebrs involed are a bit mind-blowing. 

For example, here's an approximation of one line item...

My doctor visits me in the hospital for 10 minutes and checks over my charts. She then bills $180 for that. Now my insurance has a negotiated price of $90. They pay 90% ($81) and I pay 10% ($9) until I reach my maximum out of pocket of $1000.

First--it's amazing that the negotiated price is so different than the Bill Gates price. 

Second, there are a ton of little charges like this, from specialists who read special parts of my charts to my regular doctor.  It's a lot of things to keep track of, and without the insurance company--the bills would be astronomical and a hassle to manage.  

But those are just the bills that are not from the hospital itself.

The big bill is from the hospital. It is currently listed as "In Process" on my insurance account, which I guess means it's either still "open" as I can continue to add to it through outpatient services, or that they are reviewing it to make sure it is accurate/lowering things to the negotiated prices.  The bill from the hospital, currently, is around $275,000.

Yowza.

I'm not saying it's not deserved, or not accurate, or not apprpriate.

But holy cow...

And my treatment is not even done....

Day 8, 9 (Wednesday and Thursday)

I am home.

Coming Home

It's wonderful being home. 

This trip to the hospital, though much shorter, was much harder on me emotionally. I think I was down most of the time and sometimes pretty low. Everything from the room, to my little altercations along the way, to my exhaustion impacted me, but I think I was just more emotionally negative too. They said one of the chemos can do that--but if it did--it was just one of the contributing factors.

When I got home though I was so shell shocked from the whole thing that it was not until today that I started to feel normal or feel like I was happy to be home. I was happy to not be in the hospital, and happy to see Jen and Anna, but I could just not absorb my surroundings because I was so inwardly focused. Not sure if that makes sense, but I was uptight and closed off, and still down.

Home

It's great to be home now though. 

Even though I spend most of the time laying around without much energy--just watching the trees out the window or a TV show with Anna or just staring off, resting--it is great to be with the ones I love in my own space.

It's a little hard not being able to participate in everything like I would like to. Even though I am home, I am still sick/recovering, and can't got to the art festival with Jen and Anna, or to a community fair this weekend put on by a group I am an active member of, or a community meet and greet this week, or even to the park or a restaurant. 

All of that is a little disappointing, but really--small potatoes compared to the happiness of being home.

Outpatient

I went for my first outpatient visit today. I will be getting my neupogen shots, to kickstart my white blood cell production, every day at the outpatient center. It's wonderful living so close to the hospital because it is an easy trip.

The office is great--very calm and seems to run smooth as can be. You have an appointment and actually get seen by a nurse within minutes of arriving. So you just check in, get your shot, and go.

I am convinced it's so smooth because it's all run by nurses. :)

Good News

Oh, and some small things I may have forgotten to mention.

1. We found the woolly hat. Jen had taken it with some dirty clothes to wash--hurray!
2. Night sweats seem to have been a side effect of antibiotics, not the chemo, because I have not been having them for some time now. (Of course it could have been the neupogen too I guess--will have to wait and see, but for now at least, it's nice to wake up dry.)

Recovery

So--other than my daily neupogen excursion--I will be here, at home, puttering around, avoiding diseases, resting up, and mostly sleeping, while my bone marrow does its thing to make me some new strong blood.

Days 5-8 (Sunday - Wednesday)

Alas and alack! I am on the verge of departing the hospital and have been remiss and have not been updating my blog!

Mainly I have been way too lethargic to write it up...

But I will correct this now.

Sunday

So, by Sunday I was really wallowing in my sadness and grumpiness. 

Fortunately I was also very sleepy, so I slept most of the time and few had to deal with it. It does not escape me that I am on day five of my five day stay.

I had a great nurse--and really continued to have them throughout my stay--and that and a little bit of energy brought my spirits up by the evening. 

I got out of bed for the first time in a couple of days and got on the computer for a short while. A small victory and by the end of the day my mood was much better.

