Hello everyone!
Well last week's chemo was the worst outpatient one yet. Worst in the sense of that it was busy with lots of side effects. On monday 16 november I arrived at the chemo clinic bright and early, as I had a lot to accomplish that day. After meeting the (literally) blood-sucking phlebotomists at 7:30, I was quickly whisked into the chemo clinic and they started hydrating me for the chemo. Before they could start however, I met with Trish the Nurse Practitioner, who looked me over and then ordered the chemo for me. Meanwhile, I was carted upstairs for my intrathecal, or lumbar puncture with chemo. For those unaccustomed, this means they numb up my back really well with lydocaine, then find the proper place in my spinal cord with a floroscope (fancy x-ray machine). They then puncture my spinal column with a large needle in the appropriate place, suck out some of my spinal fluid and inject chemotherapy. This time, it was a bright green substance known as methotrexate. After returning downstairs to the chemo clinic, where Iwas hooked up to a bag of what seriously looked like bright green antifreeze. This was more methotrexate. About 1 p.m. I was ready to go.
That night and the next day I had to take methotrexate pills 19 at a time at a very specific time of day (10:30, 1:30, 4:30am etc). The next day they started me on Leukovorin IV and ultimately Leukovorin pills (more 4:30 wakeup calls for drugs. Yay..) Also, I started another drug to be taken daily through OCtober. This chemo, Mercaptopurine, is more chemo and has the added benefit of making me quite tired and nauseous. FUN.
I had last wednsday off and was scheduled for a short blood test last thursday to investigate how much Methotrexate was left in my system. Unfortunately, that blood test showed my levels weren't low enough (they were at .10 K/ul and needed to be .05 k/ul. Apparently that test wasn't available in broome county (I found out later it was available, just not on the same day it would have been drawn. So I was stuck for an extra day in buffalo, which had me quite surly, as I was ready to scram thursday morning.
Good news is my levels were fine Friday morning and Trish the NP sent me home. It's been nice being home. Star is quite pleased to have some all-day-long company. There's been quite a lot of political chatter going on at all ready, and I helped dad deal with that.
Otherwise not much new. Had a blood test at Dr. Khan's today (tuesday 24 october) and all my levels were quite good...no blood required. I wonder when they will start to drop. Hopefully never! He hee.
OH other big news. Supposedly today my bone marrow donor is scheduled to have his or her blood taken and shipped to roswell by tomorrow for some genetic testing. If the tests confirm her genes, I'll have a donor. Yay! Though this may mess up our thanksgiving plans, it would be really great to start the BMT process before 2006 ends.
-Matt
Monday, October 23, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Light up the Night walk Oct. 12 2006
Pam Travis organized a team of walkers for this benefit to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Thanks to everyone on "Kensey's Krew" who walked:
Pam Travis, Kathy Malloy, Shawna Lindsay, Louise Lattin, Tammy Howe,
Tina Daddona, Heather Greeno, Krystle Silvestri, Ernie Kensey, Valerie
Kensey, Matt Kensey, Diane Kensey, Amy Ingraham, Peggy Woosman, Sharon & Dave Majka
Dad was in a hurry to get going!
Everyone's waiting
Matt, Kathy and Di staying warm and walking fast
Tina's walking for Matt, and Pam is really enjoying walking for Matt!
Hey,Di, Can I borrow your cool corduroy hat?
Pam Travis, Kathy Malloy, Shawna Lindsay, Louise Lattin, Tammy Howe,
Tina Daddona, Heather Greeno, Krystle Silvestri, Ernie Kensey, Valerie
Kensey, Matt Kensey, Diane Kensey, Amy Ingraham, Peggy Woosman, Sharon & Dave Majka
Dad was in a hurry to get going!
Everyone's waiting
Matt, Kathy and Di staying warm and walking fast
Tina's walking for Matt, and Pam is really enjoying walking for Matt!
Hey,Di, Can I borrow your cool corduroy hat?
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
lost....and found!
Thanks to help from a variety of sources, Diane, Mom and I found the Nugget today!
Star emerged from underneath the shed in my parents' back yard as Diane and I had about given up searching.
Star seems to be in good health, though I will have a vet check her out later in the week. She's been quite clingy ever since we found her, and I think she is still a little agitated from being outside for so long. When she eats, she looks up every 10 seconds or so, listening to every little noise. But she's like her old self otherwise, and seems quite happy to be home!
We had help from many different directions, the last one being a couple on Benita Boulevard who called saying they had seen our kitty, they were pretty sure, in the woods behind thier house. There is a small forest that separates the two subdivisions and they said Star had run into that woods. That was encouragement enough to get Mom, Diane and myself out there looking, to no avail after almost two hours of looking.
We had about given up and I suggested we go over by my parents' house for one last look. I wanted to check the live trap I had put out earlier in the day. The trap was suggested by a nice lady at the Animal Care Council in endicott. In any case, when I walked by the tunafish-baited trap on my way to get some treats from inside the house, there was no sign of the cat. But as Diane, Myself and my Mom stood in the backyard jabbering about not finding her, Diane said, "Oh my god there she is!" and sure enough, star had emerged from underneath the shed, gracefully stretching out her back legs one by one!
