P.S. dont worry ill fill up the cuss bucket by the time this is said and done i promise :) lol. Im feeling much better with just the platelets, whats really odd my throat has completely quit hurting me?

Suanne .. i cant imagine what your going through and im sorry and will pray for you tonight, as everyone said just keep in mind its temporary and we all will look back and realize how God has watched over us and pulled us thru it and made us a better person because of it!

Phil,

Good idea. Just sleep off this nightmare. If you are not febrile, tell them not to take middle of the night vital signs and that you need rest. I am sorry that they are sticking you so much. My veins did not suffer at all, since the only blood that was drawn directly from a vein was an outpatient blood count. Everything else came from my Hickman.

Sleep well. I'll be thinking about and praying for you and Suzanne tonite. You both need a good night's rest.

Cliff

Suzanne and Phil -- rest asured, we are praying for you, and we are confident (as you should be) that you are going to get through it.

Suzanne -- be sure to get them to provide you the stuff that Cliff recommended. I actually took my own stuff in ... it was some stuff for hemoroids, but when I told them about it they took it away ... wanted to be sure I was not over-doing it, if you know what I mean. It sounds like you are having a tough night of it all. Just throw it all on the Lord and let him do the worrying, and get you a good night's sleep.

Phil, perhaps the platlets helped your throat, or perhaps yours, like mine was just a bit of acid reflux ... I know it felt weird like something in ny neck muscle, but the N-T doc said that it was just acid reflux. Your digestion is greatly disturbed by the chemo and all kinds of crazy things happen, so best not to worry about the little things ... just survive! You need to get them to get you another port ASAP ... you are going to need it for the transplant anyway and there really is no good reason I can see to put it off, so you might ask them about it tomorrow. After while they run out of veins.

Take care -- dave

Ok, im gonna add to my bitching list... All my test results came back negative, urine, blood work, etc. The attending doctor which is a internal med doc, which ive had issues with before. Its like he is determined to find something wrong, he says its too early for me to leave and i need to stay another day? Im a lil lost, my plateletes went from 2k yesterday up to 39k this morning, no fevers, basically i just needed platelets and this quack wants me to stay another day. Unless they plan on doing more blood cultures then whats the point?

Dave.. maybe it is acid reflux, when my throat gets sore like that the back of my neck hurts, is that what yours did?

I spoke to my nurse and basically im gonna lay here, there gonna pump antibiotics and anti viral meds into me and then recheck my CBC's in the morning and THEN i have an appt. With my Oncologist at 130p tomorrow which i can see his office looking out my window. Urghhh im not a doc obviously but i know there is no point in me sitting here, i know im prob better off but to me its a waste i can tske my own temp.. Ok im done bitching lol

Phil,

If your numbers are good today, then I don't see why you are still there. However, if your ANC is still in the Southern hemisphere, it is safer to be there than home. I was NEVER allowed even out of my room when my ANC was less than 1000. Do you know your numbers today? Your platelet response to transfusion was very good. Let me know, and keep venting. It's good for you.

Cliff

Phil,
One time I started to tally up the amount of time I was hospitalized over a several month period for some insurance form or something. It was pathetic. to see, when I added up the days of each visit, how many months I spent in the hospital. But I didn't need to fill out that form to know that I spent way too much time there for my liking. I sometimes felt like I would claw at the walls if I had to stay one more day.

Probably better safe than sorry. That sounds so lame, I know, but an extra day might be a little extra precaution to make sure that the fever doesn't come back and that everything is settled down. I often had that extra 24 hour observation (which I hated) just to make sure. In my case there were so many little things that were more conveniently monitored in the hospital to make sure they didn't turn into any big things, I guess.

I second Cliff. Keep venting. Try to get something new into your hospital routine of distractions (e.g. game, exercise, audio books??) to make the time more bearable. I can remember vividly how much I wanted to leave the hospital, especially on a couple of occasions, I just reached my limit of hospitalization and needed out.

Will they let you take a walk outside with your IV pole and mask? I went out (with permission) even in bad weather just to breathe the outside air for a few minutes.

We are thinking of you and hope you will be out VERY, VERY soon.

