Monday Nov. 8 Lab test.

I think I've had 3 blood tests since the last chemo session. All my counts have been fine except Creatinine which had been climbing slowly. Today however it jumped from 2.2 last Friday to 2.8 today. This is not what I was planning for it and it is making me feel pretty sick. Hopefully it is a peak from the last of the Revlimid and will get better over the next few days.

November 1st - Last day of 4th chemo session

Well I didn't post anything about last Friday's session because it was so boring. 4hrs, Creatinine came down a tiny amount and that was about it. Everything stayed about the same white blood cell count is trending down as expected blaa blaa.
It's weird I've had some really crappy days where the nausea gets to be a pain and drugs don't get rid of it at all, then the next day it's all rosy comparatively.
So my last chemo session day (scheduled) before stem cell harvest started off as usual at home with Kristy looking for a good vein. James showed he's been watching and learning...

 He pulled up his sleeve and pointed out where we should be aiming...on Daddy. Kristy of course got in first time and I saw the best blood return I have seen....well ever probably!
Clinic was busy plus I think they forgot I was was there, things seemed to move suspiciously fast when I reminded them I had an 11 o'clock appt. and it was now 12.30 and I was still in reception no labs drawn.
So after 2hrs waiting in reception labs were drawn there, we got a room and started 2hrs of IV fluids before any meds.... I was looking forward to the doctors visit as I have a few questions but instead had 3 minutes with a nurse practitioner which wasn't very informative. So my actual meds were put in IV in about 20 minutes and then we were done. Kristy had to remind them we had no meeting or tests set up at all. So we then waited again for someone to set some appts up....do I sound just a little peeved?
So after 5.25 hours we got to leave. Oh yeah, numbers were fine, Creatinine came down again a little from 2.19 to 2.12.
Nausea should get a bit better as I'll not be getting any meds for a little while. One week off then tests, well the tests actually start this Thursday with various blood tests on 4,8 and 11th. Bone Marrow biopsy on the 17th, then some more tests I have no dates for at the moment.
It looks like the 2 days of high dose chemo (Melphalan) start on the 6th of December as long as I pass all my tests then transplant on the 9th.
So phase 2 is starting with any luck. I am happy things are progressing, I am quite interested in how sick I'm going to feel and be. How I manage to deal with it (how many times will "pain in the arse" be used when Kristy refers to me) and of course something that weighs on my mind, how it will be balancing time with kids and not getting any infections.
Also I've been asking questions that while wanting answers have realized no accurate answers are available yet. Like how much kidney function will I have when all this is done and what kind of energy level can I expect. Again, I think I'll be falling back on my tried and tested "hope for the best and prepare for less than that" . We'll see.

10.25.10 2nd chemo of 4th Session

Okay so the Creatinine didn't come down much, 2.35 to 2.24 and I drank more water than I thought humanly possible. Basically the problem is my kidneys cannot take 25mg of Revlimid and clear it, so it is building up and causing all my other numbers to drop when they shouldn't be. So starting today I'm back down to 10mg and getting a liter of fluid IV everyday to flush out my kidneys and to generally keep enough fluid passing through as I am finding it hard to keep up orally. I'm a little disappointed to be dropping to 10mg but 25 is just not possible given my kidney function.
Nothing else too exciting, 4 hr visit which included 2hr of IV fluid, not too bad I guess. Kristy got my IV first time and we got a quick visit from Dr McGirk which was fun so all is going pretty well.

10.22.10 1st Day of Session 4.

So here we are again on the wonderful ride that is cancer! My appt was at 10am and it's 12 now and we're still in the waiting room....Kristy tried to start my IV this morning and stopped after 3 tries. Sophie was very sweet and held me while Kristy tried to put the IV's in.

