The end of the first cycle

During the past twelve days Gennie has been stuck in the belly fourteen times with Vidaza, endured two Neupogen shots in the arm, had a CBC (complete blood count) done and took a trip to MCV to have a Vortex port Implanted in her chest. Other than that things have been quite normal for the two of us. The first day of the Vidaza shots she was to be given nausea medication done through an IV. The nurse did not read that on the chart and it did not happen. The result was a very difficult night for Gennie. She was given two prescriptions of meds she could take for the nausea if it occurred. That was pretty funny when the most common side effect of Vidaza is major nausea. Well I was able to get one of the prescriptions filled that first day and it did nothing. The next day when she went in for her second set of shots they gave her an IV of fluid and we were also able to get the better medicine filled. That night she did much better. As the series went on she did better with the treatment thanks to the regiment of meds they gave her to combat the nausea. Every other day they would give her another medicine via IV to help also. Every Monday they are checking her CBC and last Monday her counts looked pretty good. She finished her Vidaza shots on Tuesday and then started her Neupogen shots. These are intended to increase her production of white blood cells. Today she had the last of those shots for this cycle.

Yesterday we went to MCV to get her Vortex port installed in her chest. She will need this port when she has her marrow transplant. We asked if they could install it now and begin using it for her Vidaza treatment. They all agreed and now she will not have to get all those shots in the belly. The port is pretty amazing. It is much bigger than I expected. It is about 1 1/2" long by 3/4" wide and 1/4" deep. It is a double port that the doctor ordered. She has an IV tube buried under her skin connecting to it and her carodid artery near her heart. They will use these ports for everything from taking blood samples to injection her Vidaza shots to blood transfusions to the actual infusion of her new blood stem cells. Pretty amazing port.

As for how Gennie has been feeling during all of this well she is doing OK. She is not eating much because of the nausea and nothing taste quite right to her. I worry about this some because of how small she is. She has lost about 5 1/2 pounds already and that brings her to 95 1/2 pounds. She is trying to eat but not doing real well with it. I will keep after her. She made the comment today that she hates feeling bad. I just try to tell her it is going to be OK and she now has a few weeks to recover before starting the next series.

As for my new jobs around here they involve getting intimately aware of just how much laundry two people can go through. So far I don't think I have ruined anything yet. The other day I did all the bathrooms and vacuumed the entire house. I fully expect some nice aprons and stuff for Christmas from all you sympathetic types out there. During all of this we are also still closing out our business. I was able to sell two trucks the other day. A few more to go. I have contacted an agent to see about renting our commercial property. I hope he can find someone soon. My most important job is to keep Gennie upbeat. She is doing really well with all of this and I expect she will continue to. She does miss seeing all her friends. Keep in mind she is not sick and would love to see some of you. If you are not sick come on over and visit.

Well that's it for now. Thanks for the interest. I will post again when we start round two!!!!