April 9, 2012
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Soon to be free!!
Posted by Stephanie 2pm CST from the hospital
Howdy all. I’m sitting here chillin’ in the hospital room while Sammy runs a few errands and prepares for my departure. That’s right–I’m being discharged later today! I’m used to being in the hospital at least a week per chemo round in the past, so this is quite a surprise. The last time I did this regiment, WAY back in 2005, the Cisplatin was given as a one time dose, but the Adriamycin was given over three days, resulting in a much longer stay to monitor my response and counts. When I admitted on Friday night, we were told that this might be a shorter stay than my previous ones, since I was only getting a single dose of both Adriamycin and Cisplatin, and sure enough, my creatinine level (measure kidney function) is staying low enough to let me loose. In addition, I haven’t thrown up once (hooray) and have gotten the periodic nausea under control. Just under three days total in here–I’d consider that a champion effort!
Believe it or not, now the tough part really begins. I’ve had the benefit of constant I.V. fluids pumping into me while I’ve been in here, which is certainly helping to keep my creatinine level down. I drank water as long as I could (it tastes terrible now), and then switched to green and detox tea (or water with a LOT of lemon), but I’ve got to work hard to down several liters a day to keep up with the demand on my kidneys. Whoever’s job it is to be with me during this time, be it Sammy, my mother or sister, they earn the title “fluid nazi”, and have every right to ride my tail until I get enough liquid down. In addition, we’ll keep an eye on my blood counts with labs three times a week, and as soon as they start to drop, I’ll go into “hermit mode”, where I can’t be around large groups of people or those prone to carry illness (elderly, children, etc.). Ah, the joys of chemo.
In other news, still no word on more permanent housing for us down here. As soon as we got the news from Dr. Benjamin last Thursday, Sammy called the church apartment ministry program that we’ve used so many times in the past and got our name on the waiting list. As soon as they have something open up, we’ll get a call, but there’s no way to know if that will happen in three days or three weeks. For the time being, we’re continuing to shack up with Joe and Sarah, but once my immune system tanks, we’ll have to get a hotel room so that I can be in a more sterile environment.
Right now, Sammy plans to head back to Ohio either Wednesday or Thursday, and my mom is gathering stuff at home and packing up her car to head down this way as his relief in the next day or so. We certainly hadn’t planned to stay in Houston for any length of time, so there’s a lot to be brought down, including clothes, some comforts of home, and a lot of medical and nutritional supplies to help me battle this the best I am able.
So there’s your whirlwind update for the moment. Sammy and I are floored by the level of support that we have (and continue) to receive since this news hit last week. I truly cannot express in words the love and gratitude I have for each of you that have reached out to us via FB, the blog, e-mail and phone. Please know that your support is what has kept us going at points over the last few days, and will surely continue to do so–keep it coming!
More to come later. For now, I’m going to take my I.V. pole for a spin around the nursing station and try to get rid of some of this built up fluid retention. Ciao!
-Steph
