Author: Tom Faranda

An uneventful day (uneventful is good). The staff came in, said things were going well, and I got another platelets transfusion. My mouth and throat seem better. Perhaps because of the lidocaine mouth rinse and the morphine pump. The nurses can see how many times I’ve given myself a dose, and said that I’m using…

I didn’t post yesterday (so this post is likely to be a jumble) for the following reason: around 8 o’clock as I was firing up the laptop the nursing tech came in to do the vital signs, including temperature. She does everything and then says, “Your temperature is 38° (Centigrade). You have a fever. Are…

Today was a day of a few firsts. I got my first transfusion. I had my first return visitor (besides Brigid). I set a personal record for visitors (6). For the first time, I talked and saw the boys on a videophone. I threw up for the first time. And I got my first dose…

Hard to believe I’ve been here already for ten days. So hopefully about the halfway point. Today my white blood cell count reached the 0.0 level, as expected. So for the time being, I have no immune system. On Saturday I will start receiving injections of Neupogen, to help stimulate my stem cells to rebuild…

(Tim likes to sing this before he goes to sleep and he told me he sings it to himself when he is at school!) I love Daddy, I love Daddy I like Daddy, I like Daddy Who doesn’t like Daddy? Everyone likes Daddy. Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight Daddy (First sung January 10th, 2006, Tom’s second night…

It's midday and Brigid is here. I am tired (but not exhausted – more like the chemo fatigue I felt with the RICE protocol). My cell levels are low – white blood cells almost to zero, platelets at 44. And there's a metallic taste in my mouth. This is all as expected. When my platelets…

Got my white blood and stem cells back today at 10:15 in the morning – 4 million of them in one large syringe. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes. Side effects included feeling warm and a funny, metallic taste in my mouth. And – they’d given me some sort of sedative, so I…

The attending physician and the nurse practitioner were both very optimistic this morning about how things are going. In fact they suggested I might be out in ten or 12 days rather than in two weeks. Hope they’re right. The nurse practitioner, who has been talking to me, Lorraine, wont be here tomorrow for re-injection…

Still feeling good. The nurse practitioner Lorraine discussed my stem cell return, scheduled for Monday at 10:30 in the morning. It will take less than 30 minutes. More on that tomorrow. Here are two pictures from yesterday, when I was visited by two Islamic women from Croton.  First Brigid, then my friend and assistant Judy.…

11:15PM and I am having my last dose of chemotherapy, which will run until after midnight. This is my eighth cycle of Etoposide, which I’ve received every 12 hours since Tuesday (Monday I had something else – can’t remember the name) at 10am and 10pm. Saturday I will get a dose of Melphalan, in the…