Today was an interesting, but good, day at Stanford. We went into the Infusion Treatment Area at 8am not sure if we could go ahead with the chemotherapy until the needed meds were approved. Our coordinating nurse was confident we’d be approved so she authorized the pre-chemo infusion of fluids and anti-nausea medicine. She was right.
The approval came in just in time and we were able to proceed with the Cytoxan chemotherapy. We were there until 4pm, but they fed me breakfast and lunch and gave me a room with a bed and private bathroom for the day. I felt blessed and thankful. The chemo this time was a much stronger dose than I got before so we were concerned about side effects, but they have not been too bad. I am taking a lot of anti-nausea medicine, which helps. I get a lot of fluids mixed with a diuretic so I am also spending a lot of time in the bathroom. The only effect I noticed was some dizziness and a little increase in the edema on my right side. So far, so good. I know a lot of people have been praying for me through this and I appreciate it very much. A very big thank you!
So now I am in a very immune system compromised position. I am on a low microbial diet for at least the next month. The other thing that comes with this position is a hepa mask. I have to wear it any time I am outside or in hospital hallways or waiting areas. I even need to wear it if someone cleans in a room I am in. So the last part of the day was the fitting of the mask and instructions for its correct use. As you can see from the picture we had a successful mask fitting. The only downside was that I had to shave all my facial hair to get an air-tight seal. It has been close to 20 years since I shaved my chin. We were discharged at 4pm and we walked back to our apartment. This time Joyce pushed me in a wheel chair. Tomorrow we will be back in the cancer center at noon for more fluids and for training in administering the neupogen injections. We should be back in Shingle Springs on Saturday night.
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