Thursday, October 12, 2017

Day 2 at Smoky Stanford

20171012_091517 (768x1024)20171012_114852 (768x1024)Actually today was not as smoky as yesterday, but we are still wearing our masks when outside. The day started early with a check-in at the surgery center at 9AM. I had to do a surgical scrub in the shower last night and then again this morning before we checked in for surgery. Basically they removed my old port that was in my chest and placed a Hickman catheter in my chest. The new port is required for the transplant. Overall, the procedure took about 3 hours. It went very well. I have a little discomfort on the cut but nothing major. I was able to eat lunch (right) in the recovery room (right). IMG_20171012_163150 (768x1024)

The new port is already in use. I met with the infusion nurse this afternoon for instruction about tomorrow’s chemo session and about how to take care of the new port. Then I got my portable hydration bag. After some instruction on its use I was hooked up. The bag looks like a small suitcase on wheels. It provides me with constant hydration when I am not in the hospital. I am back in the apartment and hooked up to the bag right now. My port will be connected to the bag for the next 48 hours. I’ll be getting hydrated while I sleep. Right now we are still waiting for approval for my neupogen shots which will build up my new stem cells and move them into my blood stream. Tomorrow’s chemo can not proceed without insurance approval for the neupogen. We think we will get it in time tomorrow morning’s chemo, but we are praying that it will not delay this.

20171011_192059 (768x1024)20171011_192236 (768x1024)We did have a little fun last night. Since that was our last opportunity to eat out at a restaurant for at least a month, because of my soon to be very compromised immune system, we treated ourselves to dinner at Jeff’s Hamburgers in Menlo Park. Jeff’s is a 50’s themed burger joint. I got an old style chocolate shake and Joyce got a root beer float. My bacon cheeseburger and onion rings were pretty good too.

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