Round One

Writing again from an infusion chair, although this time it isn't a chemo treatment; rather, it's my regular dose of immunoglobulin along with a couple of meds. I should have been getting my second round of chemo today, but events have conspired to change that.

My infusion port was removed last week after only a three week residency. I woke up during the night with a lot of pain, and the site was quite angry looking. We went to see interventional radiology, where one doctor said it was infected and needed to come out and another that it wasn't infected yet needed to come out. So it was removed that day, a subclavian central line was inserted on the other side of my neck, and I started a course of IV antibiotic in case of infection, which meant I had to go back to the hospital every day for a week to receive it.

The good news is that there was no systemic infection, but the autopsy of the port showed there had been significant bleeding and clotting around it along with localized staph. It's healing well, but the incident has postponed my second chemo treatment for at least a week while the site heals. Whether I eventually get another port or just go with the central line is to be determined; pros and cons with both options.

As for the side effects from the first dose of chemo, I had the expected high from the steroids for a few days, then crashed for a couple of days. I had some GI cramping and associated issues for a few days but then got those under control. The shot to simulate my bone marrow worked well, although it did cause me a lot of bone pain from my knees to my ankles for about two weeks. All in all though, it could have been much worse.

In the meantime we continue to enjoy each day as a gift for which we are very grateful. We are so loved; how could we not?