Hospitals are Popular
Tonight I am staying in an apparently very popular place, the Hospital. So popular that you need to come in an entire night earlier to just get a room, or you'll find yourself waiting downstairs, like the unfortunate other cancer patient still waiting for a room at 10 pm at night. That does not sound like fun at all. In the meantime, Roy and I got popsicles and applesauce and feel like we're living in the lap of luxury.
All joking aside, we came back to the hospital tonight in expectation that they would start the targeted immunotherapy-therapy drug Blincyto at a higher dosage. Just to recap, the last three nights of my stay they switched me from traditional Chemotherapy drugs to Blincyto. They introduce the drug as in-patient because it can have adverse reactions, which I did. Within 30 minutes of the infusion, I had extreme chills and was breathing rapidly. They stopped the medication, and my body calmed back down within the hour. And the doctors decided to resume and cut my dosing by two-thirds. I've been on this dosage for the last 5 days and it seems to have done the trick.
Because of my body's reaction, the medical staff decided best to also NOT start the treatment tonight, hence my initial paragraph, one very expensive popsicle and accommodations. Instead, they plan to start tomorrow morning when the A-team is available and on site. Prayers for a non-eventful start of treatment tomorrow, and that side effects would be minimal. One common side effect is headaches, which I've been having for the last 5 days.
Good news is, if all goes well, I should be back home in 3 days again. I am currently neutropenic (very low white cells to fight infections) and need to be extra cautious in public places, and am also anemic along with extremely low platelet counts. According to Roy, the combination of the three makes me "pancytopenic". Now isn't this fun?!
Once back home, I should be home for 2 weeks before round two of chemo. We have been blessed with so much love and food, along with friends who have helped out with Naomi and other practical needs that have been beyond generous and kind. Thank you for being part of our world.
Ruth
Thanks for sharing what’s going on. Sending love and prayers and hugs. Katy K
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ruth and Roy, for sharing your journey with us so we can pray for your family and for Ruth’s recovery from this. I appreciate your sense of humor during this challenging time, for what else can one do? All our love, Willard and Karen
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