Day 148-149 – Round 4, Cycle 2, Day 1-2 (Mon-Tue, 4/23-24/07)

Monday, I stopped by Dr L’s office and then checked in at the hospital. Check-in was one the best so far. As I approached the admittance desk, the lady behind it said, “Hello, Mr Cash, you are in room 4928″. Now does that tell you that I’ve been here too much — the fact that see knows my name when I approach the desk!

Premeds were delivered about 2pm, and by 4:30pm I was on my first chemo of Methatrexate — it runs for 24 hours, then we switch over to Ara-C for 4 doses, 1 every 12 hours. It’s now a few minutes after 5pm on Tuesday and the Methatrexate is just about finished — they must have given me a bonus.

Last night was a normal sleepless night, because of my having to get up about every 45 minutes to an hour to go to the bathroom — they pump a lot of liquids into me during this cycle — but surprisingly I don’t really feel tired today.

Had a couple of visitors today: JD and HC — thanks to both of you stopping by.

19 days left after today until the end of the treatment cycle, but who’s counting.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 146-147 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 20-21 (Sat-Sun, 4/21-22/07)

No real problems to report. Doing okay. Guess my body, if not my mind, is ready for the next chemo cycle. Will report more on Monday from the hospital.

21 days left after today until the end of the treatment cycle.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 143-145 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 17-19 (Wed-Fri, 4/18-20/07)

Well, I’m almost there! Where? Ready to start on my last treatment cycle. Went to Dr L’s office this morning for some more blood work and consultation. White Blood Cells are being produced in abundance; Hemoglobin is higher than it’s been in a long time (course I’ve had 4 units of blood in the last 7 days), and Platelets are approaching an acceptable minimum. All just in time to BLAM, knock them for a loop again on Monday. So, right now it’s a go for Monday. Should go into the hospital on Monday and be out Friday morning, if all goes according to schedule.

So, how am I doing? Since I’ve returned home on Tuesday, I’ve been getting a little stronger each day. Saw my regular doctor, Dr R, on Wednesday, and he said “Well, it looks like you’ve been through a lot”. It was the first time he’d seen me since my treatment started. As I was leaving, he also told me that he’s going to be leaving the practice this summer when he turns 55. Too much paperwork, and nonsense. Said he was going to join the staff at the Salisbury VA hospital. He will be missed, but I’m sure he’ll be an asset to the VA hospital.

23 days left after today until the end of the treatment cycle.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 142 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 16 (Tue, 4/17/07)

Dr L came in my room at 6:05 this morning. I was already awake, and had been for awhile. He said my chest x-rays looked good; no problems with the blood cultures; no fever in the last 24 hours; and no reason to keep me in the hospital. So, by about 7:40am I was leaving the hospital.

But, I am tired…, but glad to be home.

26 days left, but who’s counting.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 139-141 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 13-15 (Sat-Mon, 4/14-16/07)

Well, Friday, a couple hours after I updated my blog, I noticed that I had a fever. It was 100.7. Not a panic temperature, but 0.3 from it (101). I monitored it off and on during the night and Saturday. I took a two hour nap and a one hour nap on Saturday. When I got up to eat supper, I was burning up, temp had risen to 103. Thinking (hoping really) that it was elevated because I had been covered up with a blanket, I went ahead and ate, although not much. By 7pm it had not come down, so we called the on call doctor, and he said to head for the ER. Got admitted about midnight.

Sunday, I spent almost the entire day in bed, and a good bit of that sleeping. Two visitors came by from church. Thanks SW and EK for coming by.

Dr L came by this morning, back from his vacation, and said “You were the last person I saw in the hospital before I left”. He indicated that I would likely get out of here either Tuesday or Wednesday.

My appetite is still off, and I didn’t eat much breakfast. We’ll see how lunch goes.

27 days left, but who’s counting.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 136-138 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 10-12 (Wed-Fri, 4/11-13/07)

Good thing that I’m not superstitious. My nose is runny, my eyes are watering, and I have a hacking cough — and beside that my energy is gone, and my mouth is sore. Other than that, I’m doing fine, thank you.

Went to Dr L’s office yesterday, and they confirmed that my blood chemistry was low, so today I went to the BCC and received 2 units of red blood. That will take a day or two to improve my blood chemistry. Speaking of energy – yesterday, I drove to and from my appointment — today, I asked Verna to drive me.

One other thing happened yesterday while at Dr L’s office — I was also supposed to receive a shot (my last one) of Vincristine. I told them my feet we so numb that I had trouble walking — the nurse checked with the doctor, and that shot was canceled.

4 weeks and 2 days left, but who’s counting.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 134-135 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 8-9 (Mon-Tue, 4/9-10/07)

Monday and Tuesday have been a couple of pretty good days, all things considered. Strength is low, but getting better. Went to Dr L’s office on Monday for a Neulasta shot, and blood tests. Blood counts are low, but no transfusions until later in the week. This is the week that I avoid people because of my immune system.

Got a new telephoto lens for my camera Monday via UPS, so I’ve been shooting birds this week. That sort of keeps me out of trouble.

Side effects: Numbness of toes and fingers; appetite not what it normally is; GIT is actually better than I thought it would be (Thank You Lord).

4 weeks and 5 days, but who’s counting.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 133 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 7 (Sun, 4/8/07)

Today is Easter, and I made it to church. My legs were a little like rubber, but I made it. Every day is a great day.

After church I came home and took a nap for about an hour. Felt much better afterward. Verna fixed a very nice Easter dinner which I really enjoyed!!!

Didn’t do much in the afternoon, except for when the nurse came by to disconnect my chemo pump (For the last time). Now my body has two weeks to recoup until my next, and last treatment. 19 weeks down, and 5 to go, but who’s counting?

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 131-132 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 5-6 (Fri-Sat, 4/6-7/07)

As the title says, I’m just a little tired. Was able to attend church Thursday and Friday evening. I still have my Adriamycin attached to me, and will have until about 6pm on Sunday. It is continuing to take its toll, and zapping my energy. Hope I have enough left in the morning to attend Easter services. Either way, I know the Lord will be with me.

Got up late this morning (about 9am), and took a two hour nap this afternoon — both of which are unusual for me.

Hope that all of you will have a Blessed Easter.

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.

Day 130 – Round 4, Cycle 1, Day 4 (Thu, 4/5/07)

This could be an interesting day. It’s always interesting to leave on cycle 1 because of the hook up with the Adriamycin. I’ve had conversations on Tuesday and Wednesday as to who was going to hook me up, and disconnect me. As of yesterday, one group was going to come by the hospital to hook me up at 2:30pm and another group was going to come by my house on Easter Sunday to disconnect me. This morning Dr L came by and said that we’re going get you out by 10:30am, so now they need to see if everything can be moved up — lot’s of luck will be needed here.

9:26am update — Nurse came by and said it still looks like 10:30 (or thereabouts is a good time — I’ll believe that when I see myself walking out the door). More later…

Well, miracles do happen. Everything worked out as planned, and I was able to leave at 10:30am. WOW! checked in without waiting, and checked out early. That was nice.

I’ll go back in the hospital in three weeks (from last Monday) for what I hope will be my final chemo treatments!!! That will be even better — Praise the LORD!

That’s it for this day. Thank you for your prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls. God bless you all, and may God bless me, and my family, and the medical team on my case.