my nurse lisa tells me that many people consider the day you get your bone marrow transplant to be your new birthday. well i got my transplant at 4am this morning so happy birthday to me.
to be honest, i really feel terrible, and i know i have a long long way to go before i even feel remotely myself. but ive been getting your emails/texts/comments so i wanted you to let know im hanging in.
love, m.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
ugh
My game plan coming in here was to write these witty funny blog posts every single day. But I didn't realize how much this chemo would completely kick my ass. With that said, there not be full posts for a couple days, but know that I'm ok and that everything I'm going through is normal.
M
M
Friday, September 11, 2009
getting settled in... Hospital Stay Day 1 & 2
Well I've finally found some time to write my 1st blog post since checking into the Hop. You'd think I'd have nothing BUT time sitting around here in the hospital, but the last 2 days have actually been pretty eventful. To give you a rundown...
First of all, I barely got any sleep on Wednesday night. You'd assume it was because I was nervous. But honestly I was really just upset over the prospect of not seeing my silly puppy Lucy for 5 whole weeks. I haven't been apart for her for longer than a week EVER. But I know Luce will be fine b/c she's being watched by her Aunt Devon, who loves her ALMOST as much as I do.
My dad was supposed to come pick me up a little after 7am to take me to Hopkins. He showed up at 6. Clearly someone else was having problems sleeping too. We got to Hop and went to the Interventional Radiology section of the hospital to get a Hickman catheter inserted in my chest. Its through this line that I'll get my chemo, fluids, and transplant itself. The procedure itself was pretty freaky since there was no anesthesia and I was only numbed locally. But the staff there couldn't have been nicer and let me listen to music to calm my nerves. The whole thing is a bit of a blur b/c they gave me some 'happy drugs' but I'm pretty sure we listened to Motown. Which always puts a smile on my face. (Also putting a smile on my face: the large dose of Oxycodone I'm on for pain in shoulder from surgery.)
I was wheeled up to my new home in the Weinberg Building to recover and hang out for a while. And I have to say, the room really isn't bad. I've been told this is actually one of the 4 'big rooms'. So lucky me! I took sometime to unpack and am pretty settled. Below is a pic of my sitting area:
For lunch I got my first hospital meal. And it lived up to the hype - terrible. Luckily my dad ran down the Einstein Bros Bagel place in the cafeteria and fetched me my fave - honey whole wheat bagel w light cream cheese and tomato. mmmm!
In the mid-late afternoon yesterday I started chemo - Busulfan - and I've been getting an IV drip of it fairly consistently since. So far its just made me feel sleepy, and a little loopy. Had a wee bit of nausea but they gave me some magical pill that nipped that in the bud pretty quick. I'm on this protocol through Tuesday so I guess I should get used to it.
Really the biggest issue so far is lack of sleep. Its not that I can't FALL ASLEEP. But they have to wake me every 4 hours for vital signs (which includes a bunch of questions to tell if I'm cognitive - like 'what day is it' and 'was 32 minue 6'). Also everytime I start a new drug, they take a blood sample once an hour to see if they need to adjust my dose. So no real sleep for Mia.
Well what have I been doing to entertain myself. So far:
Watched 3 Netflix including:
Little Giants (classic!)
One Tree Hill Season 5 Disc 5 (go ahead and mock me - you know you love Chad Michael Murray too!)
Beverly Hills 90210 Season 3, Disc 1 (specifically decided to start w this season bc it has the 'Donna Martin Graduates' ep)
Started reading 'Touchdown Jesus. Faith and Fandom at Notre Dame' to get psyched for tomorrow's game against Michigan
Did a handful of puzzles from the New York Times Ultimate Crossword Omnibus
Played 'Words with Friends' on my iPhone w Evan and Nick (download app if you have an iPhone and play w me too!)
Napped (multiple mini naps)
Pretended to eat crappy hospital food
And thats about it.
What I'd be doing tonight if I wasn't in the hospital:
Disco Biscuits @ the Hippodrome, Fortune5Fifty Aftershow party
What I'll be doing instead:
Listening to 4/4/09 Disco Biscuits Crystal Bay Casino show, eating pudding, doing crossword puzzles
So thats it so far. I'll keep y'all posted, and I promise it won't all be medical stuff.
First of all, I barely got any sleep on Wednesday night. You'd assume it was because I was nervous. But honestly I was really just upset over the prospect of not seeing my silly puppy Lucy for 5 whole weeks. I haven't been apart for her for longer than a week EVER. But I know Luce will be fine b/c she's being watched by her Aunt Devon, who loves her ALMOST as much as I do.
My dad was supposed to come pick me up a little after 7am to take me to Hopkins. He showed up at 6. Clearly someone else was having problems sleeping too. We got to Hop and went to the Interventional Radiology section of the hospital to get a Hickman catheter inserted in my chest. Its through this line that I'll get my chemo, fluids, and transplant itself. The procedure itself was pretty freaky since there was no anesthesia and I was only numbed locally. But the staff there couldn't have been nicer and let me listen to music to calm my nerves. The whole thing is a bit of a blur b/c they gave me some 'happy drugs' but I'm pretty sure we listened to Motown. Which always puts a smile on my face. (Also putting a smile on my face: the large dose of Oxycodone I'm on for pain in shoulder from surgery.)
I was wheeled up to my new home in the Weinberg Building to recover and hang out for a while. And I have to say, the room really isn't bad. I've been told this is actually one of the 4 'big rooms'. So lucky me! I took sometime to unpack and am pretty settled. Below is a pic of my sitting area:
For lunch I got my first hospital meal. And it lived up to the hype - terrible. Luckily my dad ran down the Einstein Bros Bagel place in the cafeteria and fetched me my fave - honey whole wheat bagel w light cream cheese and tomato. mmmm!
In the mid-late afternoon yesterday I started chemo - Busulfan - and I've been getting an IV drip of it fairly consistently since. So far its just made me feel sleepy, and a little loopy. Had a wee bit of nausea but they gave me some magical pill that nipped that in the bud pretty quick. I'm on this protocol through Tuesday so I guess I should get used to it.
Really the biggest issue so far is lack of sleep. Its not that I can't FALL ASLEEP. But they have to wake me every 4 hours for vital signs (which includes a bunch of questions to tell if I'm cognitive - like 'what day is it' and 'was 32 minue 6'). Also everytime I start a new drug, they take a blood sample once an hour to see if they need to adjust my dose. So no real sleep for Mia.
Well what have I been doing to entertain myself. So far:
Watched 3 Netflix including:
Little Giants (classic!)
One Tree Hill Season 5 Disc 5 (go ahead and mock me - you know you love Chad Michael Murray too!)
Beverly Hills 90210 Season 3, Disc 1 (specifically decided to start w this season bc it has the 'Donna Martin Graduates' ep)
Started reading 'Touchdown Jesus. Faith and Fandom at Notre Dame' to get psyched for tomorrow's game against Michigan
Did a handful of puzzles from the New York Times Ultimate Crossword Omnibus
Played 'Words with Friends' on my iPhone w Evan and Nick (download app if you have an iPhone and play w me too!)
Napped (multiple mini naps)
Pretended to eat crappy hospital food
And thats about it.
What I'd be doing tonight if I wasn't in the hospital:
Disco Biscuits @ the Hippodrome, Fortune5Fifty Aftershow party
What I'll be doing instead:
Listening to 4/4/09 Disco Biscuits Crystal Bay Casino show, eating pudding, doing crossword puzzles
So thats it so far. I'll keep y'all posted, and I promise it won't all be medical stuff.
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