Force Feeding

One thing that was still affecting me was my version of nausea. I never really got a queasy feeling, and only occasionally a slight gagging feeling when I smelled the food they brought me (but everyone might get that feeling with some of this food--ba dum dum), I just was not interested in eating.

Now if you know me--this is most uncharacteristic.

But--nothing appealed. I would eat, because I was supposed too, and some of it even tasted pretty good, but I just didn't really want to eat. My body was telling me to stop--it's not interested and stop swallowing that stuff.

No repercussions (like my body wanting to vomit). 

Its just hard to eat when everything is telling you not to.

Monday and, well, Tuesday, and, well, Wednesday too

These three days, much like Sunday, had some periods of utter exhaustion where it was all I could do to muster up the energy to pee into a jug, and some periods where I felt pretty good and could make it to the chair and use my laptop.

TV, it isn't just for TVs anymore...

I never did get the TV to quite work, but I did reacquaint myself with Hulu and caught up on Dollhouse. I'm really liking the premise and the "business" of it. I just wish we could focus on the premise and some of the other operatives cause I don't really care much about Echo the main character. 

But there it is.

And if you like Sci Fi and for some reason I have never told you to watch Firefly, all the (14) episodes and the follow-up big-screen movie, Serenity, are on Hulu right now.

Visits

Jen visited every day I have been here, and that was wonderful. We talked about all sorts of things, and had great visits--I really needed them.

Almost home...

As I write this, it is Wednesday, I am on my last bag of chemo, and I will get to go home. 

We are having to work out some billing questions on Neupogen shots, whether to do those at home which is through a prescription or outpatient. Apparently they are pricey and if I do outpatient, I think that they are covered 100%, unless its still through a prescription--I don't know--its just a little more of the big insurance puzzle.

Anyway--after this bag of chemo and once we know how I am getting neupogen, I think I am good to go...

What's Next?

Glad you asked!

Over the next few weeks my white blood counts and neutrophils, and other thongs in my blood will collapse down to minuscule levels, and I can catch a cold if someone sneezes upwind a block away. I'll be doing my best to avoid diseases and their carriers (namely people with colds and children--who carry them in spades) and sequester myself away. 

If I can make it through the 2-3 weeks, to the point of having a healthy white blood count without catching a fever, then I get to stay home the whole time.

However, if I do "spike" a fever, I need to come back into the hospital to be monitored and presume I stay until my counts are high. (As the Infectious Disease doctor said to me regarding fevers and my treatment: "It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. You will get a fever.")

And after those two to three weeks, whether at home or in the hospital, once I have a healthy count, I get a week break to slowly start to feel normal again.

Then I do this all again.

Hopefully for the last time...

Day 4 (Saturday)

Day 4 was mostly slept through

Sleep

I had no energy. Not to eat, not to open my laptop or read or watch TV. 

Compassion

I discovered that not all nurses have the same level of compassion. It could be for any number of reasons, from a bad day, to doing it for too long. But my nurse on Friday night made me realize that for her, she is just completing a task list.

1. Hang patient one's chemo at 9
2. Give patient 2 a pill at 9:15
3. Ask patient 3 how he is feeling.

It was clear she did not care about me personally in any way. 

In fact no nurses on the floor have said "Oh is that a picture of your daughter? How cute?" or any of the personal type of stuff that was so common on the Bone Marrow Transplant floor. Even if they don't care--it at least gives the appearance.

The same was true Saturday. I had a very efficient male nurse. He was fast and effective, but I could have just as easily been a car as a patient.

Getting two of these nurses in a row is disheartening.

All of this lack of caring and compassion made me sad. 

Hair Hurts

Saturday night it was time to change the dressing on my port. This mass of tape and gauze sits on my chest within a nice patch of chest hair. 

Removing it was excruciating. I had to take breaks as we (the nurse) and I worked our way around the edge trying to take it off. She tried cutting some hair with scissors. It was all awful. 

As she put on the new dressing, she shaved away some hair, but not the hair under the dressing--which means I think have to go through all of that again.

