Slept much better last night. They changed my IV pump to one that clicks less and much more rhythmically so I found it easier to tune out. A nice sunny day makes it easier to roll out of bed to have blood tests done. The PICC line is awesome for this as it’s totally painless.
So, as I’ve come to learn there are many chemotherapy protocols even for the same types of cancer. In 2018 I had what was called CHOP-R. Now I’m on Benda-EAM (Bendamustine, Etoposide, Cytarabine, Melphalan in preparation for the Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation on Day 0.
So the whole thing rolls sort of like this.
| Day | Medication |
|---|---|
| Days -7 to -6 (2 days) | Bendamustine |
| Days -5 to -2 (4 days) | Etoposide, Cytarabine |
| Day -1 (1 day) | Melphalan |
| Day 0 | Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation |
And then there are a few other meds and activities on a daily basis.
| Time | Medication / Activity | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00 a.m. | Dexamethasone and Ondansetron | anti-nausea |
| 6:00a.m. | Blood collection | Blood for analysis. Key indicators are WBC (white blood cell), HgB (hemoglobin), and platelets all which are expected to drop during chemotherapy and come back up to normal levels in time. |
| 8:00 a.m. | Vital stats collected at nursing shift change | BP, temp, listen to lungs, heart and gut, mouth inspection for sores, check for swelling and verbal “how are you doing?” |
| Weigh-in | Weight recorded, right before you get your breakfast! | |
| 9:30 a.m. | Ciprofloxian, Acyclovir | antibacterial, antiviral |
| Aspirin, Coversyl, Artorvastatin | Stuff related to stents in 2015 | |
| 10:30 | Tylenol, Benadryl | Prep stuff for chemotherapy, pain & antihistamine |
| 11:00 | Chemotherapy of the day | |
| 400 p.m. | Injection of Dalteparin | Dalteparin is used to treat and prevent harmful blood clots. |
| 4:00 p.m. | Dexamethasone | anti-nausea |
| 8:00 p.m. | Vital stats collected at nursing shift change | BP, temp, listen to lungs, heart and gut, mouth inspection for sores, check for swelling and verbal “how are you doing?” |
More updates later in the day. Waiting for my Starbucks delivery person. 😍
A lovely lunch and visit with Shirley and the rest of the day was uneventful. The next three days will be pretty much the same so I think I’ll shift the focus of the days posts to some more fun and less medical topics.