#karmanos

My dad: isn't Karmanos the bad one? Me: no, that's Komen.

February 9, 2014 We got here (Karmanos) last night about 4:45. With getting Allan settled (and his lovely yellow "fall risk" wrist band and socks), blood drawn, chest x-ray, permission from doc to start chemo (when WBC is below 3, a doc has to approve that it be given anyway), the chemo was started a bit after 11 last night. Dr. Ashkar, who is on a different service this week - Bone Marrow Transplant - stopped in as he had heard we were coming, and he has a patient next door. It was great to see his smiling face. He will be getting Cytarabine every day over 23 hours (each bag will take 23 hours to flow). It is an anti-metabolite and does not permit the cancer cells to multiply - it interrupts the mitosis process. The second drug is Daunorubicin, which he has had before. This is the one that made his hair fall out and turns his pee red. The "usual suspects" are being given in the "prophylactic" department: Fluconazole; Acyclovir; Allopurinol; antibiotic---to guard against infection and damage to kidneys. He's also getting his Ativan & Celexa! Yay! Today's nurse is Jen - she's one of his primary nurses - when the "primary primary" nurse is not on, Jen will be Allan's nurse...and she's awesome! Friday night, Allan was the "Guest Tapper" at the Soup Spoon Firkin Friday event. It's a once a month thing and they get a different beer each time. It's great fun...even when the videographer gets wet...I've uploaded my video below - check out Facebook for others - there were many videographers that evening...but I'm the only on who got wet... Check out the pic of food we brought-. He has oatmeal, mashed potatoes, applesauce, pudding, rice (brown & wild), protein bars, protein shakes, and his beloved International Coffee...Vienna. By golly, he's going to eat this trip whether the food is edible or not!! More later-Having trouble uploading - I'll try again later.

More later-

September 4, 2013: Our weekly trek to Karmanos - left the house right at 8, on the road, trucking along, through Howell; through Brighton...coming up on Kensington Rd....and a sea of red tail lights. Bummer. Had thought we would miss the morning traffic, but we just caught it further east than usual. It really was just volume of traffic and many cars entering the highway at each exit. Finally got to 696 and hit a slow down there as well. That one turned out to be a vehicle we couldn't see on the westbound side that was apparently on fire. And, of course we all had to slow down so we could look at the smoke and the firetruck (cuz we couldn't see anything else...). Finally got here (30 minutes late); sat in the waiting room for maybe 15 minutes and came right back to a room. We have been in Room 6 since about 10:15 this morning (it is now 4:19 in the afternoon). First we had blood drawn - then we waited for results. We also waited for the chemo to be reconstituted in its warm bath (I think I'm a little jealous-is that weird?). The Nurse Practitioner for Dr. Schiffer's group came in, did a quick "touch base" and then back out - it had been determined that Allan needed a transfusion (hemoglobin is at 7.9) and that the first unit would run before chemo-the 2nd unit would run after chemo (since we have to stay an hour after chemo anyway). 2 Units of Blood! Allan is almost skipping down the hall - almost. He looks forward to more energy tomorrow and the subsequent few days as a little extra dose of blood typically makes him feel pretty good. On Tuesday, we finish the first Cycle of chemo! Wahoo!! However, the celebration will be confined to a "Day 28 Bone Marrow Biopsy"...followed on Wednesday (and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday) by the beginning of Cycle 2a. And we've now figured out that we'll have to allow 2 hours to and from due to the unpredictability of the traffic...last week was no problem-appointment was an hour and a half later, school hadn't started, and folks were likely squeezing in that last vacation. Anyway-will likely be too pooped to post later tonight, so this is the post for today...I wonder what Sissy found out at the Wound Clinic today...? Later-

Arrived here at Karmanos at 10:35 (appt. at 11). Had 2 volunteers walk us to the Dresner Clinic. Very pleasant, knowledgeable folks here as well, from registration clerk to nurses, to the awesome guy named Perry who is our "Comfort Officer" - he's a volunteer who got Allan a sheet so he wouldn't be cold, brought him lunch, and is a complete joy. We are currently waiting for the labs to come back and for the pharmacy to mix the Marqibo. We may sneak down to Wendy's as Allan is less than thrilled with his turkey sandwich and apple juice. Funny-I told Allan I'd lost 4 lbs after getting on the scale this morning, and there was silence until I added, "on purpose!" I think we're a little edgy with regard to weight (although Allan has managed to maintain his weight over the last three days. Jessy, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have lots of knitting time over the next couple of years-might want to tackle those raglan sweaters again. Brought my knitting today-I'll post a pic of how far I get.... More later-

Color this Mama Duck one happy quacker...all of my chicks are now under one roof. Word came today that Allan was receiving his last dose of IV antibiotic, his temperature was behaving, and his platelets were recovering nicely after the platelet transfusion last night. They had hit a low of 10; were 44 after transfusion and had then recovered further to 49. All signs were green for go. Picked him up at 7; got his scripts to be filled; supplies for flushing his PICC and changing the dressing came today; home care nurse will come tomorrow; appointment at Dr. Layhe's office for bloodwork on Monday (and transfusion if that is necessary); back to Karmanos on Thursday for chemo; then back to Layhe on Friday. Chapter 3 begins-promises to be crazy busy, but another step on the path to remission and cure. As I type, Allan is sleeping in the office (to keep him safe from bounding puppy paws. Chance almost came out of his skin he was so happy to see Allan. You know how cute puppies are when they wag their whole bodies? Multiply that by about 10. Egg salad is in the fridge - freshly made - for Allan to snack on through the day tomorrow. Allan has also already taken pictures of our Moonflowers for posting, and has given me instructions for my stop at the Spoon tomorrow when I pick up some take out. Apparently there is a new breakfast item - corned beef hash. I am instructed to get a picture or several...and to play with it. Ideas are flowing in my brain.... So-tomorrow's agenda: 2 cats to Vet for physicals/shots (we do it 2 at a time as taking all 7 at once is a daunting thought); swing by Texas Roadhouse to take their TIPS cards to them; swing by Spoon for aforementioned tasks; Kroger for scripts; swing by post office to mail a couple of things; home to chill and wait for the home care nurse - she'll have to train me too, even thought I've already been trained.... More tomorrow.

Allan struggling with depression again this morning - says he'd like to be put in stasis until it's over. We talked about picking an "end-of-treatment", cancer-free visual and meditating on that. He agreed, and mentioned that he's watching House for some answers. I'm thinking that we'll want to throw a party to thank all of our awesome friends who have stepped in with encouraging words, visited Allan, brought him a laugh or two - braved the oh, so comfortable overnight accommodations at the hospital, gave me a shoulder to lean on, helped me with Sissy & Chance...you get the idea. I think I'll plant that idea and have Allan start planning that party.... Yesterday and this morning remind me again of the connection that we have - my feelings tend to mirror Allan's, which made learning to live with his occasional moods somewhat challenging. I learned, over time, to check to be sure that it was a mood I was seeing, and then worked to separate from it. So much harder to separate from this. Not sure I want to except that he needs me to be able to be there for him, and if I move into his depression, that is harder to do. I told him last week - and I meant it with every fiber of my being - that I deeply wish I could trade places with him and go through the next two years for him. So hard to be in the depths and think about the next 730 days. That's why I suggested that he look at day #731 instead. The Cancer-free day. Party day. More later-