Hemoglobin 8.4
Platelets 74
WBC 0.4
Creatinine 1.29
Not feeling very well today. My counts have really started to drop and since my WBC is below 0.5 x 10^9 cells/L I'm officially neutropenic. I'm still not eating much but my scheduled anti-nausea drug has still kept me from throwing up, although I still get nauseous.
06 March 2010
05 March 2010
Day 4
Hemoglobin 9.6
Platelets 98
WBC 0.6
|Neutrophils| 0.4
Creatinine 1.30
The scheduled anti-nausea medications they started me on yesterday have helped a lot with my symptoms. I haven't thrown up once today. My stomach still has that irritated feeling and I'm still really tired. Otherwise today went ok.
Platelets 98
WBC 0.6
|Neutrophils| 0.4
Creatinine 1.30
The scheduled anti-nausea medications they started me on yesterday have helped a lot with my symptoms. I haven't thrown up once today. My stomach still has that irritated feeling and I'm still really tired. Otherwise today went ok.
04 March 2010
Day 3
Hemoglobin 10.0
Platelets 12.1
WBC 1.1
|Neutrophils| 0.8
Creatinine 1.11
My nausea seems to be getting worse so they decided to switch me to a scheduled anti-nausea drug in addition to the ativan I've been using for acute symptoms. I've also been having headaches, so they switched my Cyclosporin from two four-hour infusions daily to a continuous 24 hour drip. I guess headaches are a common side effect, hopefully this will help.
Otherwise I spent myday sleeping and puking.
Platelets 12.1
WBC 1.1
|Neutrophils| 0.8
Creatinine 1.11
My nausea seems to be getting worse so they decided to switch me to a scheduled anti-nausea drug in addition to the ativan I've been using for acute symptoms. I've also been having headaches, so they switched my Cyclosporin from two four-hour infusions daily to a continuous 24 hour drip. I guess headaches are a common side effect, hopefully this will help.
Otherwise I spent myday sleeping and puking.
03 March 2010
Day 2
Hemoglobin 7.8
Platelets 139
WBC 1.4
|Neutrophils| 1.1
Creatinine 1.19
Received Two Blood Packs
More vomiting and nausea today. The doctors did a CT scan of my gut to make sure the constipation and associated discomfort wasn't something more serious. It wasn't, I'm simply packed to the gills with shit.
That's what I've been "eating" for the past 24 hours. The yellow fluid is a mixture of amino acids (protein building-blocks), dextrose (sugar), sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, multivitamins, trace elements (cobalt, manganese, nickel, aluminum, etc - elements needed in extremely low concentrations), phytonadione (Vitamin K), insulin (to combat the dextrose), and then acetate and chloride to buffer the solution (make it suitable for administration in the body). Everything is computed exactly for my body mass and how many calories they want me to have.
The large yellow bag can be thought of as the proteins and carbs, then the smaller white bag is the fat (lipid). It's a 20% fat emulsion consisting of 50g soybean oil, 3.0g phospholipids from powdered egg yolk, and 5.625g glycerine (probably to help bind it all together). The lipid portion adds 500 calories.
Sounds delicious, no? Way better than eating vegetables or meat. Plus the whole chewing annoyance is conveniently avoided.
Platelets 139
WBC 1.4
|Neutrophils| 1.1
Creatinine 1.19
Received Two Blood Packs
More vomiting and nausea today. The doctors did a CT scan of my gut to make sure the constipation and associated discomfort wasn't something more serious. It wasn't, I'm simply packed to the gills with shit.
That's what I've been "eating" for the past 24 hours. The yellow fluid is a mixture of amino acids (protein building-blocks), dextrose (sugar), sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, multivitamins, trace elements (cobalt, manganese, nickel, aluminum, etc - elements needed in extremely low concentrations), phytonadione (Vitamin K), insulin (to combat the dextrose), and then acetate and chloride to buffer the solution (make it suitable for administration in the body). Everything is computed exactly for my body mass and how many calories they want me to have.
The large yellow bag can be thought of as the proteins and carbs, then the smaller white bag is the fat (lipid). It's a 20% fat emulsion consisting of 50g soybean oil, 3.0g phospholipids from powdered egg yolk, and 5.625g glycerine (probably to help bind it all together). The lipid portion adds 500 calories.
