Whew, what a long day....
Jimmy is doing well. I spent most the day with him and then came home at 7pm to a mound of paperwork but I am not ungrateful. Although still very busy we are in the winding down stages of work now and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. October, November and December are always our hectic months - note to self to advertise in June next year for customers to book year end jobs by September. A big thank you to my brother Stan...next year I will definitely be a daily part of the team again. It truly is a privilege knowing that I have been able to rely on Stan and our awesome team of guys who have outdone themselves this year, yet again.
The chemo is 2 huge bags of Etoposide which take an age to run through. Jimmy is also getting allot of IV fluids before and after the chemo to stop the chemo from burning his veins as well as anti-nausea medication and mouth rinse to try and prevent any mouth sores. Within 30 minutes of finishing the chemo he was very pale and feeling nauseous and did not eat his supper. He is experiencing a little discomfort from the PICC line and they also had him on oxygen this evening. He will be discharged tomorrow but I am sure this will only be in the afternoon as he needs to get another 2 bags of chemo in and they also need to remove the PICC line under local anaesthetic.
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| Etoposide |
Jimmy's body is going to 'bottom out' over the next 5 days and his bloods are going to drop to below 1 (normal for white blood cells is 4-11). This is going to be a crucial 5 days until Wednesday when we start with 2 Neupogen injections a day and he will be highly susceptible to infection. We have to take his temperature every hour and if there is any spike in temp he needs to be taken through to high care immediately. For this reason I ask that we not have any visitors until next Thursday. It unfortunately is not worth the chance. Dr Fine explained today that they will not harvest his stem cells if he has any bugs or even if his temp is above 37. And on this thought....what impeccable timing as school breaks up on Wednesday when the children come to us.
Special thoughts go out to my brother Guy who had a knee operation today. We hope you are not in too much pain and have a good recovery. Rest this weekend!!
1 comment:
Hi Vivienne, just reread this one after commenting on the most recent post... it's so interesting the variations of treatments. After being admitted to the hospital, for 2 days prior to SCT I received IV Melphalan, not Etoposide, you mention above. I also received IV Cytoxan (Cyclophosphamide) prior to SC harvest. What is Jimmy's next step? Sounds like his Drs are hitting his MM hard and thoroughly! love, hugs and support, Julie :)
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