I dread it.

All of that left me in pain.

Day 3 (Friday)

This day went fairly well until the evening.

Pre- Op

It all began with a ride to the pre-op area. Though I wasted a day and a half sitting in the hospital for no reason whatsoever, I was glad I was finally getting my port installed, so Chemo could begin.

The  person sent to get me was a young goofy garrulous kid who was as kind as could be, and eager to tell me about himself.

The Ride

He started with a yawn and said, "Oh I guess the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet. I knew I had to get up early this morning, but I was writing away last night thinking 'Boy this idea is good, I need to keep going' and so I did."

So I felt obliged to nibble at his oh-so-obvious bait.

It turns out that he is writing, as he tells me, "a book called Intolerance--well its really a collection of short stories. Its about forbidden love through the ages--Babylon, Egypt, Rome and the present." 

Somehow I question the authority of the writer--but maybe I am way off base--I wish him the best of luck.

He also went on to tell me about a relative who's a bee keeper and various other stories. He's a very nice guy who means well.

Getting Ready for Surgery

I made it to pre-op where a very nice nurse got me all prepped. I watched a little "Who wanst to be a millionaire" which made me think of Slumdog Millionaire. 

Everyone involved in the surgery stopped by my bed--my surgeon, my anesthesiologist, and various others, and eventually the nurse anesthesiologist gave me a little something "for anxiety" in my IV drip.

I pitched my idea of anaesthetising whole airplanes for long flights so people can just wake up at their destination, and she thought that was great. I moved over to the operating table and...

Recovery

Some time later I woke up in recovery.  I had a nice nurse here too, who got me ready to go, then lined my bed up in the beds-waiting-to-go-back-to-their-rooms area. Felt a bit like you were in a ride, waiting for your car to reach the front.

I was wheeled back to my room where I mostly just slept.

There was one small tragedy of it all. Somewhere, somehow, on this journey or while out of my room, I lost my cozy warm, woolly hat. Fortunately I had not brought the one a family member knitted for me (its too wonderful to risk here) but my woolly hat was gone...

Nighttime

The night things got worse. I had a nurse, who at least from where I sat, was terrible. She just moved too fast--working on her task list and barely really communicating with me. She'd ask questions and talk over my answers. She tripped over my IV (which is now attached to my port in my chest) and it yanked so hard it pulled me while I yelled out in shock. I realized they never made my bed after surgery (I had no top sheet or blanket, just a loose blanket).  Any other nurse or tech would have made the bed--she threw a top sheet and a blanket on my bed and did not tuck them in. When she was complaining about being written up about something she said, "Nurses are very busy, we make mistakes." That may be true, but I suspect she makes more than most--and I am not sure I am the audience for that comment.

She made me angry and frustrated.

Chemo

Oh and she also started my chemo. Start the countdown--five days.

I get two types--one can cause neurological problems so I have to sign something that shows that I can sign still. 

A little scary but they say not to worry about it.

And eventually I went to sleep.

Day 2 (Thursday)

Nothing happened.

No surgery

I was supposed to have surgery, but I gather there were several emergencies and in the end, well, there was no time for me.

So--I had a day in the hospital for no particular reason.

And that was Thursday.

Day 1 of the First Consolidation (Wednesday)

Ding, ding, ding--Round Two!

So--its time for round two, which is called a consolidation. I basically go through the whole process again, but there will be a few differences.

• Chemo - is five days instead of seven.
• Recovery - is outpatient until I get a fever and then I am back in the hospital.
• Medication - will be given through a port instead of a picc.

And that is that is it.

Admitting

So, I got a call on Wednesday that they were ready to admit me to "Admission Holding". This means they can bring me in and take blood and such, but that they don't have a room for me yet.

So I arrive, fill out some paperwork, and am taken to a room where I sit and wait. I arrived at the hospital at about 1 pm, and was in that room until 6ish. Quite a long wait in the end, but I had my laptop so stayed occupied. 