Sounds delicious, no? Way better than eating vegetables or meat. Plus the whole chewing annoyance is conveniently avoided.
02 March 2010
Day 1
Hemoglobin 8.5
Platelets 107
WBC 1.1
|Neutrophils| 0.9
Creatinine 1.24
I received my second and last dose of cells from Mitch tonight. I needed at least five units and he ended up supplying a little over six. The more the merrier, so they infused it all tonight. Mitch was feeling sore after it was all done and just wanted to go home to sleep. He has the day off work tomorrow so he'll have a chance to recover.
My day was pretty standard. I threw up a bunch and slept even more, but I felt ok by the end of the day. They started me on liquid nutrition called TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) since I'm typically eating only one small meal a day. I've been on it before, basically it's a big bag of the building blocks of food (amino acids, electrolytes, lipids) that are specifically proportioned for my body weight and slowly pumped into my veins. This way I don't have to eat by mouth, although it's better if I do. My doctors don't want me to start becoming malnourished so they decided to be proactive and start me on it early. It smells gross.
Platelets 107
WBC 1.1
|Neutrophils| 0.9
Creatinine 1.24
I received my second and last dose of cells from Mitch tonight. I needed at least five units and he ended up supplying a little over six. The more the merrier, so they infused it all tonight. Mitch was feeling sore after it was all done and just wanted to go home to sleep. He has the day off work tomorrow so he'll have a chance to recover.
My day was pretty standard. I threw up a bunch and slept even more, but I felt ok by the end of the day. They started me on liquid nutrition called TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) since I'm typically eating only one small meal a day. I've been on it before, basically it's a big bag of the building blocks of food (amino acids, electrolytes, lipids) that are specifically proportioned for my body weight and slowly pumped into my veins. This way I don't have to eat by mouth, although it's better if I do. My doctors don't want me to start becoming malnourished so they decided to be proactive and start me on it early. It smells gross.
01 March 2010
Day 0
Hemoglobin 9.6
Platelets 117
WBC 1.2
|Neutrophils| 1.2
Creatinine 1.31
I received Mitch's cells today. It took about six hours to collect them and about 15 minutes for them to be infused into me. He'll have to do a second collection tomorrow so he'll be back at the hospital then and I'll receive another packet tomorrow night.
Otherwise I spent the day feeling ill and sleeping.
Platelets 117
WBC 1.2
|Neutrophils| 1.2
Creatinine 1.31
I received Mitch's cells today. It took about six hours to collect them and about 15 minutes for them to be infused into me. He'll have to do a second collection tomorrow so he'll be back at the hospital then and I'll receive another packet tomorrow night.
Otherwise I spent the day feeling ill and sleeping.
28 February 2010
Day -1
Hemoglobin 8.0
Platelets 150
WBC 1.8
|Neutrophils| 1.7
Creatinine 1.24
Received Two Blood Packs
Right away this morning I received two packets of blood before I headed down to be irradiated. It was an uneventful process, I sat on a table and they irradiated about six minutes on each of my left and right sides. It was completely painless, colorless, tasteless, etc., the only way I knew the machine was on was because it made a buzzing sound. Once I was done I returned to my room. I was actually feeling pretty well for a while, then the effects started setting in. By afternoon I was extremely tired, my entire body was sore and I was nauseous. I slept for most of the afternoon, took some meds once I woke up and now I'm feeling a little better. I'm still experiencing stomach pains.
Tomorrow's the big day. Mitch will begin collection in the morning and I'll most likely receive the cells by 6 or 7pm.
Platelets 150
WBC 1.8
|Neutrophils| 1.7
Creatinine 1.24
Received Two Blood Packs
Right away this morning I received two packets of blood before I headed down to be irradiated. It was an uneventful process, I sat on a table and they irradiated about six minutes on each of my left and right sides. It was completely painless, colorless, tasteless, etc., the only way I knew the machine was on was because it made a buzzing sound. Once I was done I returned to my room. I was actually feeling pretty well for a while, then the effects started setting in. By afternoon I was extremely tired, my entire body was sore and I was nauseous. I slept for most of the afternoon, took some meds once I woke up and now I'm feeling a little better. I'm still experiencing stomach pains.
Tomorrow's the big day. Mitch will begin collection in the morning and I'll most likely receive the cells by 6 or 7pm.
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