Day 174
The first day of what we hope will be John's last round of chemotherapy was yesterday. He will have four days of Busulfin, given by pill, with regular blood tests to help control the amount of toxin in his body.
Other than some stomach upset, which was controlled with the addition of Ativan to what he is taking, he handled the first day well. In fact, the Zofran and Dilantin seem to make him a bit buzzed, like someone on a silly drunk. He was still up last night at 2 AM enjoing talking online with friends when I gave him another round of chemo drugs to take. It is good that he feels well now, because he is going to have the mother of all "hangovers" in a few days.
In most clinics, the amount of chemotherapy administered is determined by body weight. Here, and because of the toxicity of Busulfin, they take blood tests regularly, run the samples through a centrifuge and measure the speed the drug is metabolized in the body to keep the chemicals at a "safe" level. The results of yesterday's seven tests found that John's metabolism is slow and that he only needs two-thirds of what someone his size might be given. Too much chemotherapy can be toxic to organs, particularly the heart, kidneys and liver, leading in some cases to the need for organ transplants. If you needed tangible evidence that coming all the way out here was worthwhile, the extra monitoring of chemo done here serves well.
The weather was nice yesterday and Courtney walked the 2.5 miles from the house to the clinic late in the morning to join us for the afternoon. That's a sign that she is doing well. She and John have always been connected and being herer while he is ill has helped her. There is a door connecting John and Courtney's two rooms here in the house and it stays open most of the time now. Courtney got an Ipod similar to John's for her birthday and they spent the evening sitting on the floor (he was less dizzy there) loading songs from her computer onto hers.
Today, "we" start taking pills at 7 AM and continue blood tests at the clinic. I'm told John will begin to feel the effects of the Busulfin perhaps today. For now, though, things are going well.
Other than some stomach upset, which was controlled with the addition of Ativan to what he is taking, he handled the first day well. In fact, the Zofran and Dilantin seem to make him a bit buzzed, like someone on a silly drunk. He was still up last night at 2 AM enjoing talking online with friends when I gave him another round of chemo drugs to take. It is good that he feels well now, because he is going to have the mother of all "hangovers" in a few days.
In most clinics, the amount of chemotherapy administered is determined by body weight. Here, and because of the toxicity of Busulfin, they take blood tests regularly, run the samples through a centrifuge and measure the speed the drug is metabolized in the body to keep the chemicals at a "safe" level. The results of yesterday's seven tests found that John's metabolism is slow and that he only needs two-thirds of what someone his size might be given. Too much chemotherapy can be toxic to organs, particularly the heart, kidneys and liver, leading in some cases to the need for organ transplants. If you needed tangible evidence that coming all the way out here was worthwhile, the extra monitoring of chemo done here serves well.
The weather was nice yesterday and Courtney walked the 2.5 miles from the house to the clinic late in the morning to join us for the afternoon. That's a sign that she is doing well. She and John have always been connected and being herer while he is ill has helped her. There is a door connecting John and Courtney's two rooms here in the house and it stays open most of the time now. Courtney got an Ipod similar to John's for her birthday and they spent the evening sitting on the floor (he was less dizzy there) loading songs from her computer onto hers.
Today, "we" start taking pills at 7 AM and continue blood tests at the clinic. I'm told John will begin to feel the effects of the Busulfin perhaps today. For now, though, things are going well.