Sophie looking after her Dad

I have had my blood taken...and the prize goes to Mary, it took 2 more tries. Still no PICC line needed!
Well the damn Creatinine is 2.35! I'll ask for IV fluids today as I know I'm not drinking enough because of constant nausea, even plain water is tasting bad these days. All the other lab results were fine, so we'll wait and see what the doc says. Blood pressure was high today which is weird as I checked it at home 4-5 days ago and it was pretty much normal.
Dr Ganguly dropped by and said he wanted to lower the Revlimid dose because of the Creatinine level being so high. I asked if I could stay on the same 25mg and get IV fluids to help my kidneys, he agreed. I'm getting some stronger anti-nausea meds as well so I can drink more at home and hopefully bring down the Creatinine again. Somehow I think IV fluid is the way to go.
It was interesting in the waiting room today, it was packed and we got the last two seats. People were talking and sharing their cancer experiences. A really nice bunch of people and very varied stories and stages happening right there, right now...kind of crazy. It felt kind of like a support group, which was funny - one lady even came over and gave Kristy a hug.  It was all a little surreal.
Well I got my wish, Dr Ganguly has written orders for me to get a litre of IV fluid before each of my three remaining chemo treatments. It can't hurt and I can snooze for the 2hrs it takes if I so wish, tough life huh!
We met Beth my Transplant coordinator. She gave me a huge folder about the "do's and don'ts" and all the tests and meetings I'll be having before I'm allowed/can go ahead with the transplant. Beth is really nice as are all the staff. I can't say enough goods things about the people there.
All going well I will post some provisional dates soon for all the fun stuff I'll be getting up to.
So 1L of IV fluids, Dex, Zofran and Velcade later plus meetings with Dr Ganguly and Beth we get to go home, a grand total of 6 hours later!
Back in on Monday or course and I'm accepting bets on the Creatinine numbers, I'm guessing on 1.82. Are you feeling lucky?

Last day of 3rd session 10.11.10.

Kristy got an IV in 2nd try. She says in 6.5 years she has never had a patient with such thick skin.....what can I say, thickening my skin has been a hobby for years now.
Labs were taken after an hour of waiting, they were busy again at the clinic. All counts came back fine, Creatinine which I thought would be trending lower went up again to 1.9. I think no matter how much I hope and drink it isn't going to budge at the moment, hopefully after transplant.
No doctor visit today so just Dexamethasone Valcade and Zofran as normal. And so ends session 3.
Generally I'd say nausea is constant and a little higher, eating is harder as nothing tastes good...but as usual I manage, my weight is still a solid 167lbs and hasn't really changed. Fatigue a little higher not too bad though. I don't get the steroid high anymore, if I had to guess I'd say it's because of the higher dose of Revlimid.
So just to show you how boring our visits are here are some pics of us being bored..

This is my 'still fighting' pose.

checking lab results.

my chemo face.

Friday 10.8.10

So here I am 12noon giving you a minute by minute a/c of my visit. Kristy had to work today and therefore had to put my IV in this morning...I nearly made her late. I guess I'm getting harder to stick, third time was a charm though.  According to her my veins are getting "ropey" - can't decide if I like that term or not.
I'm feeling the extra 15mg of Revlimid so hopefully it is doing its job. As always I'm interested to see the Creatinine numbers.
I got on my bike yesterday for the first time in a while. I had been going no higher than HR 130 before needing to get off the bike to stop myself from getting pretty dizzy, my red blood cells weren't carrying enough oxygen - however yesterday 145 was fine for 5-10 minutes! So that is great and a sure sign my body is getting back to a more normal fitness.
Blood taken and all the numbers are good, my RBC count is slightly higher which would a/c for me being able to workout at a higher HR, but with chemo it would be expected to go down.
John came to my appointment with me and we had a bet on the Creatinine, I thought 1.77 (i guess i must be feeling lucky), it came back 1.82 which is down from 1.94. I have a feeling the 25mg of Revlimid is going to knock my Creatinine down a bit more, because of the higher dose I feel more tired and nauseated and my taste buds are going a little crazier than before. Now very little tastes good. However if it does its job the inconvenience will be worth it. Saw the doc he seemed pretty happy with my progress. We were in and out in 2hrs 45mins!
I got another workout in before Sarah left (she was babysitting the kids) and am still able to hit 145 for over 5 mins! So all is good at the moment. I'm trying to workout everyday to see if it helps.

Kristy & I going out to dinner.

John and I doing some art...cause that's what we do.

Daddy eating James' toes!

Photo with Soph.

James and I trying on our Halloween outfits.

Here are some recent pics to liven up this post..

10.4.10

Unevenful day at the clinic, an hour wait before they took blood but in and out in 3hrs as I didn't need IV fluids. We met Abby the very nice nurse practitioner who explained that we were probably looking at 4 sessions of chemo, then harvest of stem cells, then high dose chemo, then transplant and so on. I'll put some more info and dates to this another time. So all is going okay at the moment.
I think they may need to ease back on the steroids...

but Kristy seems to like it! However cycling up hills may be an issue.
The higher dose of Revlimid seems to be fine at the moment, I take it just before bed so miss out on most of the neuropathy which is nice (it is still going away by morning).
Kristy is still putting in my IV before I go to clinic but has said she is noticing my veins are changing with chemo, they will get harder and so more difficult to get a needle into, but she is still getting in first time at the moment!
Back in on Friday for 2nd last chemo of 3rd session. Not long to go now till I get rid of all this annoying hair!