ER

I'm adding Insomnia to the list now.  I mentioned in my previous post that my heartburn was getting pretty bad...I woke up around 130am with an esophogus screaming i'm on fire. Finally decided something had to be done, so I woke up my parents and they eventually called the doctor and he decided it'd be best I stop by the ER to get checked out. Midnight road trip down to the south side!! Wasn't very enjoyable, we got down there fast tho...Mother decided to drive, dad stayed home because of work.  It took us a good 30 minutes to get there, and once we did everything went pretty smoothly....We were the only ones in the waiting room. They made the decisiton to put me in isolation, for heartburn?!? Yikess...Better safe than sorry I guess. 

This is where one needs a lot of patience. I think I was put into my little isolation room at around 330am. From there it took about 30 min for a doc to show up...After that I had chest xray then more waiting...Finally I get results at 530am. What they decided to to was give me a stronger prescription for the heartburn. That really took a load off. When they have you waiting in there for so long, the whole "what if this" starts to creep into your head. 

I was home by 830am. Running on a few hours of sleep we managed to stop by a mcdonalds to get some pancakes.  Yes, light and fluffly they sat pretty well and put me into a wonderfull food coma once I arrived home.  I slept like a baby. Felt super refreshed when I woke up around 1100am.  By this time the hearburn was going away, eating was easiER.  Still felt weird but the burning was gone...

I went out a few hours later with a buddy of mine for walk.  Ahhh fresh air, got to clear the mind a bit.  Think we did about a mile then headed over to IHOP for some more pancakes haha.  Hey they are they only thing i can find that sits pretty well so why not??? So its 430am now, I'm tired, hungry, and been up since 2. Food sounds good right now....

ciao

Weekend/start/no/school today

So I'm home, the last few days have kind of blurred together.  Saturday was probably the worst day of the weekend...I think that's when the nurse came..not sure tho but she was nice. She showed us to to clean my PICC line and some basic check up stuffs.  Think she'll be back tomorrow sometime to get some of my blood. 0_0.

The real question is how has my body been reacting to all this? Well I'm trying to figure that out myself. Depends on the day, but heartburn and fatigue have been a pretty big part of it.  Saturday I was having a hard time eating but that seemed to have gone away.  This really takes a lot of outta the lungs, i've been feelin winded lately too...I'm not miserable tho, I was able to get out of  the house today for a bit which was pretty nice. 

What's weird is even tho I'm not super hungry, i get these crazy cravings! Like the other night I had to have pizza. It couldn't be any old pizz tho, you know it's right in between deep dish and thin crust?? That's it! It hit the spot. And then I get this lazagna that is AmAzInG! So I'm eating that for breakfast lunch and dinner now. WOW. But aside from the cravings I'm trying to eat as much as I can..Losing weight is a no no right now.  My dad got me these Ensure drinks with all kinds of vitamins and minerals with some added protein. Help keep the weight on and they taste pretty good too.

Maybe I'll go to school tomorrow, I need to talk with a few teachers and straighen some things out.  Dropping a class is the last thing I should be doing but it'll have to be done.  I just don't have the energy for it right now.

Day 3 another round of chemo

I slept pretty well last night even tho I got 3 times.  The last few nights were pretty late for me so I decided to get to bed early to be energized for this morning.  I was feeling a little nauseous when I got up but I was able to force down a mighty mango naked drink, and a blueberry yogurt.  The rest of the morning consisted of me just hanging out unitl chemo started at 10:30am.  It lasted for an hour, and haven't had any side effects yet.  The thought of poision being pumped into your body doesn't really sit well in the mind, but thankfully I had a tv to keep my mind off of it.  My appetite has been down the last few days, and after talking to the dietician today she said I have to do my best to keep eating to avoid muscle loss.

Right now I'm under supervision to make sure I'm reacting to the chemo ok, I should be able to head home at around 1pm.  My nurses and doctors have been great, they've helped me out so much. I'm glad i'll be able to get home.

Day 2

Last night was probably my worst night in the hospital, I think I woke up four times.  I was naseaus all morning so I didn't eat until 12pm.  The doctors said I responded really well to the chemo, that was good to hear. My nurse hooked me up for a blood transfusion and I ordered a belgian waffle with sausage which wasn't to bad.  Soon after I found out my results from my first blood test after starting chemo.  The leukemia cells had dropped dramstically, I was so excited.  Today I got a break from chemo, but I still had other meds to take..Luckily no side effects from those. 

I was able to get some walking in around 2pm in between my blood transfusions, I even got to step outside for a few minutes.  Afterwards I cam in for my second transfusion for the day, the doctors are trying to boost my hemogloben ccounts before I go home tomorrow.  Otherwise I've been laying in bed all day. I'm tired, and it's been a long week. Going home tomorrow will be great!

Day 1: post chemo

After a blood/platelet transfusion, the time was 11:30am and I was headed down to get my first round of chemo thru and lumbar puncture.  I chose to be knocked out because my back still didn't feel 100% after the LP I had on Saturday.  One of the nurses told me I was recieving the same med that Michael Jackson Od'd on...That was nice to know.....It took me about 15 minutes to pass out and before I knew it I was awake.  It felt like I was out for 5 minutes but it was really and hour.  I was in a daze for about another hour and 2:30pm I was up and walking and was able to eat my first meal of the day. 

I didn't get a lot of walking in today.  Fatigue, and back pain were setting in so I decided to take a break and chill out in the room and wait until my seccond does of chemo at 6pm. The time finally came and watching the nurse walk in with her blue sterile scrubs is when it started to sink in.  I was a little nervous, but reminded myself I had to stay strong and that this was only the first day.  The chemo looked like Kool Aid, it was light in color and was given to me thru my PICC line.  (A PICC line is an IV inserted thru the bicep into a vein and directed into the chest.  This makes it's a lot easier for the nurses to draw blood and give the chemo). After an hour I was done, and I felt fine.  I ordered dinner which consisted of chicken stir fry, a baked potato and grapes.  After, I did some walking to make up for what I missed earlier.  My back was sore but I didn't think about it to much.  Managed to get a mile in and headed back to the room for the night.

Day1

Today is day one of chemo, I'm sitting here with tube and wires coming out of both arms.  I'm recieving a platelet transfuion in one arm and getting my heart monitored thru the other. Today's procedure is simple..The chemo will be administered thru a lumbar punture (yeah!) to prevent bad cells from spreading to the central nervous system.  I will be knocked out, I had a lumbar punture on Saturday and it wasn't the best experience.

I feel like I should have some huge paragragh talking about how scared I am for this, but in reality I'm not one bit.  My friends and family are the ones to thank, they came when I needed them most and I can't thank them enough.  My journey is far from over, today is only the beginning of a 3 year treatment plan. I'm going into this stronger and more confident than I have been in a long time.