Neupogen My Friend

The ultimate white cell booster!

It turns out that since last Wednesday (25th May), I've been having some kind of general infection in my body. One of the perks of chemotherapy, I guess. I was admitted to the hospital on Friday 27th, and have been here ever since, hoping and waiting for finally getting home again. Maybe tomorrow? Please? The doctors suspect that the infection has its origen in an uncured pneumonia which they're now dealing with antibiotics. On top of all that, I've had almost zero white cells, which has made it even harder to get the medicine working, plus the fact that they've had me in complete isolation with only Neupogen to accompany me. To tell you the truth, it has been hellish. I've had high fevers, pain, depression, you name it. I've never felt so powerless before, and in my worst moments I've even come to consider of throwing in the towel and just walking away of all this shit. They say that in life, we are only given a burden, which we know we can carry, but really, I find this a bit excessive.

A tired soldier...

These little bastards made their first impressions on my body around 20.30 this evening. Not feeling really really nauseous still, but dead tired!

                                        

Por qué, por qué, por qué?

Despite the fear of sounding as whiny as Real Madrid's coach Mourinho, let me just vent here a minute.

Why do they ALWAYS put me in hospital rooms with old ladies who snore like HELL!? I mean, no disrespect, but I can't fucking sleep. And I need to sleep. The doctors are planning on waking me up at 6 a.m., that is, in 3 hours, for my 2nd day of intensive chemo regimen and give me Ifosfamide (the I in the ICE aka the cherry on top of the cake) through the vein for 24 hours. I have already been warned that it's going to get nasty.

On a positive note: the passing day was a success.I had the IV drip of carboplatin only for a half an hour, and thanks to 7 different anti-nausea drugs, I had no side effects whatsoever. These nurses know their shit, fo'sho!

Ice ice baby!

Laura vs. Mr. Hodgkin's. Round 2.

I had my doctor's appointment this Monday and was given some bad news. After various blood tests, biopsies and CT scans, they've come to the conclusion that my cancer is back. It seems the radiotherapy given to me in January and February wasn't able to eliminate all the cancer cells, and now the disease has spread from the lymphatic system to surrounding tissues and bones.

Tomorrow, 18th May 2011, I'll be starting with a salvage chemotherapy regimen called ICE. It's an in-patient intensive treatment, so I'll have to stay in the hospital for three days. If this protocol works, I'll be doing it for 3-5 cycles every 21 days and after that a stem cell transplant.

I'd write more but my brain is blank. Crazy times...