Tag: stem cell transplant

Sweet, late August Maine air

Tomorrow, Aug 25, 2017, exactly 3 weeks from the day of admittance, I will be discharged! Well, this is the hope, and as of right now, as long as a fever doesn’t appear out of nowhere overnight, I should be home tomorrow evening. I want to fall asleep listening to the crickets breathing in the sweet, late August Maine air.

Over a week ago, when I wrote about the ability to, once again, enjoy a cup of tea, I thought that I was on the mend and that the worst of this transplant was drifting away into memory. I was very wrong. When all my counts finally bottomed out, I was in the worst possible state — for days. I assumed this transplant would be much like the past, but I just kept feeling worse and worse post “day 0” (the day I received my cells back). There are several reasons why this transplant hit me harder: different chemo regimens, shorter recovery/rest time between transplants, etc. All I know is that I hope never again to be even close to some of the horrific states I was in over the past several days. One night, I was not sure of the time; I found myself curled into a fetal position and moaning continuously. Another night, I asked the night nurse if I was dying. I shudder to think of anyone in this state of mind or body.

If everything goes according to plan and I am discharged tomorrow, I will return for follow-up labs (blood work) and a few other tests in about a week.

But, for now, this appointment is very far from my mind. Right now, I merely want stillness, rest — deep, nurturing rest. 

…”breezed” through

I had a follow-up meeting with my oncologist at Mass General yesterday. Labs were drawn, and blood work shows that things continue to climb upward. I still need to be careful, refrain from going into public places, and wear a mask. I am (just today, July 14, 2017) one week post-release from inpatient care, so it makes sense.

Things were trending upward, so the oncologist was happy. They think I’ll be admitted for round II in the first week of August. They want to see me again in two weeks, and the blood work then will give them a better sense of where I’m at. As for now, I’m under strict orders to rest and get ready. We spoke briefly about the regimen used in the next round. It isn’t set in stone, but one thing they’re confident about is utilizing an agent with a solid/proven track record of good CNS (blood/brain barrier) penetration. Having already had two mets in that area, they want to ensure that whatever regimen is used can access this region. The options are pretty horrific in terms of toxicity. I left the meeting a little frightened about round II as I was guaranteed to feel this round more intensely than the first. Which, according to the oncologist, I “breezed” through. 

High-dose chemotherapy with (tandem) stem cell transplants

Where and how do I begin explaining high-dose chemotherapy with (tandem) stem cell transplants? I have been considering how I should go about describing the process. However, I wasn’t even sure I understood it correctly.

In my case, and this might be the same for other patients, I am not sure, but upon admittance, the clock starts at “day -5” (day negative 5). so “day 0” is when I return my stem cells. Days -5 — 0 are, as you might have guessed, chemo days. By this, I don’t mean normal outpatient days that, in my case, lasted several hours, depending on the regimen. No, I am talking about round-the-clock infusions, IV bags of chemotherapy drugs that run for 24 hours and then are switched out for new bags that run the same length for days and days. The intention, with such long days filled with heavy-duty chemo, is to destroy the current stem cells/marrow & annihilate the existing cancer and then replenish my system with untouched (by high dose chemo) stem cells from which my body will reconstruct itself literally from the ground up.

Along with the continuous stream of chemo, I have also been receiving liters upon liters of fluids. This is to prevent any damage to the liver, kidney & bladder. However, it is often uncomfortable, and, according to the nurse, I am currently retaining 8lbs/3.6kg of excess liquid. Needless to say, I feel uncomfortably bloated.

Between days -2 and 0, I will just be receiving mesna, a chemo protectant, and more fluids to continue to flush my filter organs. 

2nd round

Tomorrow, August 4, 2017, I will return to Mass General Hospital for the second stem cell transplant. I am not ready; I want more time to rest and eat good (nonhospital) food to be “normal.” I don’t want to be inside for 2+ weeks, confined to a hospital floor, gazing longingly out of the windows, trying to imagine what the day feels like from a room that is kept at a constant temperature. In the back of my mind is the repetitive voice of reason explaining how this is needed and how “it’ll be over soon!” etc.

My beard is starting to grow again; it is darker and thicker in some areas and others, just thin indications of hair, translucent almost. Once more, I am surprised at how fast cellular regeneration occurs within the body and, as before, how willing it (the body) is to keep going and growing despite the near-constant bombardment of chemicals. I feel bad that, from tomorrow onward, my body will be fed these toxic chemicals and again will shed the newly grown hairs as the (chemo) agents destroy cells — both good and bad — all cells.