They hooked me up with an IV to draw blood, and I doubt they will use it again--I suspect its too small for surgery (for when I get the port) and I am not taking any medication, nor are they drawing more labs. So it hurts a little--and sits there unused. Oh well, not a big deal.

My Room

When I finally get to my room, I am put in another of the narrow rooms with a bed that faces away from the window. They are renovating this floor, and its clear that they have pretty much given up maintaining it from the list of tiny issues:

• My bed doesn't work--it doesn't raise or lower (they have swapped it out).
• Some fluorescent lights hum horribly loud.
• The TV goes "tick, tick, tick" when turned off--so I unplugged it. (The clock also does that so loudly that I pulled out the batteries to sleep :) ). Also the TV remote barely works.
• The drain in the shower is not bolted down.
• There is a cabinet drawer without a face--so it just a empty cavity with nails sticking out.

So little things--but they all make the place feel pretty run down.

My view is nice though.

NPO

The info about the next steps has been pretty vague. At some point on Thursday I will go to surgery to get a port.  I went NPO (no eating) as of midnight to facilitate this, but am still not sure when surgery is.

After I get my port, I get chemo, and then run through the same process.

And that was Wednesday.

Doctor's visit

I have had a great week.

Home

I have been enjoying hospital parole very much--and have mostly laid low. Had a few visitors, went out for a few meals, but mostly just enjoyed normal every day things. Played scrabble with Jen this morning on the back patio for example. 

It's great to see Anna--though she does have more energy than I--which has always been true--there's just a larger gap now :)

Been a bit tired overall, and slept last night for about 13 hours.

All in all a nice break.

Doctor's visit

Visited the doctor today and all is well--blood counts are pretty normal.  No bone marrow biopsy today, I will have that after the next round of Chemo--which is referred to as my first consolidation.

I go back into the hospital Wednesday, and begin chemo which will be five days--then I am an outpatient until I get a fever--which undoubtedly will happen. I will also get a port on Wednesday.

I will post more once I am back in...

Day 26 & 27 - Tuesday and Wednesday

I am home!

The PICC

Before they could discharge me they removed my PICC line, which was the fastest thing ever. Basically, the lifeline that went from my arm to the middle of the chest,  and is where they have been drawing blood, giving me chemo and a million meds for 3 weeks, was simply yanked out it 1 second. 

One tug and a big piece of gauze to stop the bleeding.

My Dr. wants to try a port next go round. 

The discharge

So, on Tuesday I was discharged with little fanfare. The whisked me out of my room, and then, after a bit of a walk, I was outside feeling the sun and breathing fresh air for the first time in weeks. 

It was great.

Home life

It was so wonderful to see Anna. To her I am just back home--and have silly hair. Several times she has said, "Daddy, I'm so happy you are home." which warms my heart--she's a real sweetie.  It's really wonderful to watch her shows with her and play games. Thrilled to see her again.

I ate lunch at my favorite pizza place and dinner from a local Chinese place. It's just great getting out and about again.

Visitors

If you are not sick and want to say hi, feel free to come on down. Don't feel obligated though--with all the cards and help and emails, I feel the love, and know you care. I really am a lucky man to have such wonderful family friends and support. 

Call first to make sure I am not snoozing--which I'm doing a bit of--energy levels are not quite up to prime.

The next steps

I have an appointment with my Dr. on Monday. I think they do another bone marrow extract to test where I am. I suspect based on that we will schedule my port and the next stage of chemo. 

At least this time some of it will be out patient until I get a fever--at which time I am immediately brought back in. 

The hiatus

And, at least for now--I am going to take a break from the blog. I am sure I will start up again once things go into round two, but for now, not much to say except everything is great! :)

Day 26 - Tuesday

Tuesday has only just begun but I have good news!

I am being discharged today.  They will remove my PICC line (I think I will eventually be getting a port) and I will be home for at least a week before doing it all again...

Hurray!!!

Day 25 Monday

What a difference a day makes...

