Fiasco for three hundred ...Please Bob.

What was ..David stay in hospital?



I ended up having an over night stay in hospital Saturday night. It began with me believing that the people in the hospital, like Doctors and nurses would actually know what they doing. Saturday suddenly my blood pressure went whacko and sky rocketed to dangerously high levels and stayed up for a long time. I told Denise to take into hospital when my blood pressure was at 177/133 and holding. I got light headed, it was hard to breath, my hands swelled up,and I needed to sit down. I am thinking blood clot or stroke or may be even heart attack. All the instructions on what to do in case you need urgent care I have received either in paperwork or verbally from my oncology nurse. On weekends call the advice nurse. Well we both tried. Denise phoned on her cell phone from the house and we were on hold all the way to the hospital. We were in line at emergency when the advice nurse finally came online. Her advice was to go to emergency. we informed them up front that I was an oncology patient and was receiving chemo. They immediately isolated me. We waited two hours to get moved into a room . We arrived at 11:00 am and it is now 1:00pm. I had to undress and get into the hospital gown and get on the gurney. They are like airline seats to me only they are flat. I am way to big and my feet hang over and my ass goes numb and I am very uncomfortable.

Diagnosis started with the insertion of an IV needle . Apparently no one is qualified to access my port so I had to endure getting stuck seven or eight times in the course of the stay. Well it took a couple of long attempts and they finally got one established in my left hand. I hate IV needles because I am a very hard stick. Now going on 2:00pm a blood sample is drawn. We had to wait a couple more hours to get back the labs on the blood work. It was decided that everything was ok but very low except my hemoglobin. It had dropped from 16 to 10 in just two weeks. Doc was concerned that I was having a blood loss.Doc however ordered both a chest x-ray and then a c/t scan to rule out blood clots in the lung. The x-ray was uneventful but the c/t scan almost broke my right shoulder. I have had several c/t scans and told the tech that I could not put my right arm up due to a replaced shoulder joint. I had to have it down to my side. He was told three times. After he got me positioned on the part that you lay on he had me put both arms up. He asked if I could do this? I replied, yes but only if this is as far as it will go. I can not rotate my shoulder further back. Ok he said and went to his control booth and pushed the "IN" button and In we started to go rotating my arm back. I screamed at the top of my lungs to stop. I kicked the machine ,I yelled NO ,NO, NO, STOP ,STOP ,STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!! The blithering idiot came running out of his booth asking Whats the matter? Boy did I have a few choice words for him!!! After all this it is now 9:00pm . Both scans showed clear. Doc now decided to do a manual rectal exam and he didn't even buy me a drink! He said I had gross bleeding and that he was going to admit me over night and turn me over to a gastroiterologist and that I needed a blood transfusion. Another blood draw was done prior to admittance.
I finally arrived at room 331 ,a private room no less ,at around 11;30pm. Poor Denise was with me for all of this She however got to slip out around 5:00pm or so for a bite to eat. I however have not had any thing to eat or drink since 9:00 that morning. Needless to say, I was getting hungry and grouchy. Food was about the only thing on my mind now. Just feed me,please! You know it's bad when all I can think about is food and not sex.!! Damn, have things changed!!!
I was put on a no food or drink order until I get an all clear from the gut DR. which wasn't going to a happen until later that morning. Now at near 2:00 am the nurse came in with the blood and hooked me up and actually started the transfusion before checking the computer.She, in a panic had to stop the transfusion because my hemoglobin count had gone up on its own and was now high enough not to need the transfusion. They were going to give me two pints blood. The first pint is now ruined and has do be wasted. The second can be returned and kept.
After all this and talking to the gut DR. and the house DR. that there was nothing really wrong except that all of my problems are side affects of the chemo. That high blood pressure spikes and bleeding from the rectum are normal. It makes me think if the cancer doesn't kill me the treatment will.
I took round 7 today. My blood count was very low and it fell a lot from round 6. I will probably need a transfusion or maybe take a week off before round eight can commence. The chemo is taking it's toll. My oncologist will take me off the Oxailplatin for round 9-16, then back on for round 16-24. Wow, how many rounds can I do!!!!

The middle rounds.

Although I had great news last week I still have to put in the hard work of the middle rounds. It is becoming fairly consistent in the progression of each round. The progression roughly goes, Infusion day starts with me feeling my best but ends feeling weird and its the first of four steroid days. Day two-seven gets worse each day. The chemo is doing it's job. By day five or six, well those are my really hard days. But then comes buttermilk day. That day is midday, day seven this round. It is where I finally feel by body start to over come the chemo and start to recover. I can drink buttermilk the magical elixir. Although I am ahead on the score card, this fight is not over by a long way!

