Bryce
Day 2 Continued
The most eventful part of the day was finding out I was going to receive a spinal tap and spinal chemo. I thought the spinal chemo would be on Day 3 or 5, and it was a bit of a shocker. The procedure took 20-30 minutes and wasn’t that bad. The doctors, both male, said it was the equivalent to an epidural but neither could speak from experience. The first attempt to find my spinal cord was made by the resident who kept hitting resistance (eg my spine). I was numb so pain wasn’t an issue just a weird tingle every time he hit my spine. After a few attempts and pokes the fellow stepped in and completed the tap and chemo. We had a good conversation during the procedure which helped time pass. The rest of the day was uneventful.
Day 3
My friend Dr. Sean dropped by with breakfast and coffee. He was in my room maybe 30 seconds before the head nurse booted him out for violating the visitors policy. It was a shame but great to see a friendly face even for 30 seconds. Breakfast was a bacon, egg biscuit and I ate the whole thing. Most importantly I also drank a coffee. Afterwards I made a two three calls to a guy about a horse, and resolved my constipation fear for the day. Win for my butt not ripping.
I walked a mile around the floor while receiving my 10:30am chemo, and another half mile before dinner. My downtime was spent watching Floor is Lava on Netflix. It’s a great way to kill a couple hours without getting mentally involved in a show. Overall I felt pretty good yesterday and had quite a bit of energy.
Day 4
I’m dragging this morning… It’s hard to get uninterrupted sleep during the night. Chemo starts at 10pm and end at 1am. In between the nurse checks in on my and the techs to take vitals every three hours. It seems like an infusion has to be replaced every hour or so and I was checked on 8-10 times between 10am and 6am. Lack of sleep is starting to wear on me.
My chemo regiment steps up today and the introduction of a new one at 1pm and a new 24 hours drip at 10pm. One of which is nicknamed “Red Devil”. I’ve shared several poop stories with my nurse, one of which was about the time I juiced beets and thought I had internal bleeding when it came out the other side. Apparently Red Devil has the same affect. Both chemos are more toxic than what I’ve experienced thus far, and prayers for no complications are welcomed and appreciated.
Metrics that Matter
- Physical feels: 6/10 –tired from lack of sleep last night but otherwise okay
- Emotional feels: 7/10 – nervous about the increase in chemo
- Butt: still intact
- Re: packing list
Tomorrow’s Plans
More chemo, more walking
