We had family come from Memphis today to visit. It sure was great to see them. In the photo above is Kim, Val, and Joe. I really hated to see them leave.
The weekend hospitalist came by and had quite a bit of information to share since she had talked to doctor Van Rhee's APN and the APN had talked with doctor Van Rhee. My white count this morning was 0.20. That is less than half what it was yesterday. She said that she expects the white count not to bottom out for 2 more days and then start to increase. She also expects the myeloma markers to improve over the next week. I sure hope she's right. She said that Dr. Van Rhee has a plan at this point to give melphalan and then stem cells which amounts to a smaller than usual stem cell transplant. That is scary to me since it could result in a worse disease called MDS but we will see what the doctor thinks after this.
That is all I have to report today that I can think of right now. I hope you have a good Fourth of July holiday.

Today has been a pretty uneventful day. I'm not counting the many times that I was stuck and hooked up to an IV. By that I mean I got four shots at one sitting. I get my blood sugar checked three times a day. I don't have anything new to report that came from doctors.
My niece is coming tomorrow from Memphis to visit and that will be a real treat to see them.
My white count continued to drop from 0.89 yesterday to 0.42 today. I continue to get the growth factor shots so I hope they soon will be making the counts go up. Anytime I am outside the room I have to wear a mask. Overall, I have felt pretty good today but still not as good as I usually feel. I have had no nausea today either.
That pretty much sums it up for today. Hope everybody has a good weekend.

I have quite a few things to report today. I am sorry I'm a little bit late getting this posted. I have had lots of things going on such as getting IVs and nurses coming in.
My white count today was about what it was yesterday it was 0.89. I did get a neupogen shot last night and I don't know whether that brought it up any or not I will also get another one tonight.
Diane, the APN for dr. Van Rhee that we like so much, came by today. We were glad to find out that dr. Van Rhee will return next Wednesday. She thought I might be in the hospital for as long as two weeks more. She said that he would probably want me to go home and come back in about 3 weeks. She did mention the likelihood of a smaller stem cell transplant. We both felt better after talking with her knowing that we do have options as far as treatment even though they may be not conventional and somewhat hard to do. One of the treatments mentioned that they have had success with on difficult patients was using an HIV drug along with the treatment kyprolis that I was on for two and a half years.
I was not nauseated today but I just didn't feel good all day. I know that is because of the chemo and I just have to get through it to get back to feeling better.

The nurse changes out the chemo bags while I was on the four days of chemo. Notice that she has on a protective face shield mask and then the cover wear. It is hard to imagine that I'm getting this pumped in to my body during this time. One of the parts of the chemo is called the Red Devil or doxorubicin.
I meant to explain in the previous post that the PICC line not only goes into the vein but also goes up through the vein up to the heart. Kathy you are right it is good arm jewelry but I just as soon not have it really. I expect that as soon as I am ready to leave the hospital they will take it out.
I continue to go without any nausea today. I'm real thankful for that. I guess this will be my last posting for today.

In the previous posting I meant to say lV and not Ivy. After it's posted, I cannot change it using email so I would have to go to the computer and do an edit using the computer.
Here is a photo of cards that Reta has put up that we have received since we have gotten here. We very much appreciate the cards, they mean a lot.

Today has been uneventful and I've not had any nausea today and I am thankful. I have not felt really good but I'm not sick either just don't feel as good as usual. I thought I would try updating this blog using email and also posting some photos to give it a good test. I thought if I could post photos and make it somewhat more interesting to read.

My white count dropped today to 0.9. I will start taking growth factor shots are neupogen shots later today. That should cause my white cell count to start to recover.

Kathy and Darlene thanks for your comments. We will be looking forward to seeing you all when we get back.

Here is a photo of the PICC line they installed. I will have it until I get discharged from the hospital. They put it in so that they could administer the chemo using my port and use the PICC line for other things like blood and platelets and any other Ivy that I might need.

Just a quick update to say that I've had very little nausea tonight. I was able to get all of the potassium that I was getting pumped in and it just finished about 10 p.m. I sure hope tomorrow I'm not hooked of those pumps again that was five days I was on those pumps. I don't like it. It is so hard to go even to the bathroom. That is all for today.