Here We Go Again

I'm coming at you live from the University of Minnesota - Fairview Medical Center.  I was admitted this morning around ten.  Since then I've been sitting around my room, talking to my different doctors as they come into the room.  Everything is just as I remember it:  the view from the window, the smell of the room, and (unfortunately) the menu I'm allowed to order from.

I just started the first drug of my chemotherapy cocktail.  The regimen is called FLAG and consists of three drugs:  Fludarabine/ARA-C (Cytarabine) and G-CSF (Filgrastim).  Fludarabine is administered via IV over 30 minutes.  Cytarabine is infused over four hours, starting four hours after Fludarabine.  Filgrastim is given as an injection.  All are given for five days.  The major side effects are nausea/vomiting, skin problems, vision changes, headache, and kidney and liver complications.  The cocktail will cause my immune system to temporarily stop producing cells (called neutropenia), which will make me susceptible to opportunistic infection for about a month.

I suddenly have lots of time on my hands,so I welcome guests anytime.  Just please don't visit if you are ill or in close contact with someone who is.  I am in room 7D-503.