Lori -- when they did my consolidations they sent me home as well. I did not especially like this since I had gotten used to the hospital environment (I know most on this list might not relate to this, but I had been there for so long and I never stopped working while in the hospital, so the location was not that awfully important -- since I could not have visitors anyway). Anyway, what my onc told me was that I was saver at home than in the hospital. I don't mean to alarm you but there are some nasty things in the hospitals that he encouraged me to get away from. So that is the advantage. Also, for most there is probably a major advantage of just being "at home." Hope this helps -- dave

Lori,
I did my consolidation from home, I would go into the infusion center in the morning and receive my morning dose of Ara C. I then would go home with the next dose hooked to a pump and ready to go. I would then infuse it at home 12hrs later. It worked fine, I had no complications with doing it that way. The complications came afterwards when my counts would drop, then I was admitted to the hospital with fever and antibiotics until my counts came back up. It usually took about ten days after the chemo.
Take Care,
Suzanne

Lori,

All four of my consolidation were done in patient. The protocol was a dose at 6 pm, a dose at 6 am and then skip a day then start the cycle again for a total of six treatments. I agree with Dave in that I would have rather been home out of the hospital for the germ factor and the boredom. I had zero complications with chemo. I believe Stanford does out patient consolidation. I did nadir at home and only went to the hospital for labs and transfusions. Hope this helps. Praying for youand Keir

Blessings
Julie

Thank you. I don't know for sure this is what they will do with Keir - will find out Tuesday when his doctor is finally back from holiday - but it is an option they often use. I was just wondering how it worked.

I appreciate all your help. The last month has been exceptionally hard around here and the support and care here means a great deal.

Hi Lori,
Yes, Julie is correct, Stanford does consolidation out patient. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Sal and I would go to the cancer center at 7:00 am for the first dose. At 11:00 or so, we would go home then return at 5:00 pm for the second dose until 8:30 or so. We live close by, so it was easy. Sal much prefers out patient therapy.

I believe UCSF (University of California San Francisco) does consolidation in-patient. Sal's doctor explained that it was due to staffing issues, i.e., UCSF doesn't have the staffing flexibility that Stanford has.

Hugs,
Monique

The logistics vary for every center. Takes a bit to get used to knew systems.

I was in for consolidation at UMMC. I'd see my doc and check counts. If things were good I got sent upstairs. Would have chemo that evening. Then 12 hrs later in the morning. Off that night and next morning. Chemo night/morning, off night/morning. Chemo night/morning home after lunch on calendar day 6, but day 5 of chemo by hours.

With my husband both consolidation treatments were done in-patient. He went in the hospital on Wednesday and first chemo was given at 6pm then every 12 hours for a total of eight rounds of chemo. He would get his last one on Sunday morning at 6am then was released. Both times he was in for consolidation they went smoothly with no issues or complications.

Thank you all. I am anxiously awaiting this afternoon, when I can call Loyola and find out what is going on regarding tomorrow & consolidation. Keir feels well but we have been in this holding pattern far too long. The new donor they have is a 22 year old male, a 10/10 match. But Keir has to get through consolidation okay. He has not had problems with it in the past and we only found out about the ejection fraction being low during his pre-transplant testing but that derailed everything at Rush. Please keep him in your prayers - we need him to get through this without major incident so he can FINALLY get to transplant.

Any new updates, Lori?
Andrea

We just checked in at Loyola. Waiting for blood draws and chemo. If all goes okay it's a 23 hour on then a day home thing for the full three doses (five days total).

Rather nerve wracking to be here at a new place. We got shown to his room and am waiting for a nurse. There is a tiny recliner so I hope they let me stay. I asked the transplant coordinator if I'd be allowed to stay with him and they said it should not be a problem but I'm always edgy. Loyola has strict rules.

Lori -- it sounds like things are falling into place. We continue to pray for you and Keir -- dave

Lori,

I completely understand how hard it would be acclimate to a new hospital setting and staff. I truly love my med team, they feel like family. But all of this it's for the greater good, a cure for Keir. You are such an amazing mother to be by his side every step of the way. My family continues to lift you and Keir in prayer daily.

Julie