Second Week of Appointments

Tuesday's appointment was at the University of Washington. I went to the oncology radiation department to meet the nurse and doctor. (I had no idea there was such thing as an oncology radiation specialist and that a physicist does the equation to make sure you are getting the right amount of total body irradiation.) They measured me in all kinds of spots, took chest x-rays of me in the machine, and went over all the risks and side effects from TBI. Some of the side effects are infertility, glaucoma, alopecia(hair loss), slight increased risk of skin cancer over regular populations, naseua, loss of appetite, dehydration, mucocitis, parotitis, diarrhea, and skin sensitivity. The machine that you sit in looks like a torture chamber, but the actual radiation is painless. I will be starting on July 10th and go in for 2 sessions a day for 3 days. I have to stay up near the U for the irradiation, so I will be staying at a hotel. After the 3 days in the hotel, I will be admitted to UW for the chemotherapy and transplant.

Wednesday's appointments were back at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. (SCCA) First, I needed to go to the lab to get a blood draw. Next, I had an appointment with my tan team nurse and physicians assistant. They took cultures to check for MRSA and Vanco-resistant cocci. Fun stuff. They also answered questions and let me know that my lumbar puncture (LP) and bone marrow biopsy both came back negative for lymphoma/leukemia. This is bittersweet. If it had been positive I would be gung-ho for a transplant. But, since it was negative, it makes me question the decision to go ahead with the transplant. They ran the biopsies through a very sensitive test and still it came back negative for any cancer. Then, I went to get another chest x-ray, so that they can make sure everything is clear in my lungs before transplant. My last appointment for the day was OB/GYN. Women, you know how that goes. But, in addition to the usual fun stuff, she went over the side effects from the OB/GYN perspective for the transplant. I will be post-menopausal after the transplant. So, I will have to take hormones. I also will be taking progesterone for the transplant so that I will not have a period, because they don't want too much blood to be lost.