My Cousin Wayne came to visit for Saturday night and Sunday morning. It was a great visit and we made the most of every moment!We talked about family,life,music and took a little cruise in the hot rod and saw some of the delta. It was over way to fast!

Extra Extra Read all about it!!!!
Home troops are winning major battle!!!

I recieved the first scouting report yesterday while recieving round 6 at the infusion department.
We have reduced Goliaths troops by 50%, yes you read it right ,by half. All my tumors have been reduced !!!!!!
The tumor in my lung was 28x24 mm and is now 16x12mm.
The biggest tumor is the mediastinum ( the one in my chest right under where the windpipe branches to each lung.) was 54x26mm and is now 25x15mm.
The pretreachel aggregate were 30x19 and now are 23x15. These are the two tumors on the left side of my neck next to the windpipe.
The tumor on the right side of my neck next to the windpipe has shrunk as well. the report just states,( other indivual nodes are smaller as well.)
The report also states,(No new pathological or enlarged lymph nodes or masses seen at this time.)

The good news continues in the fact that so far my body has been able to keep up with reproducing both white and red blood cells . Both are staying in the slightly low but normal range. All other perameters with my labs are good.
The report also shows that Goliath has not spread into my liver

What does this mean. It means that the chemical attacks are devistating Goliaths minions and his supply lines are failing and he has no reinforcements to deploy.
We on the other hand are reproducing reinforcments and able to deploy them and our supply lines are strong!
This goes to show that we are winning the battle right now. This does not mean we have won the war!! There is still a long way to go, However I did state that at round four we were turning the tide. This first report deepens the resolve of this awakend giant. It makes everthing I am going through worth it!!!
We were exspecting to just hold Goliath back and stall him for a while. A really good report would have been that we are giving him a good pounding and beat him back a little.
This report is over whelmingly good news. This is even beyond my Dr.s exspectations. She e-mailed with with the good news rather than wait until the 31st of Aug when we have an appointment.
I am highly encouraged now and plan to carry on the fight.

All the prayers and good wishes and positve thoughts from all my family,friends and well wishers are definatly proofing positive! The proof is in the numbers. I feel it in my being daily and want to thank every one . It is all this love and support that give me the resolve. My support network is very large and I apreciate it greatly. I apreciate each and every one of you. I am fortunate to have so many love and care for me! Let's keep it up!! WE, I mean all of us are winning. I Love you all.Thanks.

A recon on Goliath.

Today I had a C/T scan. A mid-battle scouting report on the enemies strength. We will review the scan on the 31st of Aug when I visit my oncologist. We will under go another chemical attack, round 6, and then assess the battle damage. We hope of course that we have destroyed a vast amount of Goliaths troops while taking on minimum damage to our self!
I said after my last infusion day that I was getting accustom to the drugs and that I didn't notice the side affects accumulating, well I was wrong!!! These last two weeks have been awful. There has not been a day that my innards haven't hurt. I don't mean just my digestive tract, I mean everything inside of me. My lungs, my heart, my kidneys, my liver, my joints,my muscles. I find it hard to breath, like there is weight on my chest and my heart pounds hard and my blood pressure sky rockets. I feel my blood pulsing against my veins and artery's and with each pulse the pain increases. I feel very heavy and my muscles very week. It is like lifting weights just to stand up. It takes so much effort just to move that I get exhausted just getting up and going to another room. Even the simple things in life like eating ,getting dressed, or any household chore take monumental effort. It is hard to understand how this is helping me. I might get four days this round where I feel ok enough to function. I am now getting to the really hard part where I go and let them hook me up again knowing what's to come just as I start to feel a little better. I will soldier on and keep fighting. I have gotten out of bed every morning and got dressed even if it is just shorts and an old tee-shirt , brushed my teeth, combed my hair and have made my way down stairs. I have driven my daughter to her activities and myself around to all I need to do. I am attending my daughters soccer games and other family functions. I am even going to go fishing with my cousin John on his big boat Monday while I have a chance before I take the juice again. As my son visualizes this battle, Ding,Ding, I am standing up for round six and there pulling the stool out from under my ass.

Comments to my blog.

In my ignorance I did not know that the blog had comment settings . I had the setting set at a very restrictive setting and many people were trying to comment and finding it difficult, being asked for codes and stuff. I am sorry that I only now figured out what I did and now have relaxed the settings. I hope to hear from every body now. I check my blog daily in hope of responses and have come to realize that all of you have tried . I am sorry that I have missed out on what you all had to say. The whole point of the blog was to be two way communication. I am not that computer savvy and some things like settings seem to elude me. Hopefully I put it right . So please every body try again because it is important to me to hear from you!

Stuck in Port.

