A New Year!

I'm home from the hospital, and very thankful it was a short stay this time! I have tons of pictures from my excursion.

Sleeping at the oncologist.

Josh and I waiting at the oncologist for a hospital room.

I was really greatful that the oncology floor was opened this visit. The nurses and techs on the oncology floor of Howard County General are all just great people and gave me really wonderful care last time I was there. They knew the little ins and outs of people receiving treatment and how to deal with all the oddball side effects.

They even wrote a little message on my white board, everyone remembered me!

I did get a blood transfusion again. I didn't need platelets this time though, which was great.

My mom is queen of sneaky sleeping pictures!

My "fresh blood" as I referred to it!

I was neutropenic again, because my white blood cells were so low. Going in I only had about 150 white blood cells. A good number for someone going through treatment is around 20,000! When you're neutropenic you can't have fresh fruits or veggies, and everyone has to be super careful when coming into contact with you. Lots of gloves and masks were worn around me.

I have no recollection of this picture being taken.

During my transfusion there was a clot in my needle which is kind of crazy. Apparently that's something that can happen. I was glad it didn't go into my port, because that would have meant getting medicine injected in there and stuff, and I don't know, clots near your heart is never good.

A family friend had made us a couple chicken pot pies which was awesome, because we all know the luck I had with the hospital food last time. I was eating great all weekend.



Yuuuuumm!

 So I had to spend New Years Eve in the hospital, which kind of stunk. I wasn't planning any crazy parties or anything, but you know, no one wants to be in the hospital on a holiday. My mom got some goodies for Josh and I so we could have some fun on our first New Years as a married couple.

Like hats!

Sparkling Cider didn't work out, so we toasted with Pepsi and Giner Ale!

Almost Time...

Happy New Year!

I was still neutropenic.... so this was the best we could do for a New Years kiss!

Hat swapping

It was fun to celebrate together. I was on pain killers, so I fell asleep pretty soon after the new year. The nurses got a kick out of our hats.

Although I went in the hospital because of a low red count, they wanted to keep me in there because of my low white count. Last week, before all this my blood counts were low, and my doctor put me on antibiotics to preemptively stop an infection. They worked. On Saturday one of the doctors told me that although my red count was good after the transfusion, if he'd sent me home then I would be back in 24 hours with a fever and infection, becuase I just couldn't fight it off myself, and I needed to wait until my white count was out of the danger zone. We were all expecting me to go home Monday.

Well, at 4:30 in the morning on Sunday I woke up in horrible pain in my back and chest. It was so bad I needed help getting in and out of bed to go to the bathroom. See, there's this shot they give me called Nulasta. What Nulasta does is tells your body to produce white blood cells, and white blood cells are produced mainly in the lower back and the sternum. It takes about 4-5 days to kick in, and my last Nulasta shot had been Wednesday.

Boy did I feel it.

But, it blasted me enough that my body produced enough white blood cells that I was able to go home Sunday! I'm still low, I think I was at around 3,500 whites when I left, but I'm still climbing.

I'm really glad to be home, and that all the doctors took pre-emptive measures so I wouldn't bottom out like I did last time, because that was pretty scary.

Oh, did I mention that I've passed my halfway point in my chemo schedule? I couldn't be more excited about that. This Wednesday I will be getting a PET scan which will tell us how well the chemo has been working, and I've got an apointment Friday morning with my doctor to see how it's all going! If the chemo has been 80% effective we will stay on this path. I can't wait!