Thursday September 8, 2011 - Adverse Effects to Chemo

My first induction chemotherapy cycle was fairly uneventful, while the drugs were being infused.  I remained connected to the high-tech pump infusing 5-FU into me over 96 hours.  Johns Hopkins had arranged for a homecare nurse to teach me to connect saline bags to the tubing connected to my mediport, and had dropped off four 1-liter bags and associated equipment such as saline flush syringes, etc.  Hydration was vital so that my kidneys would flush the cancer drug byproducts from my body, particularly the cisplatin, which is hard on the kidneys.

My brother Brian had contacted my sister-in-law Burch's brother, Dan Tracy, about the possibility of Damaris and me staying with him and his wife in their townhouse on the Baltimore waterfront, and we moved out of McElderry House to the Tracy's on Wednesday.  Dan and his wife Veronica were very welcoming and made us comfortable in their nice townhouse that backs up to a yacht marina.  It was great to spend time with them and enjoy the waterfront setting.  Damaris took many walks along the waterfront, and I joined her to get some exercise in the historical setting.  On Friday evening, Raquel drove to stay with us at the Tracy's.

On Saturday, after another homecare nurse disconnected the tubing from my mediport and picked up the diffusion pump, Raquel drove us to the Snyder's in Huntingtown.  I felt glad to be free of the diffusion pump.  On arising Sunday morning, I felt feverish and run-down, and had a headache.  With no appetite and no energy, and a persistent low fever and headache, I called the answering service for the on-call Johns Hopkins medical oncologist.  Dr. Konig called back, I related my treatment history and conditions, after which he recommended that I take Tylenol for my fever and headache.  The Tylenol didn't eliminate either the fever or the headache.  On Monday, which was Labor Day, my fever and headache were still with me, and I still felt exhausted.  I called the Hopkins medical oncology answering service again, and was called back by Dr. Santamaria, who recommended that I travel to a local emergency room for a complete blood count lab test.  Flor de Lis drove me to the near-by Calvert Memorial Hospital at about 2:00 p.m.  Being a holiday, the emergency room was short-staffed, but eventually my blood was drawn.  My red and white blood cell counts were a little low, but not much, but my kidney function indicators were poor.  The local doctor conferred with Hopkins, and I was asked if I preferred to be admitted to Calvert Memorial or travel to Johns Hopkins.  I chose the latter, since I'd been receiving treatment there and they had all of my records.  That required an ambulance trip to Baltimore, where I arrived back at Hopkins at 1:00 a.m. Tuesday.  I was admitted to a hospital room in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, on the fifth floor of the Hopkins Wieinberg Building.  With blood tests, EKG, chest x-ray, etc., I didn't get to sleep until 5:00 a.m.

It's now Thursday, September 8, and my kidney function is still poor, although the floor doctor this morning informed me that my BUN level, another measure of kidney function, had improved 10 points.  A good sign is that I'm peeing fine, so my kidneys are working well.  They just need to recover from the damage from the high dose of cisplatin.  Other side effects expected of some or all of the three cancer drugs that I received are also occurring, most noticeable pain and inflammation of tissues in my throat and on my tongue.  I'm receiving pain medication which helps with talking, chewing, and swallowing, all of which are impaired when the pain builds.

On Tuesday, Raquel had come to Baltimore and we had all talked with a Hopkins social worker about lodging.  Fortunately, a room was available in Hopkins' Hackerman-Patz Patient and Family Pavilion, a facility specifically for housing out-of-town cancer patients and their families during hospital stays and/or outpatient treatment.  Raquel stayed in the room with Damaris Tuesday night, and Damaris can remain there while I'm in the hospital.  It's a blessing, and a great comfort to me, that she's here as my care-giver and to provided emotional support, and that a room was available in Hackerman-Patz, which is directly across the street from the Weinberg Building where my hospital room is located.