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Chemotherapy day one. Begin a five-day session of IV battery acid...well, close enough. During this time, I'm basically bored to death.... I'm too weak to do much, including just getting up and walking around, so I'm relying on the TV for entertainment...and I'm stuck with what's *ON* TV...I don't have any of my VCD/CVD/SVCD discs, nor do I have any DVDs, tapes, or anything else (or anything to play them on, for that matter, until my mom bought me the laptop—THANKS MOM!!!).
07Feb06 is day nine of the first chemo session, and it's also the day I was finally released from the hospital (the first time around). I left with a big list of prescriptions, of which, I only filled three. That night, we got the two that would not be paid for by charities—the Ativan (for stress) and Darvocet (pain). Later, we got vouchers to cover the antibiotics, but that bill nuked the vouchers. So, the blood pressure medicines didn't get filled, but then, my blood pressure had gone back to normal (without having taken any of said medicine in the hospital for a few days), and I monitored my blood pressure twice/day to make sure it stayed there—it did. So the doctor told me NOT to get the prescriptions for the blood pressure medicines filled.
Btw, just a quick note on the hospital staff...virtually all of the nurses are truly wonderful people who have done a great job of keeping my spirits up. The same is true for the Cancer Care unit's chaplain who stopped by at least once a day just to see how I was doing, ask if there was anything I needed, etc.... On top of that, they have a staff of people who help those of us who show up with an emergency and no medical insurance—I hadn't even left the emergency room for my room upstairs before my case worker from the hospital had visited me with a lot of paperwork (she asked the questions and filled it out for me based on my answers). She then went off and did her thing, which ultimately (so far, as of 22Mar06) has resulted in my getting Medicaid and food stamps, with Social Security and Disability still pending. It seems that the huge medical bill that I can't pay, the whole thing I was so afraid of, doesn't exist. If I'd only known that before.....
Ok, so, I'm out of the hospital, dizzy (particularly right when I stand up), and freezing my cajones off. I don't know it at this point, but I'm badly anemic from the chemotherapy.
Btw, one final note on the first full week of chemo: my arms make me look like a serious drug addict. Needle marks everywhere (apparently, IVs don't last long with me, particularly when used for chemo), veins turning brown, and so on.
Wednesday, 08Feb: Appointment with Dr. Chang (one of the three oncologists—the three are Dr. Harvey Hsiang his brother, Dr. Henry Hsiang, and their brother-in-law, Dr. Ming Chang. Between the three, I've got one great team on my side, as we'll see later. The appointment is basically a followup with a blood test (CBC, or complete blood count). This test confirms just how badly anemic I am, so I'm sent over to the hospital (outpatient—basically next door) to get my blood typed and get everything ready for a transfusion.
Thursday, 09Feb, 0800: Transfusion time...every bit of blood that flows into me makes me feel more alive (not to mention warmer). When it's all finished (about 4–5 hours later), I've gotten two pints of whole blood.
Day 16 chemo: Bleomycin only. Asked (per multiple recommendations) about getting a port—no, no port, but we'll have a PICC line put in.