Tam's Think Tank

Yep folks…  came home yesterday, for those who didn’t already see it on Facebook.  Sorry I didn’t blog, but it was sort of a long day and I just wanted to settle in when we got back here.  Now we’re back into the home routine.  Hanging out…

Not feeing too terrible today.  I am having little bouts of queasiness and this nasty mucous thing happening in my throat still, but this all will pass once I get the chemo from this round totally out of my system.   Good news is that when I’m not feeling queasy I’m not feeling too bad.  Karen called Nancy this morning to make sure I didn’t have to go in for my regular Thursday blood draw… I don’t.  They did it yesterday and my numbers were all in the normal range so I’m not neutropenic and my red blood counts are also up and good.  Still feel tired though, which is a side effect of the chemo and having that poison in me.  Again though… it’s just good to be home and it will get better.

Next appointment with my oncologist got set up for September 16.  If all goes as planned I will go into the hospital for the last of the consolidation rounds on Saturday, September 18 and 19.  It’s only a two day deal the last time (yay!) and the chemo med is idarubicin again, the one I have had and know better.  It’s a push again, and back up to the full strength, but again… only two days.  In one, out the next.  I like the sound of that.  This time around, five days was a lot.  Karen and I were both pretty sick of it by the fourth day.  We both just wanted the day to end so we could go to sleep, get up the next day, get my round done, and go.  So two days sounds great to me.

As I know it, after the last consolidation round in September, I will then have to have another bone marrow biopsy after my numbers come up again, and then I will be on two years maintenance.  We believe that involves three months of one kind of drug, then ATRA every three months for 15 days, and also some other drug which in the protocol says a weekly shot.  We will know for sure after the bone marrow biopsy and such. We’re getting there though… one more consolidation round in the hospital.  One more.