Harvest day!

Monday 24 th was my harvest day!. They did have a little bit of problems getting my catheter in since I dont have many veins available for that purpose anymore. After the mess we had in January when they had to change my vascath 4 times in order for me to receive 7 cycles of plasmapheresis.

A procedure that took the doctor about 2 hours today (usually 30 min.) He did a good job. After examining each one of the veins he decided to try the same one where my infuse port is located. Back in January the doctor in Florida tried that and ended up blocking my port and the flowing of blood to the brain for a few seconds and he had to do an angioplastic  with no sedation, it was one of the most painful procedures I've ever had done, so when I was told he was going to try the same thing just a little higher on my neck, I was not happy !

I had no choice, harvest had to be done. He told me if he couldnt get the catheter in that vein he would have to look for another option but couldnt do it until the afternoon. He also mentioned that because of my recent history he could not give me any sedation other than local,which only numbs the skin I think.LOL

I could feel pretty much everything,stubbing, pressure,pushing. Very painful procedure when not sedated and all I could think during that time ,so I wouldnt move my head or scream, was that "this may be the last time I have to have a vascath placed, so hang in there!!!....LOL 
At the end they gave me 2 tylenols and told me to go to the blood center for harvest.

At the blood center we started the harvest about 1pm, after all the preparation. About 15 minutes into the harvest I started to feel sick, lightheaded and started to pass out, in a few seconds 4 nurses were there checking everything. My blood pressure had dropped to 80/53. They stopped the procedure and in a few minutes I was back to normal. They re-started it slower. 

I had the same reaction with IVIG and Plasmapheresis before, even lower so I was not surprised.

We finished harvest around 5pm. The procedure is pretty similar to plasma exchange. Didnt feel anything ,other than neck pain !

I'm very thankful and blessed that my body its been taking the treatment pretty much like water. I feel good and full of energy after all.
Now a few days off until we start the second part of chemo and then transplant!

Since I started treatment last friday I havent had a lot of side effects, my body is taking it pretty good. Just a little nauseas here and there, nothing major.

My mom got here on Monday to stay with me for a few weeks. I started neupogen injections plus cipro and diflucan on wednesday and so far no side effects.

Yesterday it was "my big hair day" it s falling more than normal and the scalp its starting to itch a lot so I decided to go and get it done, before it gets worse and in case my body is waiting to react to the medicines a few days later.

I went to see John Crager, he is the best hairdresser. Really nice. He works mostly with people going through chemo so he knows how scare people is when they go there and he really goes the extra mile to make you feel good about losing your hair. He took about 2 hrs to do my hair. He started cutting it little by little,explaining and giving me ideas of short hair cuts for later until he got to the part where he was going to shave it. It was nice and relaxing. Anyone going through chemo or any treatment like this should go to see him...lol .

I wasnt worry  much about my hair anyway , I know it will grow back and it s for a good cause!

It was a really good day and it was nice to have someone like him do it.

I'm happy that everything is going so smooth so far. Minimum side effects.

I hope it continues that way to the end of treatment !!

Started treatment Yesterday!

I started my first chemo yesterday! Went for lab work first and then to be admitted in the Feinberg building. Was assigned  room #1002 from where I could see my building!
By 10:30 am Dr. Burt and his team came to see me, explained me the procedure again and told me how it was going to be done and that it was going to run for 24 hrs. after that I could go home. So we started the process, got 3 bags of medicines running on my port, which they had a hard time accessing. I sure miss my nurse in Florida! Lol . Then labs came back and my potassium was too low. They gave me the huge potassium pills and then needed me to get it on IV also to get it back to normal level before the chemo, but couldnt mix it with the other medicines running on my port,so they had to put an access on my left hand. Had 2 machines and 6 bags of medicine running for a couple of hours.

A special nurse was scheduled to come at 4:30pm and start my chemo from the Prentice building, when she arrived she put on a special outfit and with a lot of precaution connected the medicine to my line. It only run for 2 hrs. I didnt feel anything, no side effects until about 2am. Nothing severe just a little headache and nauseas.
As soon as I called the nurse ,she came with a series of seringes with medicines and put them in my line. Draw some blood and I felt sleep, until the first Dr. (Internist) came to check on me in the morning.

By 9 am Dr. Burt came to my room and told me that my numbers were good and I could go home after the 24 hrs of the other medicine was up, by 1:30 pm.

I feel a little tired, but nothing major so far. My friend is coming from Indianapolis to stay with me in case I get sick ,until my mom gets here on Monday.

Update

My plan was to post here often about what is going on in Chicago and I'll try to do it from now on.
Everything happened so fast that i havent had much time to do it.

I was approved by the insurance on march 25th and on april 15th I was told to be in Chicago within 48 hrs to start the tests.  It 's been 2 1/2 weeks full of appts. Lab Work, in which they took 18 tubes of blood...my record in 14 years I think. I had an EKG, CT scan of sinuses, chest x-ray, vein check, dental appt, pulmonary function test, echocardiography, EMG/NVC (the more painful tests of all...lol)
They make sure everything is order before they start treatment for transplant.

The only thing I had to get done was dental. Even though I go to the dentist every 6 months, they did find a little shadow that they thought I could need a root canal maybe in 6 to 12 months. It didnt bother me at all. But they said they wouldnt let me go ahead with transplant unless I had a root canal done or an extraction. The reason for this is that any little thing like that can become a huge infection during chemo and transplant ,since the inmune system will be too low (pretty much gone...lol) and I wont be able to fight infections. They called my dentist and explained the problem and what it needed to be done.
Since root canals take over a couple of weeks and I dont have the time (or money..lol) for that ,
I opted for the extraction.

Today I had an appt with Dr. Suffit who will be my neurologist while Im here and then with Dr. Burt,who is the one inmunologist in charge of the transplant , all is set and ready to go next friday to start treatment. I have a week off !!! I'm really excited about this treatment and the changes it will bring to my life.
I ve been walking by the lake and the city. Last weekend my friend Ivette came from Indianapolis and we walked to the Navy Pier and to the Lincoln Zoo. We had a great time! and the weather was nice.
I miss my family and friends in Florida.