D-1

It's the day after the chemo and the day before the actual transplant. Overall I feel fine, I had a headache for awhile this morning...finally I asked for some tylenol, knowing they wouldn't give me anything like aspirin. New set of rules around here; no tylenol either since it would mask a fever. They're very watchful of fevers since that'd be an early sign of infection. Instead, they give oxycodone! At least it was a small one. Later I had a little nausea but, when I mentioned it, they gave me Ativan. It's like magic. ;-)

Backing up a little, last night I barely slept. Between being in a new place, with some strange drug running through my veins, and a thermostat that seemed to have a mind of its own, it was challenging. Around 6am, I was awake and decided to wait for the morning ritual of blood being drawn around 7am. Well, that never happened...it seems they do it around midnight and I forgot it. Oh yeah, when I mentioned the thermostat to the nurse, she told me that several others complained about the rooms being too hot last night.

I found that I have choices for my meals! With breakfast this morning (which wasn't bad, but plain), I had a sheet to choose tomorrow's meals from. In place of the inevitable biscuit or toast, I'm getting a bagel with cream cheese! There's also a phone number to call and order a 3pm snack, today I ordered a sandwich, orange and a soda. I'd better start losing my appetite soon or I'll be putting on more than just fluid weight.

The rest of the day I sat around doing puzzles, all kinds but mostly word puzzles of one sort or another. I forgot to bring pencils so Sudoku would be a challenge. The other kinds are either easy enough or there's room to write your guesses real small until you firm them up.

And of course, no word from HR. Officially I'm on medical leave so can't do any work. However, I pop in and out of my email every so often just to see if they miss me. I know they do but I also know that I work with a great bunch of people who can do anything.

An interesting coincidence popped up yesterday in the Admissions office. The woman who did my paperwork has a cousin who's married to a Lipsky in Marietta. To make it even more spooky, her father passed away in March from Amyloidosis. Apparently, it went mis/undiagnosed for quite awhile. He went from refereeing basketball games to having trouble walking...in 18 months...and nobody knew why. He had major heart issues from it, probably avoidable if they caught it sooner. They couldn't do the "high-dosage" chemo I'm getting so he died while he was being treated the milder way. Very sad. At the same time, it's another little glimmer of just how much I've got to be grateful for. Without the early diagnosis, it could have been me.

I have an interesting evening planned. In about an hour, they'll bring my evening pills and hook me up for an anti-nausea drug IV, "ondansetron" sounds more like some machine that makes people start dancing, right? It's trade name is Zofran" which doesn't sound nearly as fun.

That's it for tonight. As time goes on, I'm sure to run out of describing boring routines. For now, I want to get these down for me...so I can remember everything that happens, the good and the bad. So far, nothing really bad.

One last thing, Alice had her own treatment today. A second epidural steroid shot for her problem disc. A friend drove her to and from Snellville for it. Another friend brought her what sounds like quite a dinner, Waldorf salad, a Texas something caserole, fresh broccoli, and get this...even cheesecake! Is she a friend or what?

Well friends, thanks for being interested enough to check in on us now and then. Those little comments and emails mean a lot...please keep them coming.