We are quite happy to have found her. What a relief.
Thank you to everyone who helped post signs and look for the cat, and for several suggestions all of which I think helped in getting Star home.
The Kenseys are very happy tonight!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The Good, The bad, and the curmudgeonly
It's been an eventful few days.
Monday:
Went to Broome Oncology to have blood tested. After my appointment, I popped upstairs to the cardiology clinic to make sure everything was all set for my appointment set for thursday and the wolf parkinson white surgery. It was important to have the surgery done this week, as I am REALLY healthy right now--we'll talk about that later--and I start chemo at roswell again next week. So I Talked to the head cardiology nurse. Sbe said there was "no way," as the doctor had to see me first and, anyhow, the surgery generally took a about four hours and the doc's time had to be scheduled ahead of time. I asked if maybe I could get the appointment moved up. The head nurse said she would page the doctor.
Five minutes later, they called me out of the waiting room, and started an EKG. Dr. Rehman, my cardiac Doc, weas across the street at wilson and would be right over. Within fifteen minutes he was knocking at the door. Two minutes later, he asked. "So, do you have any objection to having the surgery today," and I said no. Apparently Monday was a good day for him to do the ablation. After explaining this to me, he called up the catheterization lab, where the surgery is done, and asked if they had time for a WPW operation. Surprise! A window! He told me I would be staying overnight, and told me to hurry over to Wilson, as they would be waiting for me.
A chest X-Ray, a new IV, two Xanax, two Benadryl and about an hour later I was gowned up and on a gurney at wilson, in transit to the catheterization lab. Though I was awake for the entire surgery, they had drugged me in what they called "Conscious Sedation," so I wasn't totally lucid. But this is how the surgery went, according to the docs: a wire was inserted into each one of my groins. The wires were fished through a vein (left groin) and and artery (right groin) until they reached the inside of my heart. An electrical map of my heart had meanwhile been made from the extensive electrodes attached to my chest and back. When they figured out which nerve was the extra one, the doctor used the wires to cauterize, or ablate, the bad never in my heart with what he called microwaves.
I don't remember all of the surgery, but I rember Diane, my Mom and Dad being in my room in the hospital after the surgery at some point. I unfortunately remember my curmudgeonly roommate , who is an entire additional tale but who enjoyed heating the room to 80 degrees and was loudly debating the effects with the night nurse of a certain new medicine on his bowel movements.
I was quite glad to be discharged by 10:30 Tuesday.
Tuesday:
Dr. Rehman visited me about 8:15 while I was munching on my omlette. He told me I could go home any time I wanted. So, I started looking for my clothes and paged the nurse to take off all the heart monitor stuff. Well, she said, there would be a delay, as the Dr hadn't signed off on all my prescriptions....many of which turned out to be scripts written in buffalo that had nothing to do whatever with the heart treatment. ARGH! Because of that, I had to tolerate my cranky roomate, his crankier adult son --who yelled so loudly at staff that I could hear him in my room all the way from the nurses station, and who filed a formal complaint that completely embarrassed his dad. I also had to tolerate waiting for more than two hours for no good reason. On any other day, that wouldn't have been such a big deal.
Missing Cat!
So, I found out tuesday just before my operation that my cat was missing. (FYI: Star was staying at my parents house due to worries that Cat germs might not be so good for the Cancer Patient). The timing wasn't my mom's fault. I called her as soon as I left the cardiology office, but before I could tell her about the ablation she told me that Star had gotten out late sunday night as dad was letting Jake (their 1-year old dog) back in the house after a walk. The cat hadn't returned, and extensive attempts to locate her without luck. She and dad felt terrible, of course. Frankly, (and I told her this at the time) I just couldn't deal with it right then. But tuesday I was itching to get out of the Hospital to look for the cat, and I went right over as soon as I was discharged.
Though she's gotten outside before, Star's never been away this long, and I think she might be afraid to go back to the clover drive house by now. Nonetheless dad printed up hundreds of fliers and climbed up pierce hill looking for her, and Mom called around to all the animal care shelters and veterinarians and asked if anyone had turned in a rather unusual-looking calico. Kathy Malloy and Pam Travis (my Mother- and Sister-in Laws)helped me flier mailboxes in two whole separate neighborhoods. I placed an ad on Petfinder.com and my mom put an add in the Press and Sun classifieds, so we'll see.
It would be so easy for someone to find Star and just want to keep her, she's that nice of a cat. I really hope that doesn't happen.
Some Good News:
Looks like the latest Bone Marrow biopsy has shown some progress. Dr. Wang, who performed the procedure --with great skill and very little pain on my end, to my great surprise I might add -- called on Friday to report that my Biopsy showed "no signs of disease. According to Barbara, my research nurse:
"In our world, saying "there was no evidence of disease" essentially means that you are in a complete remission... The chemo is working, and you should continue with the current treatment plan."
