Bryce
I’ve been lagging on the updates, sorry.
Inpatient Treatment
I started inpatient treatment at UAMS rolling on a complete remission and new room with view high. Treatment lasted five days and went as expected. The first chemo was 22 hours could burn up your kidneys, and they had to keep my ph above 7.5 which meant urine samples every 3ish hours. Any time I dipped below 7.5 they’d give me a injection of something that made my lips tingle. I wonder how many people had their kidneys burn up before they figured out the ph trick.
The second chemo was a 4 hour drip that I took every 12 hours for two days. It’s side effects include eyesight loss and neurological issues – going crazy. I had to take a “drunk test” – touching nose, rubbing shins with opposite leg, and signing my name every 6 hours to prove I was okay. The last chemo was only a hour and on day 5. It comes with a pre chemo Benadryl cocktail which knocks me out for hours. I had an eyesight issue that resolved itself a couple days after returning home and made it through this chemo cycle unscathed.
Delayed Release
I was scheduled to be released on Monday after the mexatrexate cleared my system but delayed because of butt stuff.
My first day in the hospital I took a blood thinner because activity + blood thinner = less chance of a blood clot. Chemo aggravates your GI track. Add in a hard stool and you have a recipe for disaster. My morning visit to the throne on Day 2 was bad. No pain but a concerning amount of blood. Reported it to the nurses and go forward plan was Colax for stool softening. Day 3 was another bloodbath. Reported it to the APRN and go forward plan was an herbal stool softener. Day 4 multiple poops all of which I’d classify as hard and more blood. GIMME THE GOOD SOFTENER. Reported it to the nurses and was upgraded to Milax. I lost so much blood on day 4 I had to get a transfusion on Day 5 and the doctor announced I wasn’t going home.
A GI resident and fellow paid me a visit, and I explained my butt issues – nothing black, minimal pain, hard stools, only at the exit. But my answers weren’t good enough. No one loses that much blood without other issues and the only way to find other issues is a colonoscopy. Tight. Two jugs of clean out juice arrive at my room – one that night and one for the morning because they’re not sure when my colonoscopy is scheduled. In my Benadryl haze I decide the sooner I drink it the sooner I can go to sleep. Over then next couple hours I finished the jug and fear napped – napping and then waking up in fear because laxatives, man. By 10 I was clear and able to get some sleep.
I woke up midway through my colonoscopy and was able to watch the second half. It kind of reminded me of space travel videos. Everything came back clean and I was released that afternoon.
Metrics that Matter
- Physical feels: 6/10 Tired
- Emotional feels: 7/10
- Cumulative hours of chemo: C1-67.33, C2-39
- Butt: still intact but touch and go
