Day 3
Beginning Numbers: WBC(1.0) RBC(1.15) HGB(6.1) HCT(17.4) PLT (9)
Ok, we've hammered everything now .. I wake feeling bad .. Its been kind of a rough night .. There's something going on with my cardio situation. I've not had cardio problems in the past (though I guess technically I've not had any of these problems in the past so its all new) My pulse is dropping into the low 40s and my BP is very high .. Especially the diastolic numbers. I'm seeing numbers 185/95 which for me -- are scary ... my normal pre-treatment numbers were typically in the 115-125/55-65 range .. And there is a chest pain .. which is situated on the left side .. not quite the heart but below the breast area.
Doctor comes in about 11, ATG has already started, we talked about the chest pain a bit and he doesn't seem concerned .. Its still pretty mild .. The BP can be because of a number of factors, including the medications etc .. so don't worry about it ..
about 3 PM I'm finishing up the bag of ATG -- about 100ML or so left and the chest pains get really bad .. in the lay out on the bed and cry kind of bad .. I'm flat on my back now with O2 .. my HR is dropped into the high-30s and my BP is 202/99 They get the EKG team in .. "Other than the pulse rate" its fine .. They give me morphine --- nothing .. 30 minutes go by .. the pain is still there .. another shot of morpine ... and nothing .. at this time I'm starting to feel dizzy and ask them to get the pulse ox machine .. and again -- light a light I'm back .. no pain .. it just vanished. SPo2 comes out in the mid 90s and my BP drops back down .. heart rate goes up to the high 50s.
Transfusion of 1 platelets and 2 RBCs goes uneventful, though at around 1am they decide I need Lasix. Apparently I've picked up a UTI as peeing has become painful .. Lasix and UTIs just don't mix .. so now I'm up most of the night peeing, hurting when I'm peeing and crashing back into the still somewhat wet bed to try to get some sleep..
Day 4
Beginning Numbers: WBC(2.8) RBC(2.84) HGB(9.0) HCT(25.6) PLT (9)
After last night, I'm really not awake much .. they come in and do the pre-meds on schedule and hook me up to the ATG .. I take a shower and get clean linens onto the bed ..only to fall asleep shortly after that. I wake when the doctor comes in the room a little afternoon. We talk for a bit about the treatment and the plans for the next couple of days which basically consist of monitoring and "seeing how it goes" I order lunch after he leaves and promptly fall asleep again
Lunch shows up and I wake and eat ..and pass out again .. I'm not sure when they took the tray away .. but they dutifully picked it up without disturbing me. Around 3pm I'm down to the 100ML at the end of the bag and the chest pain starts up again. It begins slowly .. starting in the back shoulder .. I think about asking for a heating pad .. (maybe that will feel good?) But I don't get much time to contemplate it as it goes from "interesting" to "ouch" to "omg" in about 2-3 minutes .. The nurse is with me and she basically say "What do you want" -- Not to miss a beat I reply "Morphine" she says "We don't give that normally" I reply "look in my orders" she does, and oh thank heavens the doctor has put "morphine upon request" as a standing order .. She preps it and pushes it without further question ... 30 minutes later the pain is gone and I'm sitting up in bed. The remaining ATG is dutifully drained into my system and I breath a sigh of relief .. I've survived the first part of this ... Now we wait to see if it works or not.
My kid sent me this at the end of the treatment cycle .. they are just as twisted as their old man :
http://youtu.be/NCt2nZF2nLk