Well so much for not receiving any whole blood while I’m here. This morning the team came in and said, today you are getting whole blood and platelets. My hemoglobin hit 8.0, which is the point at which you are given blood when on chemotherapy, and my platelets went below 20 (14 actually) so I … Read more
Not really any change today. We are still at zero for the cell counts and waiting for the “engrafting” and the counts to go up. Mouth and throat no change, still very manageable with the morphine pump. The new attending physician – the transplant docs take two week turns making rounds on the floor and … Read more
I finished 1776 today, and what a really fine, fine book. I couldn’t recommend it more. Gary McCullough’s narrative history of the year of the Declaration of Independence, from the human perspective of George Washington, his army and his opponents. There is some special interest for those of us who live in the New York … Read more
Why, the USS Winston S. Churchill, of course! Hit the link for it’s action today. AOL News – U.S. Navy Seizes Pirate Ship Off Somalia The reason I know this interesting but useless bit of trivia, is because I got Brigid a "USS Winston S. Churchill" baseball cap a few years ago. When she wears … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
(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 … Read more
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 … Read more