Again, the voice tells me it is for the best, this is about healing, “you’ll be well soon,”… etc.

When I was just a small child, I played in the woods near our house. For some reason, I consumed some berries growing wildly in the forest. As innocent as a child is, I just thought they were harmless and would taste yummy. When my mother heard it, she immediately called the doctor, who had the pharmacist deliver (yes, they delivered!) ipecac syrup. This is used to induce vomiting and administered if something potentially poisonous is ingested. Since my mother didn’t know what type of berries I had feasted upon, she assumed the worst. Naturally, she felt horrible when I vomited up what I could barely remember as a colorful, Pollock-like splatter of colorful berries (amongst other things recently consumed). I now feel the way my mother must have when she was trying to explain to me why I would feel poorly – and that it was for my safety – and that she was sorry – and that she loved me.

At night, or when first waking, I scan my body mentally from head to toe and envision myself embracing my own body as I explain why this must be endured – and that I’m sorry – and that I love it.

The Collection

I spent the last five days in the hospital. During this time, I was receiving a continuous flow of IV antibiotics in an attempt to nip whatever was lurking in the bud to stay on track with an MGH/stem cell transplant. This didn’t go as planned when the fever spiked, and I missed the stem cell collection scheduled for Wednesday.

That afternoon (on Wednesday), while still hospitalized in Maine, the oncologist whose care I’m currently in at MGH called me. At this point, it seemed apparent that my fever was a result of neutropenia as well as from the filgrastim injections ( http://www.neupogenhcp.com/).

The blood drawn for cultures hadn’t, after 48 hours, indicated a blood-borne infection. The oncologist at MGH was convincing & practically demanded that I get discharged, drive down to Boston that afternoon/evening, and make the 07:00 Stem cell collection already on the books for the following day (Thursday, June 8). to me, this sounded reckless. I didn’t want to be in the hospital longer than needed, but I also was fearful of the big, germ-filled world waiting to sneeze on me and send me back to the ER. I feared that, should this happen, should my fever spike force me to the hospital for another 5 days or more, this would further delay the actual transplant. (something that has been postponed already due to cancer-related issues!) his fear was a different side of postponement & delay – that the small window of opportunity after the nadir (which refers to the lowest point that an individual’s blood cell count

will reach as a side effect of chemotherapy) & the peak reached as a result of the injections, would close on us. He was worried that if I didn’t make it Thursday to collect and thus left only Friday, we were taking a massive gamble as most people need at least two days to collect all the stem cells they will need for a transplant. If I were to wait until Friday and NOT gather all the cells, we’d have to finish on Monday and hope the injections were still assisting in generating the needed stem cells. It’s not only the shots that assist in this generation of cells! The whole reason for undergoing the monstrous round of chemo/etoposide was to send the body (after nadir) into white blood cell count overdrive! Add daily shots to the mix to assist this, and boom – massive (daily, maybe hourly?) jumps in cell counts.

So what did I do? I got discharged (June 7) and made the trip to Boston.

Today, June 8 (2017), at 07:00, I walked over to Mass General Hospital for collection. The process took several hours. My triple lumen pheresis catheter (seen in photos, the line coming out of my chest) worked perfectly!

When I was finally free, I took a much-needed stroll around the area to get fresh air and sunlight. I was awaiting a call from the nurse practitioner to tell me whether or not the collection was successful or if I needed to return the next day to finish up.

The plan worked, and, though one day off schedule, they gathered all the cells needed in one session.

The lesion

I should know this by now, but I don’t’; things change very quickly– alarmingly so.

The other day, I noticed that typing with my left hand was challenging. It wasn’t easy to access specific keys. Later that day, when attempting to play guitar, I again noticed that the fluidity with which I usually fingered the chords (using my left hand) wasn’t present.

The following day, while driving back from an appointment, I lost complete mobility in my left arm. Unsure if this was a seizure, a stroke…, or a clotting issue, my sister took me to the ER. As most of my ER stories go, they did several tests, the first of which, after vitals, was a head CT scan. What they discovered explained the loss of mobility/motor function in my left arm – a 3.2cm lesion on the back rear (right) lobe in and around the parietal and occipital lobe. (this is what I’m piecing together from the various doctors I’ve met. still trying to grasp the facts.) My MRI on Jan 30 showed no sign of this (what is assumed to be) metastatic spread. Unlike the other brain lesion that was dealt with using solely stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in early October (2016), this one will initially be surgically resectioned, and then SRS will be used. The main reason for that is its size. 

