Feb 14

My counts went down again today but not enough for a transfusion. They drew more blood at 3:30pm but the nurse came in at about 5pm and drew it again because the lab said the first one she did wasn't good. My doctor said she thinks I should be able to go home by Monday and possibly sooner, but not today. Debby and I are celebrating Valentine's day by having Deb go and get Tommy's for dinner, pretty romantic, huh? I'm still on the low bacteria diet so I can't have fresh fruit or vegetables but I still get the chili!

Feb 13

Nothing much to say today, my counts dropped a little more but not enough for a transfusion.

Feb 12

This morning they had trouble getting blood from my Hickman catheter and the nurse said that sometimes happens when my counts get low. My doctor came in and said that I couldn't go home until my counts went back up so I'll probably be in here another week at least, maybe two. The last session it took 4 weeks to come back up so it's probably going to be about the same amount of time. Oh well, things could be worse. It might get to the point where they have to stick me to draw my blood, but they're only doing it once a day this time.
IN HIS HANDS,
Ernie

Feb 11

My counts were down today, my white counts so low they put me on the low-microbial diet, and my platelettes were so low they gave me a transfusion. I still haven't had fevers though which is what my doctor seems to be the most worried about. I had a restful day (I have them every day! LOL), and watched some sports on TV.

Feb 10

Here is my tentative schedule. When I get out of the hospital this time I will meet with the bone marrow transplant doctor to see when they want me to go thru the rest of my procedures. Whenever they want me back in the hospital (it will probably be 2 to 3 weeks after I get out this time) I will go thru a session of chemo exactly like I went thru this time. One day on, one day off, on, off, and one final day on so I would have 3 days of chemo consisting of two bags per day twelve hours apart and one day in between each day. Hope that makes sense. That session will probably be at City Of Hope unless they don't have any beds available when I need to go in. If not I'll go to Kaiser Panorama again. When my white counts begin to come up on that session they will harvest my stem cells to insert back in at the time of my bone marrow transplant. The way they harvest and then put them back in is they put a needle in my arm that's hooked up to a machine that actually takes out the stem cells and then lets the flow of blood go back into my body thru my Hickman catheter. My doctor wasn't sure what size Hickman they put in so if I don't have the large one in me now, they'll have to take mine out and put the large one in. This would mean another surgery so let's pray that they put the large one in initially. I'll ask my doctor to check on what size they put in already. My next hospital stay for a chemo session (the one to harvest the stem cells) will last 3 to 4 weeks and the bone marrow transplant session (definitely done at City of Hope) will be one month. That's what I know of my upcoming schedule. Deb and I are talking about taking a short vacation when I get out this time. It will probably be just a few days but we both need to get away and we're probably going to go somewhere by the beach (we both love the ocean) just to relax and try to forget life for a while. So that's the definite plan, unless things change, of course! LOL! IN HIS HANDS,
Ernie

Feb 9

I did it. I asked/begged my doctor to go home today...... and she just laughed and said not yet. She still thinks my counts might drop and I'll get fevers, but she did say that on Monday if nothing happens til then I might be able to go home. She said, "We'll see". I guess that's that. Oh well, a few more days won't hurt too bad, I've had it pretty good because I haven't had any symptons. Thank you all for your prayers and keep them coming, I still need them.
IN HIS HANDS,
Ernie

Feb 8

My doctor said I couldn't go home today because she thinks I will still be getting fevers. This is day 10, day 1 was the first day of chemo, and from day 10 to day 14 is supposedly when the symptoms normally show up. I think I'm going to try to talk her into letting me go home tomorrow, and if not then on Monday. She only works certain weekends and I'm not sure if she's working this coming one, and if she's not she won't be here to sign me out until Monday. I have been doing pushups and situps in my bed (a little sloppy but possible) so I can keep some strength. I was surprised last time I went home to find that I was weaker than I thought I would be. Even just going upstairs was tiring. It didn't take long for me to get back to feeling better when I exerted myself but I want to be more ready this time. It doesn't take much time for muscles to go away when you don't use them at all, and when you're in bed most of the time you don't use them much. God bless,
Ernie