Monday: And we're o-f-f...oops. My WBC this morning was much better but they decided to check the stem cell level in the blood and it was borderline. So the harvest has been delayed a day. No big deal; I would rather have higher levels and maybe less time on the machine. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
Tuesday: This time it's for real. They put me in a recliner, one of about a dozen in the room. Four are for stem cell harvest, the others are for platelet donors. There is a big machine that processes blood at every recliner. Besides the tubes that move the blood to and from the machine, there are several drip bags of fluid and medicines. But with the catheter there is no pain or any problems, except one. It seems they really want to keep you hydrated, which means they pump fluids, which means that you have to pee about every hour. And they will not unhook you from the machine once it starts. The only solution is to pee in their plastic container. They are discreet enough to pull a curtain around you, and they empty the container for you. Everybody knows exactly what's going on, but nobody cares. The harvest process takes about three hours so there's a lot of peeing happening.
Wednesday: Yesterday's results were not very good, so I'm back on the machine. Crud.
Thursday: And Wednesday's results were not even as good as Tuesday's. Apparently the chemo that I took earlier is causing problems. I got a call in the afternoon that they had ordered a brand new drug that really pushes the cells out for harvest. Why didn't they do this earlier? It probably has something to do with the six thousand dollar ($6,000!!!) cost per dose. And a dose is only 1.2 ml, probably about a teaspoonful. And I have to give it to myself.
But the fun part was that the pharmacy refused to give the drug to me. Seems they didn't get the insurance authorization. So after we wait around for about an hour until after 5 pm waiting for them to talk to somebody, Margie gets pissed, goes to the pharmacist and calmly explains the situation to him, along with the inference that neither of us is leaving without the drug. He gave up, we got the drug, and Margie is the Hero of the Week.
Friday: The harvest on Friday morning was greatly improved, but not quite enough. So we go back to the pharmacy to get another $6,000 dose but with absolutely no problem for the pharmacist. I guess he knew who he was up against and surrendered this time.
Saturday: The clinic operates 7 days a week, so the collection continued. But that afternoon I got the call that the drug worked again and I was finally finished, thank God. The harvest process is actually very easy. I just lay there and read a book. Others watched tv or one of their collection of dvd's on portable players. After about 3 hours, they unhooked me and sent me home. But it was amazing how wiped out I was every afternoon. I slept off and on (still peeing every hour) from lunch until dinner, and then slept through the night with no problem.
Next week: Showtime. High dose chemo Monday, stem cell reinsertion Wednesday.
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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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