Bird Watching

I woke up with the sunrise and it looked to be a beautiful morning outside. I pulled out my dad's binoculars and decided to watch the day wake up from my perch over Lake Estelle. I watched the anhinga start their day swimming and fishing, and lots of other birds get their day going too. A large osprey alighted atop a tree right by my window and spent several minutes surveying the scene. Over the course of my stay I have seen egrets and heron, gulls and osprey, and even got to watch a kingfisher for quite awhile. I also watched the otters in the lake, and on Sunday morning their are model sailboat regattas. 

I'm really glad I spent about a half an hour watching it all Monday morning--I had no idea it was my last day there.

The Day

I felt great. My blood counts were at 3.6 --a big leap--and everyone seemed to think I was improving well. Various doctor's came by to verify that news of my lip was true--the swelling was down and we did not need to biopsy it. 

Jen brought me a Chik-filet-a sandwich and waffle fries for lunch, which seemed like heaven--both a comfort food and a touch of normalcy.   

And then I heard that I was moving back to the 10th floor.

And then I was gone...

It was really sort of sad. It was not so much about the room itself, but about all the relationships. 

Over my weeks here I've really gotten to know and befriend so many of the nurses and techs. You get to know them and them you--during a time when you are going through so much. I mean--one's about to have a baby, another bought a house, some are about to move, some are about to graduate college, with some I talked movies, others books, others children,  etc.--you learn about them and who they are and become friends.  It's weird to up and leave without saying thanks for the incredible amount of work and care you gave me, and goodbye. 

I will send a card--but still--it feels weird, even sad, to just disappear. 

I'll miss them.

Back to Ten

The tenth floor is a much older floor--a floor with a bit more dated decor--back when muted pink/beiges and water color roses were in. I have a strange sort of dark/light rose-colored camo wallpaper in my much smaller room. My window looks out over the rooftops and towards a lake to the north, but everything in the room does its best to direct you away from the window.

In a holistic health sense--I am convinced environment affects mood and must affect recovery. Here it does seem a bit like the environment has more of a passive aggressive approach. In other words: you'd better get well so you are not here. 

I've Got no Strings...

One thing that is sort of liberating though is how free I am here. I don't have to pee into a jug or poop into a cup. They don't measure everything I eat and drink. No one is wearing masks (in fact my nurse had a cough). I don't have sticky tabs and heart monitor lines attached to me. I am completely off of IVs now, and only take some meds by mouth.

I am untied.

Wait

And here I am--waiting--waiting for my blood counts to rise--waiting to be sure that I don't catch a fever now that I am off of all those anitbiotics, antivirals, and antifungals.  

Waiting.

My doctor says I should be home by the end of the week--but everyone else seems to refer to "going home soon" like it could be any minute.

I'll keep you posted!

Day 24 (Sunday)

This was a good day.

Feeling Groovy

Other than my GI track which is acting up a bit recently, I am feeling better and better. 

• My lip is down to about normal size. (The sore itself will take awhile to heal.)
• My rash is subsided.
• Nosebleeds are long gone.
• No fevers.

All in all--I'm feeling good--i even did 30 minutes on the treadmill. 

I have less energy than normal, but feeling good.

Hair

With everything that was going on last week, I hadn't really been keeping you up to date with the whole hair loss story. So, I was sure that I was going to lose all of my hair--I feel sure I got that from my doctor, but maybe I didn't.

Well--people don't necessarily. Apparently some hair follicles are more delicate than others.

So--last Wednesday-ish, my beard started to fall out. At first it was only if I pulled little, and eventually it was sort of like Christmas-tree needles that were too dry.  I still have a few hairs there--but most of them are gone.

On Saturday, my head hair started to fall out. It is a lovely patchwork of thin and thick areas at the moment--I look forward to it getting further along.

But--NEWSFLASH--according to my doctor that may be it. We still have to wait and see, but the other hair on your body is not as delicate. I don't really care either way, but it will be interesting to see.

