Only three visits to the BMT Group this week for bandage changes and lab tests. I get to stay home, constantly. I'm now considered in isolation since my white cell count is down from the first chemo. I can leave the house but not go to any public place like a store or restaurant, can't do any inside or outside gardening, contact anything with a remote chance of having germs, or have visitors, germy or not. Also I can't eat anything raw (apples, celery, etc.) unless it's thick skinned like bananas or oranges, nothing prepared outside the house unless it's packaged or pasteurized, and everything at home has to be well cooked. Kinda boring... But Margie has been wonderful, both keeping me from wandering outside of the restrictions and making sure I eat well. So far, no appetite problems.
To add excitement, I get to give myself two injections twice a day into my gut fat. Fortunately there's plenty available. One shot is something I've done before called Lovenox that just keeps clots from forming. The other is Neupogen, that's supposed to restore white blood cells. At the cost of about $350 a shot, it better work. I get to draw it out of a vial and do all the things a nurse does to give a shot (right dosage, no air bubbles, look for blood, etc.), and if I screw it up it gets discarded . This goes on for seven days, twice a day. Do the math...and hope I don't mess up. (So far, ok.)
Friday: Uh-oh... The white blood cell count is still low, and it's got to be high to do the stem cell collection. They'll check again early Monday and if it's ok then they'll start. Otherwise, I'll continue on the Neupogen until it works. This could delay things a little bit.
A mild fatigue has reappeared over the last couple of days, and I'm wondering if it's related to an antibiotic that I recently started. I'm assuming that I'll be on handfuls of prescriptions once the action starts. Sure hope I don't get too wiped out by it all.
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A description and reports of my fight against Multiple Myeloma.
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A Little Background
- Allen in Decatur, Georgia
- Although this is a Myeloma-focused blog, you may be interested in knowing that this is not my first battle with the Monster. In 2001, at age 55, I was diagnosed with Advanced Prostate Cancer. That means metastatic, incurable but not untreatable, quality of life damaging, potentially fatal Prostate Cancer. So I've already been through the shock of figuring out that life will end, it's just a matter of when. Now the battle is on, facing two fronts. The PC has been under control although it's starting to reemerge a little recently. The MM is harder to control. If you're taking bets, I'd go with the MM. Just don't expect a payoff anytime soon...
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