Coming out the Other Side
Oddly enough, the title of this section isn’t a reference to any sort of bodily function.  It’s just a state of where I’m at.  I’m on Day +12 now and have made it through what should have been the worst of it.  I last wrote a week ago, which seems impossible to me.  Not because time has been flying by as I’ve had so much fun,  but just because I’ve been concentrating on the daily accomplishments so it’s hard to believe 7 days have gone by.

Dry Mouth and Mouth Sores
The biggest improvements have come on the side effect front.  As expected the mouth sores were the worst.  Along with that came dry mouth.  Not “my mouth is dry” but instead “my mouth feels like the desert and sand is being moved around inside of it.”  I was breathing through my mouth a lot because my nose was plugged up.  The cells inside my mouth were dying off because of the chemo and radiation.  Plus I couldn’t produce new cells as my new stem cells were still en-grafting.  That led to a few days of me trying to suction dead skin cells out of my mouth while wetting it with ice and an occasional popsicle.  Not fun at all.

I’m not sure I technically got up to grade 4 mouth sores.  There are 4 grades, as told to my by my Nurse Practitioner.  Grade 1 is redness in the back of the mouth.  Kinda like a normal sore throat.  Grade 2 is the beginning of the mouth sores being visible.  Grade 3 is an increase in the amount of sores and the possibility that some have opened.  Grade 4 means the sore have opened and you are taking heavy doses of IV medication to keep the pain under control.  I definitely took IV meds, but didn’t really have that many open sores. In the most severe form of Grade 4, the sores bleed into your airway and you have  to be put on a ventilator.  Thankfully it didn’t come to that.

How to Stop a Bloody Nose  
I’ve had my share of bloody noses in my lifetime and most end with some kleenex wadded in a nostril.  Not this time around.  There was a brief period of time where Zach (Lindsey’s brother and the 2nd funniest person in the family) thought I had a resemblance to Hannibal Lector.  I had a nose bleed that just wouldn’t stop and when you have one of those they send the ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doc after you.  The ENT doc being a specialist in the nose really knows what the full limits of that body part is.  Thus my eyes got rather wide and my schpincter tightened a bit when he pulled a piece of guaze the side of Rhode Island and calmly said “I’ll put this in your nose and that will stop the bleeding.”  No joke, because he was litterally usuing a piece of metal to shove every last bit in.  To his credit, that nostril never bled again, but dang I don’t want to do that again.

And the Powerball Numbers Are:
You’ll see a jump in my platelets.  This is because they were maintaining me at at least 10 platelets.  However with the nose bleed they began maintaining me at 50 and now at 30 (aka, I’ve received A LOT of platelets lately).  This is the hard part because we are simply waiting for my white count to come up.  No telling when it will.  No way to monitor if it is other than daily lab draws.  So when they write the numbers on the board in the monrning, it’s kinda exciting.  You know, like when the ping pong balls would pop up for the Powerball drawing.

10/22/15 (Day +6): WBC 0.2, Hemoglobin 10, Platelets 15
10/23/15 (Day +7): WBC <0.2, Hemoglobin 9.6, Platelets 8
10/24/15 (Day +8): WBC 0.2, Hemoglobin 9.1, Platelets 42
10/25/15 (Day +9): WBC 0.2, Hemoglobin 8.8, Platelets 59
10/26/15 (Day +10): WBC 0.3, Hemoglobin 7.8, Platelets 29
10/27/15 (Day +11): WBC 0.4, Hemoglobin 8.1, Platelets 35
10/28/15 (Day +12): WBC 0.4, Hemoglobin 7.8, Platelets 23

A Duck Dynasty Prayer
Tonight God I press on.  Not because I have aleady taken hold of it.  But I press on for what you have called me to be.  Forgetting what is behind me and reaching for what is ahead.  I press on.  Thank you God for being by my side as we press on together.  Thank you for another day.

This Should be Interesting
I’m hopped up on pain meds so we’ll see how this update goes.  I know some of you have seen updates from Lindsey on Facebook, but I’ll catch everyone up on what’s been going on since the last post.  This current stretch is about surviving, which reminded me of an animated video from 1999.  You remember 1999 right?  Al Gore’s internet was starting to take off.  Personal computers were in more and more homes.  My roommate Ron was stocking away Y2K water like there was no tomorrow.  And this video was produced.  By today’s standards it amateur, but back then this was cutting edge stuff.  My goal is to avoid the Disco Ball 🙂

Where We Left Off
We last left off on Day +2 where the nausea was bad and the leak in the backdoor was even worse.  The good news is the nausea is under control now.  I was getting nausea meds as needed (when I asked) but then we switched to automatically giving me the med every 6 hours.  That’s made a big difference.  As far as the diarrhea goes, that is better too.  Previously I had been getting up multiple times a day, heck, multiple times an hour.  Once the C Diff came back as negative, I was able to take Imodium to bring things under control.  The backdoor is still leaking a bit, but is much more manageable now.  Diarrhea is an expected side effect and will probably be ongoing, even when I go home.

Continue reading I, I Will Survive

The Good and the Bad
I’m on Day +2 now and it won’t be too long until I wake up on Day +3.  I’m in the thick of the side effects, although thankfully mouth sores haven’t shown up yet.  The inside of my mouth feels dry and like it’s been burnt a bit.  That’s the dead cells that are coming off.  Hopefully some new cells can take their place soon so we avoid the sores altogether.

My main issues continue to be nausea, fatigue and diarrhea.  Lots and lots of diarrhea.  We’ve been letting it takes it’s course so far.  I was recently tested for C diff which is  bacteria in your gut.  It’s normally there in low numbers, but with all the antibiotics I’ve received that can throw the balance off and the C diff can get out of control.  If I acquire c diff, then we keep the back side firehose flowing.  The idea being we want to clear the c diff out with all the fluid movement.  Thankfully I am negative for c diff so I did start getting some Imodium today.  No noticeable impact yet, but I’m hopeful.  I’ve gone through quite a few rolls of toilet paper and wipes the past few days.

My Hat
Of course the hospital is all about measuring what goes into you and what comes out of you.  That includes the diarrhea.  So I have a nice little plastic had in my toilet that I sit over when I have to go.  The staff says it doesn’t bother them to empty it, but I feel a little bad when I push the call light and tell them I have stool to be measure.  Oh well, guess it goes with the territory.

Keep on Keeping On
So for now the plan is to keep doing what I’m doing.  Try to eat 3 meals.  Try to drink fluids.  Try to walk in the hallway.  Try to control the nausea.  Sleep when I need to.  It’s a little easier knowing this is temporary, but the problem is we don’t know how temporary it is.  Still, it’s nice to see each day go by and know I’ve made it to a new + day.  Here’s to getting to Day +3.

And the Powerball Is:
10/17/15 (Day +1): WBC 0.2, Hemoglobin 12, Platelets 57
10/18/15 (Day +2): WBC 0.3, Hemoglobin 12.2, Platelets 43

A Duck Dynasty Prayer
Dear God, thank you for getting me this far.  Thank you for holding me throughout these days.  Thank you that my body will get better.  Thank you for another day.