December 5, 2013.. Today was a turning point. I went for apheresis but there was not enough stem cells collected to continue. They did an estimate during the apheresis and thought I would get 200,000. I actually got 300,000 stem cells today but it was not enough to continue. I was not surprised after yesterday's small collection. 

We got up at 4:30 this morning and were at the hospital all day. After we finished at apheresis, we spent the remainder of the day meeting with the doctor's assistant, checking out, and getting the line removed. We got to the apartment at 5pm. Due to the ice storm coming in tonight, we intended to try to get on the road home and drive as far as we could to try to get ahead of the ice. Doing that is just not possible. We are mentally and physically exhausted. We fear the ice will be here when we are ready to get on the road tomorrow but we will just have to see how it goes. 

My white cell count today was 23.35, hemoglobin-9.4, platelets-79, and HPC-4. 

Good news... I was able to get my broken water line repaired so we will have water when we get back home.  

Some of the nurses in Infusion 4 continue to amaze me. We have grown very fond of many of them. We went by to say goodbye before we left. It was like I was leaving close and valuable friends. Most of them gave me a warm hug. It sure makes the situation easier to bear. I know they really do care. 

We are scheduled to return here in mid January for Dr Zangari to determine what my future treatment will be. The doctor's assistant said my myeloma is stable at this time, so that is good news.  

This coming Saturday, we will have been gone 6 weeks. According to a spreadsheet I keep on medical travel for this year, the total is almost 6800 miles. 

As I close this blog, for this time, I want to sincerely thank each of you for your prayers, cards and notes. Your caring has really meant a lot to us during a hard time both mentally and physically. 

December 4, 2013.. My white cell count today jumped to 24.88, hemoglobin-9.9, platelets-138, and HPC-4. I feel sure these nice gains were due to the Mozobil injections last night. 

My first day of collection did not go like I hoped. They collected 400,000 stem cells today. The first time I collected back in May was 1.8 million. I do go back and collect again tomorrow but I am told the amount collected is usually lower then the first collection. I have now 5 million in storage. The doctor said I need at least 15 million.

I forgot to add to the log yesterday. I got an infusion of Rasburicase. I want to add this to the log for my referral later. 

Today, I got the same injections of Neupogen I have been getting, plus I got another injection of Mozobil. The Mozobil makes me nauseated for a few hours after I get the injection.   

When the collection is finished, I will have to see my doctor to get his plan for me. I am not sure when I will finish with collection nor when I will get to see the doctor. Hopefully we will get to leave sometime next week. 

They are forecasting a big ice storm coming into Arkansas starting Friday morning. It was 77 here today but by this weekend, the high is forecast to be only 26 with ice and snow. It sure would have been nice to be out of here before the ice hits. 

I thought I would post a couple of photos since I have not posted any recently.

This is what the new Quinton catheter looks like. It replaced the other port yesterday.

Here I am today in Apheresis

December 3, 2013.. My white cell count today dropped back to 15.39, hemoglobin-9.7, platelets-142, and HPC-2.

Going to Apheresis Tomorrow!

The doctor in apheresis came up with a plan. She wanted to start the collection tomorrow and see how it goes. If I can't collect enough, they will stop it. I knew the slow gains on my counts could not continue to go on as they were. Today, I got the smaller port removed. It is the port I explained in detail earlier in this blog and the one they have used to take blood samples, give me blood, medication, etc. The port (Quinton catheter) that was installed is much larger so the stem cells can be collected. It was pretty uncomfortable when they put it in so I am glad that part is over.

Our day will start an hour earlier tomorrow. We will have to be at apheresis at 7am. They will take blood samples and should have me hooked to the machine by 8am. The apheresis process takes 200 minutes per session. The maximum number of collections I can possibly get now are 4. 

I started on the high-priced drug Mozobil tonight. I had to wait until almost 6pm to get the injections since it reaches maximum effect in 11 hours after it is injected. I will get 3 injections in the tummy each night now instead of two. 

Please pray for a good collection tomorrow. Thank you in advance. 

December 2, 2013.. For some reason today, my counts lost ground instead of gaining. My white cell count today was 16.24, hemoglobin-9.6, platelet-173. and HPC-1. This gets to be very frustrating since there is nothing I can do to affect it, that I know of. 

The APN today said she had sent a note to Dr Zangari asking what they should do next but she did not hear back from him. I told her I had noticed during the collection time for me in April, the counts make big increases when they started with the Mozobil injections. She said those increases are expected when on Mozobil but they cannot start the Mozobil injections until the forecast is for me to be able to collect at least 300,000 stem cells during the first collection.

They are forecasting winter weather with snow and ice for Little Rock later this week. I sure do hope that does not happen.  

December 1, 2013..  My white cell count today was 16.89, hemoglobin-9.7, platelet-177. and HPC-1. I didn't gain much today and lost on some counts. I wish I knew why.

I got another liter of saline today by iv due to low blood pressure.  

I know I have mentioned several times how good some of the nurses have been to us in Infusion 4.  One of them told Reta the other day she was going to being me a surprise. Today she brought a homemade apple pie to me. She made the pie even though she was working a 12-hour shift and cooking for Thanksgiving. I sure did appreciate it. They are really good to me.