Day -7

Nanette & I arrived at the hospital at 6:30AM to check in to get the new catheter placed. It took 3 sticks to find a vein in my right hand. The first nurse had to call a second nurse to get the job done. I would have asked Mom to do it but it is not her specialty. The rest of the procedure was painless and I was up to my hospital room by 10:00AM. The catheter has 3 lines and I do not have to be poked through the skin each time like my old port.

Blood counts. Platelets=56 White blood cells=3.5 Red blood cells=33.

I got settled in my room and unpacked all my clothes and stuff we brought from home. Dr. Matous came in and examined and talked with us. He was happy that my lungs sound clear and the pneumonia is going away. The nurse took my history and asked many questions. It took about an hour. She started me on fluids about 300ML per hour which will continue throughout the entire chemotherapy. It makes me go to the bathroom quite often. I am trying to walk at least one hour each day. I did about 75 minutes today. I walk back and forth outside in the unit. The hall is not very long so I make many trips round and round. I have to wear gloves and a gown any time I leave the room. Once my white blood cells get too low I will have to wear a mask.

The chemo premeds are zofran for nausea and dexamethasone which is a steroid that works with zofran to reduce nausea. The chemo is called BCNU (carmustine) with is diluted with alcohol so I was slightly intoxicated last night. I was also slightly flushed. It gave me a headache like a hangover but it was gone by morning. They gave me tylenol for the headache. Sleep here is interupted by my blood being taken at midnight each night. I am not sure why it has to be done at midnight. I was given ambien to help me sleep. It helped but I would wake up every 2 hours with a full bladder. I slept until 7:30AM and as I was getting up Dr. Matous entered the room. That's it for day -7. Thanks for the calls and love. I will try to do this every day. Maybe Nanette can fill in on my fatigue days. Take care.