Freight trains in the night . . .

Well, as I mentioned before, this isn’t gonna be easy and it isn’t gonna be pretty!  As I wrote my last blog, John was in the hospital with some sort of flu . . . he had bronchitis, flu, and was pretty sick but no pneumonia!  After a week in the hospital and numerous blood and platelet transfusions he came home on Wednesday . . . he called me at 6 AM and told me to come get him NOW!  Unfortunately (for him) I didn’t answer the phone – you may wonder what I could possibly have been doing at 6 AM that I couldn’t answer his phone call . . . and believe me, he certainly asked that question!  And the answer is that I was trying to do laundry so he would have clean sheets on the bed when he arrived AND cleaning up “hershey squirts” left all over by a very upset puppy AND washing all of the bedding from the doggie crates (also decorated with “hershey squirts”) AND shampooing both dogs . . . isn’t that what most of us are doing that early in the morning?!  Yikes!  The only time I see 6 AM is . . . oh, who am I kidding?!  I NEVER see 6 AM! But the day was saved when Andrew went to get John from the hospital while I finished laundry and Valerie sanitized everything in sight!!  Mr. Grumpy was much happier to be home than we were to see him at 8 AM.  But he was happy to be in our bed and was very pleased to get a steak for dinner.

Thursday was spent at the doctor for consult and CBC (now, that’s no surprise) and ultimately a platelet transfusion.  It took the entire afternoon of me running around “putting out fires” to get everything coordinated but I finally had an oxygenator and nebulizer delivered at midnight (poor boy was in bed well before that).

Now, somehow in the wee hours of the morning a freight train managed to sneak into our bedroom and  run over me several times before sneaking out again. . . when I tried to get up and function it was quite clear that the freight train had done a very good job!  So, off to the doctor for me . . . lovely test for strep throat (negative!), chat about taking care of myself and why I hadn’t gotten the flu vaccine, and then – the crowning moment – a 6 foot long q-tip rammed up my nose until it was reduced to a 6 inch long accordian shaped thing to test for the flu!  The brain cells they picked up along the way were negative for anything including life.  I was put on two prescriptions and sent home to rest, as in STAY IN BED til I felt better.  And that is exactly what I did!  I didn’t get out of bed until Monday morning.  Damned freight train!  Oh, and I never did get a call back about whether I have the flu or not . . .

Back to our boy . . . I took him back to the hospital yesterday, Monday, at 8:30 AM, as per instructions.  However, he needn’t have gone so early as no one had actually scheduled him for the Hickman catheter surgery . . . it was finally done at 8:30 last nite – no food, no drink, nothing by mouth since the night before!  He was NOT happy with that!  He has been kind enough to explain proper procedure to all who will listen. 

But, that is all behind us now and he has the catheter in place and is getting chemo as I write this.  He seems very mellow today . . . who took my husband?!? . . . and is writing me loving text messages from his pile of pillows and loving nursing care from the hospital while I try to dig thru a couple of weeks of unopened mail and unpaid bills, etc.  I think I will take a nap and then go over to see him . . . I am still no where near full working capacity and think it best to take it easy for a bit. 

The plan of attack is that he will receive these 2 forms of chemo over the next week via IV; his health and wellness will decline rapidly by the end of this week and he will be monitored closely for any and all complications . . . he will receive a lot of transfusions and probably some antibiotics . . . and then at Day 14 will have a bone marrow biopsy to determine the percentage of blasts in the marrow.  If the blasts are under 5% he will be done with chemo for then, will stay in the hospital for 2 more weeks to be monitored and then home to recuperate; if more than 5% blasts it’s more chemo, another BMB, and another month in the hospital. 

But, I will keep you posted as we go along . . . .

I am taking all of the Christmas and Holiday cards we receive to him in the hospital . . . so keep them coming!

Thank-you all for your continuing love and support as we trek thru this . . .

Love, laughter, positive thinking, and prayers . . . . Linda