This will most likely push back the stem cell transplant a few weeks or so, considering the healing time and then the radiation therapy afterward. That & this new and particularly aggressive/fast-growing brain met seem most urgent.

The surgical resection is scheduled for tomorrow, Apr 30, 2017.

Mystery to reality (a stem cell transplant)

To me, a stem cell transplant is still a mystery. I understand it theoretically, but it still seems like some sorcery. When I spoke briefly via phone with the doctor in charge of bone marrow/stem cell transplants at Mass General Hospital (MGH) before my appointment (April 20), it sounded like he wanted me to start the procedure the following day. There was this sense of urgency. I was, and am, ready. I needed the time (since being told of the recurrence) to accept and come to terms with it and thus prepare myself (on every level) for the next steps. Being “ready” on a purely medical level is accepting what is and the facts. Being “ready” on every other level only acknowledges the work and tasks ahead.

When initially diagnosed, I didn’t have time to think about everything, seek out other opinions, or talk to survivors and current patients in treatment. It was a seizure, hospitalization, surgery, and treatment. I understand that some of me was in denial when informed of the recurrence. Naturally. I also knew, from the crash courses I had given myself in oncology & cancer treatment (etc.), that, this time, I did have some time. As aggressive as my cancer may be, I knew I owed it to myself (and my body/mind!) to seek advice. Since all signs keep pointing back to this route, that of high-dose chemo with tandem stem cell transplants, I feel a sense of readiness. Also, and most importantly, I needed the time from my meeting with my oncologist (February 2) until I met with Dr. Einhorn (April 5) to not only research and explore but also cry, scream, and walk in circles in the woods (literally) to grasp it. In doing so, I unblocked and addressed some of which I didn’t have time to deal with initially when I was first diagnosed. Looking back, I am thankful for this time. Not only did I get to explore and look into the vast world of alternative therapies (clinical trials, studies, etc.). But I also had the pleasure of meeting (by phone, e-mail, or in person) some beautiful folks. On top of this, and perhaps most importantly, I got a better look at some of the emotions I “didn’t have time” to address before. 

Anyways… those next steps, the preparatory stages, are even more complex than the (stem cell transplant) procedure itself, or so it seems. I suppose this makes sense, being that the very nature of a stem cell transplant (2 transplants in all) is so involved and brutal on the body that there needs to be adequate preparation. It’s not just relatively basic and seemingly simple stuff, like having my dentist sign off stating that any routine work has been done in their professional opinion is that my teeth are fine and ready, etc. It’s more timing and lining everything up so that it all is methodically prepped and in place that, like clockwork, it follows a pre-determined, pre-planned, pre-mediated schedule with such exactitude. I’ll break it down by posting updates as things move along.

Right now, the plan is to receive a single infusion of Etoposide on May

5th. Etoposide is a chemotherapy drug. I received it in various regimens during my initial treatment. The idea behind a single, stand-alone dose is to push the body into generating white blood cells to initiate a sort of overdrive in production. This is the body’s natural response under normal conditions while undergoing conventional chemo. Even though etoposide has cancer treatment and maintenance “benefits,” we’re using it to jump-start white blood cell production. After a two-day pause, just after the etoposide has flushed from my system and right when my body is in white blood) cell production, I will start giving myself daily white blood cell booster injections. I had these before; however, this was after the week of cisplatin-based therapy when my white blood cell was deficient & dangerously so. After 10 days of forcing my marrow into overdrive production, I’ll go in for harvesting.

Before high-dose chemo, which destroys my marrow, harvesting is done so there are adequate platelets to replenish that which is killed off by the high dose of chemotherapy. 

Currently, all of these procedures will be done at MGH. I won’t be inpatient until I start high-dose chemo, as this will require a sterile, germ-proof environment. 

“2nd line chemo”

Tomorrow, March 13, 2017, I will begin salvage chemotherapy (AKA “2nd line chemo”). I had my “Smart Port” placed on Wednesday. Initially, I was scheduled for a PICC line, as with prior treatment, but the port requires much less maintenance.

I spent the better part of this past month researching alternative routes. Naturally, more chemo was the last thing I wanted. … but this is it. Yes, there are phase II or II studies, but as such, these wouldn’t be covered by my insurance. Also, since some are still in the relatively early stages of development, the outcome is even less specific than salvage chemo / high-dose chemo/stem cell transplant.

I am trying to refrain from looking that far ahead.

I have to begin with this option, at least. Trust me; I was tempted to buy a one-way ticket to some random, far-off country. I still entertain this idea in daydreams – I won’t lie. However, I must at least begin this, try it, and hope for the best.