Hospital stay POSTPONED

I went to the doc today fully expecting to be admitted for the second round of RICE chemo. But I reminded her the story of the PIC line and she thought it would be a good idea to have the chest line put in before starting the second round. (The other doc had said he thought it was OK to just use the IV).

So I will still be on track, as this chemo is usually given every 3 weeks. They were going to give it to me after 2 weeks since I responded so well. I had very limited side effects and (with the exception of my platelets being low, but not too bad) my white and red blood counts remain normal.

This is amazing considering just how many drugs they pumped into my system when I was in the hospital and the amount of chemo I had to endure three years ago.

The new line will be put in Wednesday or Thursday. They are going to try a different numbing agent besides lidocaine--as they say my reaction to it is not normal. I'm a little nervous since I had a problem last time, but no need to get overly stressed, right?

As for my left hand, my fingers are still tingling, but I think it's trying to come back. If it doesn't come back soon, my doc is going to send me to a neurologist. It really doesn't bother me too much, but I do hope it comes back.

By the way, I was so excited that I get another week to recoup and gear up for round two that I came home and ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill. I've been trying to keep my physical activity up without overdoing it. If I can stay this healthy going into the transplant, I figure it will make it easier on my body and I will get better a lot faster. It's commonly accepted that it takes about 1 year to feel normal after a transplant, but I am hoping it will go faster for me.

Finally, I had to attend a class to learn how to take care of my chest line once it's installed. I'll talk more about that later. The next blog will probably be Thursday or so...