Tuesday, August 19

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times."  A Tale of Two Cities.

Yesterday, started out good.  I took my 16th dose of Busulfan and the first of Cytomax without incidence.  Then, I received a test shot of Atgam, the anti-rejection drug.  I had no reaction.  So, the nurse started Atgam at a low drip rate.  There was no problem, so Alicia turned it up.  I didn't see any problem till after about two-three hours.  Sherry brought me some Dan Dan Chicken Noodle Bowl from Pei Wei.  After she left I heated it up and took two bites.  I threw up maybe six times over the next couple hours (most of which were most dry heaves).  I then got the cold shakes, which I couldn't shake for a while.  Alecia gave me some drug which called down the shakes and turned down the drip rate; however, my temperature began to rise, eventually getting ton103degrees.  So, I was given two ice packs to sleep with.  They were 1.5 feet by six inches x 6 inches and were 2-3 inches thick.  They were covered in cloth and we're not ice cold.  By midnight we gradually pushed the temp down and finally reached the end of the Atgam medicine bag.  My temp gradually feel back to 97.9 this morning.  I get to do another bag go Atgam today, but the nurses say the second session isn't usually as bad as the first.  The doc is going to be cautious and order a bunch of tests:  chest x-ray, and a round of blood tests.  I feel great this morning.  I had my breakfast and plan to start walking the halls for exercise.

So the drugs finally whipped that smug smile off my face, but I'll get 'em today.