January 28, 2009

• Looong day

  Posted by Stephanie 6:30pm CST from the infusion center at MD Anderson

  So, let's see, I've been at the hospital 10 hours now. I was only supposed to be here for four hours, but no, it's been ten. As you've probably figured out, I'm a little frustrated. It's somewhat of a long, drawn out story, but basically, they had the wrong set of orders for my chemo this morning, so they called over to the sarcoma center and one of the nurses (not Mara because she's off the rest of the week) corrected the orders. But, before I could be taken back to a room for the infusion, I was told that I had to have my creatinine level checked. That's the first I had heard about that, and there wasn't a blood test on my schedule, so they had to order it and send me downstairs to the diagnostic center to have it done. I waited more than a half hour to get called back for the bloodwork, then waited more than an hour for the results. When they finally did take me back to a room and brought in the chemo orders to go over them, they were again incorrect, this time with wrong dates on them. They had to page Dr. Benjamin and wait for him to call back. By this point, it's several hours after my initial appointment time, and because the doctor had been so emphatic on Monday that this chemo be given early so that subsequent methotrexate level checks were done early enough to get results back, mom and I were getting worried. She even went up to the sarcoma center to speak to a nurse, but was told it was "fine" and that if the methotrexate level results didn't come back that same day, we'd just have to wait and get them the next morning. Anyway, back to the infusion center--we finally got Dr. Benjamin to correct and double-check the orders. However, we ended up waiting another hour before the pre-medications even arrived from the pharmacy. It ended up being more than six hours after my appointment time when the chemo actually got started. Oof. Oh, and the methotrexate is yellow. Neon yellow. Weird.

  Another thing about this chemo regiment that I didn't mention yesterday is the extra work that has to be done on my end at home. In addition to taking the leucovorin every six hours, I also have to test the pH of my urine every single time I use the restroom. Like many things, the methotrexate is secreted/removed from the body through urine, and that process is more successful if your urine is alkaline (above 7.0 on the pH scale). You achieve alkalinity by increasing the amount of sodium bicarbonate taken, so I'm adding a few pills to my normal daily amount. I also have to drink 4-6 liters of fluid for the first three or four days of treatment each cycle. That's a LOT of fluid. I already feel like I'm gonna float away with as much as I've had today. Good times.

  Looks like there's only about five minutes left till the methotrexate is finished. Woohoo. As usual after getting chemo, I'm feeling pretty puny, so it's home with us to relax and find something that sounds good for dinner. I hope everyone back home is staying warm and safe with all the snow. Sammy said this morning that our county (and the surrounding counties) were under a level 3 snow emergency. Obviously, he was off school, as he was yesterday, and probably will be tomorrow. I'd like to be home to build a snowman or make some snow angels. It's supposed to be below freezing here tomorrow morning, but no snow, obviously. Alright, I'm off for now. Later all.

  --Steph

  • 7:54 pm
  • 2 Comments