Food

One of the friends that made food for Jen had made enough that I could benefit from some leftovers. It was delicious--and so good to have some not-hospital food. They do a pretty good job here--but institutionalized cooking on a large scale can never compare to home cooking.

WATCHMEN

Finished it. 

Some curiousness near the end--but overall--absolutely fantasic.

Home

My white blood cell counts are really rising. Sunday morning, they were 1.6. Monday morning, they are 3.6. They are really looking at my neutrophil count--but its all on the upswing. My doctor feels confident I'll be home by the end of the week!

Incidentally they re-zeroed my bed before weighing me and I was 180.

Summary

In short:

• Side effects: down
• Hair: down
• Weight: down
• Mood: up
• Food: up
• Blood: up
• Outlook: up!

Day 22 & 23 (Friday & Saturday)

Things are on the rise...

Blood

I didn't find this out till late Saturday, but apparently my counts, which I knew had dropped a bit from their high of 2, were really low. Over the last few days, I presume when I was having all the fevers, my white blood counts had dropped to .4, and had only risen to .6 by my Friday midnight labs.  

This called for more blood. In addition, they wanted to open up the wound on my lip, so that meant they boosted my platelets even more than normal. So over the course of Friday morning and into Saturday I had 2 bags of platelets and two bags of blood. I also discovered for the first time that the blood transfusions are of red cells only--the white cells are irradiated out.

The good news is--by Sunday morning--they are 1.6. Incidentally, my weight was 186.

The Continuing Saga of the Lip

My Lip, and what the next step was, was the point of hot contention for Saturday morning. I was still mad no one had explained it to me. It was Saturday, so it also meant that none of my regular doctors would be in--instead others covering for them--would be making rounds. But I was sure they would  know the story.

The big difference today, was that my lip was unquestionably less swollen. Hurray!

Main Doctor's Opinion

Around 10:45 AM the doctor covering for my main doctor came in. I explained my concerns and he explained his. The main reasons for doing the swab as he explained them were:

• I am having unexplained fevers and they want to stop them.
• By waiting they could be letting something take hold that will do more damage, and they don't want to drop the ball.
• I am taking a lot of antibiotics, and sometimes even those can cause fevers. So, if they know which things to use to target the lip, they might be able to remove some of the other drugs.

That all made sense, but I was still not 100% convinced it was all worth a new wound that might gt a new infection in an area where all sorts of things (food) could work their way in and cause problems.

Plastic Surgeon's Opinion

Now, of course, the plastic surgeon is the same one that originally suggested we not open it up. The main doctor said that of course its not really up to him though, but I did figure he knew most about the healing and issues with it. 

He said a healthy person would take 2-3 days, but with me and my really low counts he did not know. That seemed like a really long time to me.

The ID Doctor

In the end, one of the doctors (forget who) called my ID doctor and discussed it. They backed off from it for now, saying they can always go in on Monday if need be. 

So for now--new wound averted!

Fevers

On Saturday I didn't have one fever. I think the highest I got was 99--which for me is nothing. It's Sunday morning as I write this.

WATCHMEN

So, how did I spend this feverless day? Well--I'm still pretty idle and not quite for of vigor yet, so I read. I started the WATCHMEN which is also coming out as a movie.  I started while I couldn't sleep at around 3 in the morning on Friday and have spent most of the day reading it. It's really good. It won a Hugo award and is in Time Magazine's top 100 novels since 1923. 

Anyway--looking forward to the movie--but it will be a different experience--there is so much depth in this book (which is the first time at lest that I have encountered that in a graphic novel) that it will be hard to get all that across on the screen--but it looks visually great on the screen from the trailers as the link above will show.

Night Sweats

One little annoying thing is night sweats--even without fevers I still get these, which I understand can be a side effect of the chemo. I have been changing out the sheets each time, but this will be impractical once home. Its awful to awaken up drenched--you obviously don't want to go back to sleep in it.  

But there it is...

Looking forward to a nice Sunday.