Therese

Heres my cbc..
WBC .071
RBC 2.45
PLT COUNT 42
HBG 8.1 (prob need transfusion)

I just spoke to the Oncology nurse working and asked her to repeat my cbc's i know my HBG is gonna be below 8 and thats usually when they transfuse me. I dont wanna wait til tomorrow and spend all day messing with that. Heres my point, i can read my cbc paperwork, in 6 hours my HBG dropped .3, here it is 8hrs after my last cbc so wouldnt common sense say, hey we need to recheck his cbc today and if needs blood give it to him so he will be ready to go by in the morning? I totally understand docs are very busy, but, its costing me, my insurance, time from my family, etc. Something as simple as putting a lil thought into it.
Told ya i was gonna fill up my cuss bucket lol

Phil,

I understand your frustration. I couldn't stand to be in the hospital, which is why I ended up throwing my food down the toilet to trick the nurses into thinking that I was eating enough to go home after my transplant. Your ANC is so low. That would make me want to be in the hospital another day. It is funny. I was never transfused unless my Hgb got down to 7. Your hospital must have different cut-offs for WBC and Hgb. And you are just a youngster, so I am sure you can get by with an HCT in the 8s until it comes up. The nosebleed didn't help.

Just chalk this day up to protecting yourself from infection. The platelet count is VERY gratifying and means that you are starting to come back up again. My platelets were the first thing to come up. I would expect your ANC to be up tomorrow. Not great, but up.

I got sick and tired of watching "Animal Planet" on TV at the hospital. Do not think for a moment that I do not sympathize with you. However, all I want for you is for you to be healthy again. These annoyances will be hardly remembered when you are the strong Phil once more.

Cliff

Cliff your always an inspiration.. thank you for trying to keep things positive i needed that. They just stuck me again to recheck my cbc's which im sure my HBG will be below 8. Yeah my Onc does transfusions anything below 8... i can see the hand writing on the wall so im like lets get it done today so i can bolt tomorrow LOL.

Phil,

Good idea. Your HCT will not drop by tomorrow whether or not you get a transfusion today. I would bet on it not being below 8, but I am not a betting man. I hope your WBC count will be higher tomorrow. Sometimes it takes a day or so for it to really rise, but I found that once my ANC was above zero, it usually climbed fast.

Again Phil. You might feel as if you are suffering now (and you are - I just hate being confined), but keep your eyes on the prize. I don't think I have to tell you what the prize is.

Cliff

Its funny, but i just had a talk with another Oncology Doc ive never met, and he said he looked at my last bone marrow and was impressed with the results but there still waiting on my cytogenitics ? So, how are they setting me up for a transplant and they dont have my complete AML by now ? He was the first doctor to say to me, you may not need the transplant considering on your cytogenitics ? Im getting a lil confused here... either this doctor didnt see all the results or im not being told everything..

I asked him about the clinical trial and he said its a Phase 3 trial and i should jump on the chance because of the support that would be given to me and my transplant doctor. He said a lot of people mistake a phase 3 as being a test patient and its already been thru that phase and its strictly looking at the dose differences and basically the low dose depends on the donors cells to kill the cancer instead of the high dose doing all the killing.

Cliff you shoulda been a betting man LOL. My HBG actually went up ? it was 8.1 and they just checked it and its up to 8.6. There gonna recheck in the morning and as my luck has it im sure it will be below 8 LOL.
I can stand here and look out my window and see my car in the parking lot, i want so badly to keep hitting the lock/unlock so i can see the lights flash and maybe even set off the alarm...

OK.. im bored.. sorry.. had a moment there

Phil,

I knew it. It will not be below * in the morning. As soon as you have all of your new counts in the AM, send them to me!

Watch Animal Planet. LOL

Cliff

Phil,
My experience has been each time I have been admitted to the hospital for a fever and my WBC and ANC are low, I am in until my ANC is above 500. Sucks I know. Right now my fever has gone but I am dealing with " that pain in the butt". I continue on IV antibiotics and will until my counts come back up. Thanks all for the advice about creams and such. The MD put me on a mixture of Nitrogycerin ( makes me laugh to even write that) and Lidocaine. The idea is to stop the rectal spasms, it does seem to help. I am also doing Epsom salts sitz baths. Along with barrier cream. Such a little area to cause such discomfort! They also give me some Dilaudid which helps a ton. All your prayers and well wishes are working, I was able to get some sleep last night, Thank you!
Take Care,
Suzanne