Yesterday was infusion day round 5. It turned out to be a small fiasco and I was there from 10;00 am until 2;30 pm. It started out that the nurses had difficulty getting my port to back flow blood. To start the infusion process they install a special needle that pierces the reception part of the port and push in sodium chloride via a large syringe that is coupled to the infusion needle that has screw/click type connector at the end of the tube . This becomes the main connector for every thing they want to hook up to me. The problem was that where the catheter protrudes into the vein causes a vortex and blood wants to clot causing a blockage. The fix was to infuse with a medication/ blood thinner to dislodge the blockage. However it took two nurses and three needles before they decided to infuse the medication. The first nurse after putting in needle number one and hooking up the the syringe and trying to push and then suck couldn't get back flow. So she had me lie back then turn on my right side then lift my arm over head then turn my head and cough. Hell last time I did that I ended up in the military. Nurse number one being unsuccessful passed me on to nurse number two. She decided after having me moving and wiggling around some more that maybe the needle was the culprit. So she replaced the needle and had me do another chair dance. I am thinking now I getting pretty good at this chair dance stuff, maybe I can make some money on the side with this new found talent!!! Nurse number two did not do any better and that is when they decided that the blood clot was the problem. That's when the second nurse told the first nurse that she didn't know that I was a Folfox patient and that she used a one inch needle and not the required 3/4 inch needle. So yet another needle change. Back to nurse one, new needle and 20 minutes of infusion with the blood thinner and back flow was achieved. All that took over one hour!!Now we can move on to all the toxic stuff which normally takes about three hours. The hour delay to starting the normal infusion pushed me into lunch break time and I keep getting passed of from nurse to nurse and put on hold a lot. It made for a very long day. I ate very little in the morning so I would be empty and not need a bath room in a rush. I can use a rest room while being infused but it takes time to unrecline(is that a word?) put pillows away get up and unplug the stand that all the bags are hanging from and shuffle to the restroom trying to drive this stand and not get too tangled up in all those plastic tubes.

I was famished when I left the hospital and decided to head to Wendy's and driving straight past the In and Out Burger, chuckling away at the thought of all the dismay and comment's I would get from the whole Murray family. As much as you all love that place, In and Out Burger has a slightly different meaning to me. I decided to take a big risk, living on the edge,letting it all hang out and go for a bowl of chili!!!! Taking a risk pays off sometimes. That chili was just the ticket and no ill effect.

Today is day two of this round and it is usually one of my bad days. Today is proofing to be not to bad. I have firmly planted my self on the couch and made this a communication day. I was told that the side effects would accumulate with each round. I am not finding this to be so. May be because my body is getting used to the drugs and not reacting so severely or maybe I know more what to expect each round and I am more prepared to deal with the side effects and take measures pre-effect rather than post -effect. I still have the fatigue and the fog head. That is now standard and constant, but I am now sleeping well, even last night which has been in the past, an up all nighter, was only a restlessness for an hour and a half , thanks to Ambien, gas -x, a cool damp cloth, and the bedroom recliner under the fan. I am eating well and the digestive problem seems to be clearing up some. Knowing my limits and knowing what I can and can't do and not pushing too hard gives me the energy to do what I need and want to do with my family in the evening. My house looks a little more lived in these days and there is a little more dust around but all in all things are getting done, slowly, and Denise and Michelle have taken on a lot of the domestic chores. We are adjusting everyday as a family. We are all learning to enjoy and grasps the good moments every day. There is a lot to be thankful for each and every day!!

Hot or cold?

I must have a duel zone temperature control that has gone on the fritz. My head is hot and I sweat but my feet are cold and tingly and I have to wear socks. I was told I would become cold sensitive and that has happened but not the way I thought. Parts of my body are sensitive to cold are some are sensitive to hot and at the same time! Week one of a cycle and I can't drink or eat anything cold or my throat spasms and closes up. Week two and I can drink and eat cold because my throat doesn't spasm but my fingers and lips go tingly.
Today we had a meal out and I ordered my favorite meal of Pot roast and mashed potatoes swimming in gravy and a cold beer. The pot roast was OK but the beer was terrible. It tasted like metal. All the taste buds on the tip of my tongue go funny but the buds at the back of my tongue seem normal. It's hard to determine whats going to taste good or not. Right now buttermilk with salt is like elixir. It taste wonderful , sooths my throat and settles my stomach. I will probably drink a truck load of the stuff from now until Tuesday.
Today I was the victim of a hit and run. A little old lady in an electric sit down cart at the grocery store ran into the back of my legs while talking on her cell phone. She didn't say a word and accelerated away at a whopping quarter mile an hour and made a sharp right turn down aisle B making her get away. Where is the electric cart police when you need them?