CHEMOTHERAPY DAY!

Official Chemotherapy Day.  Or, it easily could be called "Popsicle Day" by Hanna.  One of the horrible side effects of this particular Chemo is it wreaks havoc with your lips, mouth, esophagus, and all remaining digestive organs and such from there on down.  To alleviate this painful side effect, the patient sucks on something cold.  The Chemo doesn't like cold and will not damage the cells in the body if they are cold.  So, for 30 minutes prior to the treatment, during the treatment (75 minutes) and for 30 minutes after, the patient consumes massive amounts of delicious popsicles and ice chips.

Here are some pictures of Hanna enduring her Chemotherapy/Popsicle Day:

"Bring on the poisonous, toxic Chemo!  Let's kill those nasty buggers!  DEATH TO CANCER!!"  She was ready and even excited for the ordeal, adorned in her brand new flowered and required official Mayo N95 mask.

The day started with a stop at the Mayo Pharmacy where she was given a ton more drugs to take.  These covered everything from keeping her mouth and teeth clean to helping her sleep at night to calming down the digestive side effects.

Before we could begin, we had to have yet another educational presentation on what was going to happen.  It is important for both the Patient and Caregiver to understand everything they can.  This chart shows how she may feel by day.  The "basement" they call it, could start around day 4 or 5.

Hanna was clearly amused that "loss of fertility" was on the list of her possible side effects. While more children would be an obvious blessing to us (and Frivvy would enjoy them immensely), that just doesn't seem like it is medically possible at this stage of our lives, Chemotherapy or not.

 

Hanna was clearly alarmed by the arrival of the IV bag of Malphalan, one of the most deadly, toxic drugs ever invented.  (One of the ingredients is actually mustard gas.)  To make it worse, the nurse arrived dressed in nearly a toxic waste suit complete with shield, mask, gown, and hands double-gloved.  (We love this nurse by the way.  We're in great hands, even if they are double-covered.)

And then the popsicles began.................

 

Folks, that was two hours and 15 minutes of popsicles and ice chips!  She broke the world record by consuming six popsicles (three orange flavored and three cherry flavored) and two LARGE cups of ice chips.  

Even with all that, she insisted we go out afterwards and celebrate the pending death of her cancer cells by consuming large amounts of apparent cancer-killing ice cream.  WOO HOO!!!  DEATH TO CANCER!!!

We'll now never know for sure if it was the Chemo or the Ice Cream that killed the buggers.

Here is what we have been doing since the last post:

Day -4 (Monday the 26th):  Was spent with several different appointments and blood draws.  Final check to make sure she is healthy, all is set, and ready to go.  This included a COVID-19 test (probably the scariest part of everything because if it were a false positive.....yup....delayed)  Fortunately, she tested negative.  The last appointment was with Dr. Kourelis from the MM team who looked over all the test results, answered our questions, and officially approved and scheduled the Chemotherapy and Transplant.

Day -3 (Tuesday the 27th):  Official Rest Day.  The last day that we won't have to go to the clinic at all until it's time to go home.  (We also had the weekend off.)  We, well, rested.  Then in the afternoon, we took a mini-road trip west through the beautiful Minnesota farm lands, found a few geocaches, discovered what Soy Beans look like when they are ready for harvest, and visited a tiny town name Prairie Blossom.

Day - 2 (Wednesday the 28th):  Popsicle Day.  Errrrr.  I mean, Chemotherapy Day.  See above.  In addition to the above, there were more tests, more visits from medical professionals, drugs administered via IV and her port to alleviate the immediate harsh effects of the Chemo, etc.  It was an all-day event.

Day -1 (Thursday the 29th):  Official Rest Day.  Although we did have to go in to the clinic for a checkup, which will be the norm every day from here on out until we go home.  Other than that, we are resting.  Except we took Frivvy to a Dog Park.  He played with a bunch of new friends and had a lot of fun while we sat and watched.

Tomorrow is the transplant (Day 0).  We start at 5:30am and it will go all day long. They consider it Hanna's "rebirth" and it will be her new birthday. 

Hanna is doing well.  She had minor stomach pain overnight, but had three different types of medication to try on that issue.  She didn't sleep much due to the huge doses of steroids given to her to fight the side effects.  In fact, she was super hyper after we left the clinic.  She has had several nice naps today though.

This whole ordeal is a huge challenge for us both.  We remain positive and are spiritually confident that a long remission and the ability to serve during our retirement is going to happen.  Still, this reminds me of a Scouting Presentation I used to give about coaching and mentoring.  In that presentation I talked about the Philadelphia Eagles and their Super Bowl run in 2017.  How the team's unity and confidence put them over the top.  How when they stepped onto that turf after coming down the ramp, they knew they were going to win.  They had no doubt.  And they loved and supported each other like family.  But, even with that confidence and unity, no doubt they had a huge pit in their stomach and nerves like never before.  That feels like what we are feeling right now.  Confident and unified at each step.  But also nervous as all get out.

Like the Eagles, we will be victorious.  There is no doubt.  And your prayers keep helping.  Thank you.

Today's Miracle:  Hanna soon will have absolutely no white blood cells, the cells that fight off disease and infection.  Therefore it is critical that right now she be protected from any wounds, sicknesses, broken bones, etc.  The neuropathy means she has no feeling in her feet.  Last night, her feet were very cold to the touch, so she tucked them into a heating pad.  Later on, she noticed that it appeared like she had burned herself without realizing it.  (No feeling, right?)  They were very red and hot!  She immediately put a cold wash cloth on her feet, but it appeared to be a serious burn.  She went to bed scared that she would have blisters this morning which would cause all sorts of problems.  In her nightly prayers, she turned it over to God and asked Him to take care of it.  This morning, her feet were healed.  No burns.  No blisters.  He is in charge and we see it every day.

Hanna's Inspirational 2 Bits:

I didn’t sleep well last night, and that along with the expected fatigue from the chemo blast yesterday, I spent more time today resting on the couch than usual.  Much of the time was spent looking at pictures of us and our family—kids, grandkids, siblings, in-laws, parents, etc. And thinking of our numerous friends who have filled our mailboxes (literal and virtual) with prayers, notes of support, encouragement, and love.  I love these people so much!

Six months ago Saturday I first heard my official diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma, I have to tell you I was terrified when I read about this cancer online, fearing all I would miss out on the loving moments and milestones I look forward to.

But everything is on course to making my comeback stronger than this setback!

As attributed to Gene Kranz in the movie Apollo 13, “I believe this will be our finest hour”.

Takeoff for transplant is scheduled for tomorrow at 5:30am when hopefully most of you are still asleep.