31 Days at Memorial Hospital

Let me start by saying that this entry maybe a little long, but I am going to sum up 31 days as easy as I can...
On Sunday, November 21, 2010, my blood levels were crazy. My hemoglobin was 6.7 and and my white blood cells were 27,000. No wonder i was so tired and couldn't even walk the yard check at work or take the dogs without giving out and having to stop and rest. The white blood count was a little more than double the normal.
On Monday, November 22, 2010, I met my Oncologist. His name is Dr. Barry Luskey. He is a very straight forward man and I like that. The nurses on the oncology floor say that if you want to know how bad things are or how good things are getting he is the doctor you would want. He doesn't pull any punches, he tells it like it is. Dr Luskey had me moved to the Oncology wing of the hospital today. My family is very familiar with this wing of the hospital. Nana spent a lot of time in 2010 there. Much to everyones surprise I was put in room 437. Nana's room that she spent a lot of time in during August 2010. This was hard for some of my family, but to me it was a blessing. I could feel Nana's spirit in there with me and it was very comforting.
Monday the 22 was a day full of blood work and i also got two units of blood. Tuesday, November 23 Dr luskey ordered a Hickman 3 point catheter to be placed in my chest. This will allow blood work and chemo to be done more easily. The process of inserting the catheter was pretty simple and quick. But my body rejected the catheter and we had to "baby" the catheter so that it could stay in. I got an infection around the catheter site and I the infectious doctor had to be called in. His name was Dr Roth. He was a miracle worker. He put me on 5 different types of antibiotics and they helped the catheter port to heal. One night I ran a fever so high that I had to have ice packs placed under my arms and between my legs.
On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, Dr Luskey ordered a bone biopsy. I can remember Nana having a bone biopsy done , but couldn't remember the process. My biopsy was done in my breast bone. This was a very painful procedure, but one that had to be done to see the leukemic cells that had formed and to check to see what type of Leukemia I had. I have AML (acute myeloid leukemia).
I also began Chemo that evening. I took two types of chemo over a period of a week. Daunorubicin is the "red" bag of chemo. I had three doses of it over a 45 minutes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This is the type chemo that will cause you to lose your hair. Keith says that as soon as the red dye hit my blood stream i was checking to see if my hair was falling out. The other Chemo drug was Ara-C. This chemo was taken continuously for a week. This is a very strong leukemia drug. The only side effect I had with the chemo other than losing my hair was a headache with sensitivity to light. I couldn't stand the lights to be on and I did not want talking or the TV on. I am sure this was tough on my visitors. Some of my visitors during the first week I was there I don't even remember seeing them and I apologize for that. Just know that I love and appreciate all of my family and friends.
Like I said Chemo seemed to be pretty easy on me. I never got nauseated like everyone said I would. All the nurses were amazed! All I can say is that it is a "GOD THING" . God was there with me throughout it all and He proved to be my healer and my provider. I give Him all the praise! The nurses kept telling me that days 14-21 were going to be my worse days. and to everyones disbelief my days 14-21 were even better than days 7-14. I was beginning to feel really good and I was getting cabin fever! I had to go walking and get out of the room. My nurses were all standing in the hallway amazed that I was up and out!
On day 14 Dr. Luskey did another bone biopsy. the results of this one would tell us if the chemo kicked the leukemia in the butt. and Guess what NO LEUKEMIC CELLS! Those were the greatest word to ever hear! No one could believe how good I was doing. But see I am determined to beat this and I will not give up. I have way too much to live for. And with all the prayers from people around the world I knew I was going to be OK!
Sometime during the first week or two I was there Dr. Luskey said that I had a strange pattern in my chromosomes. He said that this could mean we may need to look for a stem cell transplant sooner than later. He go the ball rolling for me to Visit Emory Hospital in Atlanta after i get discharged.
During my 31 day stay as an inpatient, I received 12 units of blood and 6 units of platelets. By the time I was discharged on December 22, 2010 my platelets were up in the three hundred thousands and my hemoglobin was up to 9.4. Which was awesome compared to what they were when I arrived in the Emergency Room.
While in the hospital i did all my Christmas shopping online. I was determined to be home for Christmas and I was! Other than a lack of energy I felt fine!