Sounds like good news to me, what do you think? However it won't prevent the three intratecal (into the spine) chemo treatments I am looking forward to in October. But at least treatment hasn't been a waste of time....
Anyhow, that's what's been happening.
Monday:
Went to Broome Oncology to have blood tested. After my appointment, I popped upstairs to the cardiology clinic to make sure everything was all set for my appointment set for thursday and the wolf parkinson white surgery. It was important to have the surgery done this week, as I am REALLY healthy right now--we'll talk about that later--and I start chemo at roswell again next week. So I Talked to the head cardiology nurse. Sbe said there was "no way," as the doctor had to see me first and, anyhow, the surgery generally took a about four hours and the doc's time had to be scheduled ahead of time. I asked if maybe I could get the appointment moved up. The head nurse said she would page the doctor.
Five minutes later, they called me out of the waiting room, and started an EKG. Dr. Rehman, my cardiac Doc, weas across the street at wilson and would be right over. Within fifteen minutes he was knocking at the door. Two minutes later, he asked. "So, do you have any objection to having the surgery today," and I said no. Apparently Monday was a good day for him to do the ablation. After explaining this to me, he called up the catheterization lab, where the surgery is done, and asked if they had time for a WPW operation. Surprise! A window! He told me I would be staying overnight, and told me to hurry over to Wilson, as they would be waiting for me.
A chest X-Ray, a new IV, two Xanax, two Benadryl and about an hour later I was gowned up and on a gurney at wilson, in transit to the catheterization lab. Though I was awake for the entire surgery, they had drugged me in what they called "Conscious Sedation," so I wasn't totally lucid. But this is how the surgery went, according to the docs: a wire was inserted into each one of my groins. The wires were fished through a vein (left groin) and and artery (right groin) until they reached the inside of my heart. An electrical map of my heart had meanwhile been made from the extensive electrodes attached to my chest and back. When they figured out which nerve was the extra one, the doctor used the wires to cauterize, or ablate, the bad never in my heart with what he called microwaves.
I don't remember all of the surgery, but I rember Diane, my Mom and Dad being in my room in the hospital after the surgery at some point. I unfortunately remember my curmudgeonly roommate , who is an entire additional tale but who enjoyed heating the room to 80 degrees and was loudly debating the effects with the night nurse of a certain new medicine on his bowel movements.
I was quite glad to be discharged by 10:30 Tuesday.
Tuesday:
Dr. Rehman visited me about 8:15 while I was munching on my omlette. He told me I could go home any time I wanted. So, I started looking for my clothes and paged the nurse to take off all the heart monitor stuff. Well, she said, there would be a delay, as the Dr hadn't signed off on all my prescriptions....many of which turned out to be scripts written in buffalo that had nothing to do whatever with the heart treatment. ARGH! Because of that, I had to tolerate my cranky roomate, his crankier adult son --who yelled so loudly at staff that I could hear him in my room all the way from the nurses station, and who filed a formal complaint that completely embarrassed his dad. I also had to tolerate waiting for more than two hours for no good reason. On any other day, that wouldn't have been such a big deal.
Missing Cat!
So, I found out tuesday just before my operation that my cat was missing. (FYI: Star was staying at my parents house due to worries that Cat germs might not be so good for the Cancer Patient). The timing wasn't my mom's fault. I called her as soon as I left the cardiology office, but before I could tell her about the ablation she told me that Star had gotten out late sunday night as dad was letting Jake (their 1-year old dog) back in the house after a walk. The cat hadn't returned, and extensive attempts to locate her without luck. She and dad felt terrible, of course. Frankly, (and I told her this at the time) I just couldn't deal with it right then. But tuesday I was itching to get out of the Hospital to look for the cat, and I went right over as soon as I was discharged.
Though she's gotten outside before, Star's never been away this long, and I think she might be afraid to go back to the clover drive house by now. Nonetheless dad printed up hundreds of fliers and climbed up pierce hill looking for her, and Mom called around to all the animal care shelters and veterinarians and asked if anyone had turned in a rather unusual-looking calico. Kathy Malloy and Pam Travis (my Mother- and Sister-in Laws)helped me flier mailboxes in two whole separate neighborhoods. I placed an ad on Petfinder.com and my mom put an add in the Press and Sun classifieds, so we'll see.
It would be so easy for someone to find Star and just want to keep her, she's that nice of a cat. I really hope that doesn't happen.
Some Good News:
Looks like the latest Bone Marrow biopsy has shown some progress. Dr. Wang, who performed the procedure --with great skill and very little pain on my end, to my great surprise I might add -- called on Friday to report that my Biopsy showed "no signs of disease. According to Barbara, my research nurse:
"In our world, saying "there was no evidence of disease" essentially means that you are in a complete remission... The chemo is working, and you should continue with the current treatment plan."
Sounds like good news to me, what do you think? However it won't prevent the three intratecal (into the spine) chemo treatments I am looking forward to in October. But at least treatment hasn't been a waste of time....
Anyhow, that's what's been happening.
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