Playing With Drugs...

We drove to Seattle from Southern Oregon last week, about 7 and a half hours. This was not a hard drive, and the changing weather made it even more interesting...some rain, some sun, a couple of coffee breaks, and RedBud drove the last 150 miles. We checked into the Puget Sound VA to get our apartment assignment and keys, and directions. That night we ate at a Vietnamese Restaurant around the block from the the Apartment.

Next day was a clear day, didn't have any appointments. We make short tour of the neighborhood, all abuzz, small town folks in the big city. RedBud was glazed over by the time we found a restuarant to eat breakfast--our ritual. It didnt' help that he only place we could find didn't serve breafasts on weekdays, and anyhow it was a Marie Callendars place. The food was good, and after a while RedBud calmned down. No markers, you know. Rituals are important, and we either eat breakfast at home, and play a game of chess before we start our days, or we go out to eat, read the paper and share the puzzles. These are important things.

We got our cable stuff set up, and over the next few days all that came through. Our aparment manager, Sarah, is a 9-year myeloma survivor, and now one of my new heroes. Thursday we went up to our appointments at the VA. We settle into our routines here. Over the weekened we met a couple more folks in the building...a youngish couple, Mormons, with two children. They came by the appartment for trick or treat. We gave the two-year old caveman a banana, and the three-year old ballerina a banana.

This week we toured the SCCA building, and had my veins checked. Tuesday I had the Hickmah catheter installed. This was similar to the PICC line I lived on all summer, but the Borg plugs are two instead of one, and they come out my chest instead of my arm. The operation was like all of them: they wheeled me in on a guerney and gave me drugs, so I floated throught the procedure, aware only of vague tugs and pulls and background conversations. Later on it was over, and some guy wheeled be back up to the room on the MTU ward. I met a couple new nurses and talked to my docs, and they began the chemo. This was not like the last chemo.

The drug came down the line like a train. In a matter of an hour I was in a rush, more or less off my feet and somewhat disoriented. I ate supper. But two hours later the nausea hit. My nightly routine is to urinate every hour or so when I drink lots of fluids, and these guy have me drinking lots of fluids. But every time I returned from the bathroom the nausea would hit. I complained, and the nurse brought me a drug to help me sleep. The night passed. By midnite the last of the chemo drips were done, and I slept better, having to get up only once or twice to use the bathroom. I was in a haze, uncomfortable, and feeble.

By morning the chemo haze was gone, and I felt week but clear. I was skeptical, but my trip to the bathroom didn't bring on any nausea. Breakfast came. I was skeptical, but it went down and stayed down.

They have given me a battery of drugs...six or seven different kinds, including something to lower my blood pressure a little. I am working on keeping this stuff straight.

I napped off and on during the morning. At 0930 the nurse hooked up today's drip. She assured me that it wouldn't be as intense as last night. It wasn't. The drip last four hours. During that time RedBud arrived, and we chatted. She flitted in and out during the drift session, since I was sort of drifting in and ouf of naptime, catching up on my sleep from last night's doings.

Later on Charlie came in and showed us how to maintain the Hickman Line. We came back home, to the apartments.

Thursday night was uneventful, except for learning to sleep with the Hickman device...a two-headed snake, that dangles six inches down from my right upper chest. Nothing to it. Like sleeping with a new baby...you never really forget it, and you won't roll over on it. Friday we had our leisurely breakfast in the apartment before going back to the hospital for the last infusion. Good, but not quite normal. This afternoon we stopped off at Safeway to look the place over and get a discount card, some low-fat ice cream and chocolate milk. I'm told to take stuff with high calcium content, to help with the seeding and fertilizing of the stem cell process. Never mind. I may try to explain that later.

Anyhow, Seattle grows on you. It may grow on me more. I'm hearing talk about a possible follow up transplant after my auto...an allo, taken from the allo data base. That's not for sure, and it's some five or six months down the road. This is tremendously good news, if it comes to pass. Maybe more on that later, too

By the way, this isn't all about the transplant. I have more I want to say in this blog. I don't know how, yet.

Bloggers, blog on!

blog out....