Lymes Disease/Chemo Induced Symptoms

I know that several of my readers in NY and Maine, as well as NC have had a run- in with Lymes Disease.  Some of the same symptoms that have shown up in this last week attributed to Chemo Induced Periperhal Neuropathy are similar to the damage from the insidious spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi .

This is of interest to me as well as some of the medicos here at Duke who have asked me about my Lymes
experience.

After the jump there is an email I sent to my sister Laurie pre MDS diagnosis for a report she was doing on Lymes back in 2009, and a few comments from the present.

follow over the jump

DOT+16 We have Engraftment !

DOT +16       Medical Content

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" 

                                                                                                 - Mark Twain

Sorry about no posts in the last 12 days, but I have not trusted myself at the keyboard due to the number and nature of my meds, and the attendant lack of lucidity.

Big doing's though,

Anne has been in the hospital too.

Stories of weird dreams and more after the jump, and at last some medical content -   to wit, a chart showing my rising blood counts!

DOT + 4 Sunday A Cornucopia of Pharmacopia

Day Of Transplant Plus 4

A Cornucopia of Pharmacopia

Bit of a rough patch last few days,  got the meds adjusted, and I am back on track.

Now if you see Saint Annie

Please tell her thanks a lot

I cannot move

My fingers are all in a knot

I don't have the strength

To get up and take another shot

And my best friend, my doctor

Won't even say what it is I've got

 BOB DYLAN - JUST LIKE TOM THUMB'S BLUES 

There's  a reason for living way down in the Valley 

That only the Mountain can Know

                                        Noel Stookey

Pharmacokinetics may be simply defined as what the body does to the drug, as opposed to pharmacodynamics which may be defined as what the drug does to the body.

                                                         .Leslie Z. Benet

The world of  Pharmacodynamics, over the jump

DOT + 1 Again! And still no medical content!

DOT + 1 Again

Today  April 2nd,  I received the second bag of  my Sister/Donor's Stem Cells, and The Duke told me to hit reset again.

Evidently the two-bag restart day is nicknamed "Groundhog Day"after the Bill Murray Movie,

I have crossed  some kind of medical dateline, and gained a full day, at least in how time  is reckoned for me now.

I for one am quite happy about the second bag.
Belt and Suspenders I always say!
If Some is good, More is better.
In for a Penny, in for a Pound.

And Laurie and I now each have a blood bag tag with donor on one side
and recipient on the other,

matching marrow mementos.

More tomorrow,

C

DOT+1 No Medical Content

No Medical Content

Donor and Host Resting

Anticipating chemo-induced lethargy and dwindling lucidity,
I pre-cooked a few posts, so I could just go to drafts and hit publish.
I call them Julias.


"I have previously prepared..."
                                                   - Julia Child


Get out your blunt scissors and regress.
You may want to print these out on card stock,
or a cut down file folder..


just over the jump - music , fun and games...

DOT- 0 Another perspective on transplants

Good Morning People,

Day Of Transplant.  


Today, Laurie will have another stem cell harvesting session, whilst I get transfused with the cells she donated yesterday. We have both been sleeping a lot.  She is pretty exhausted from the neupogen shots that stimulated the cell production in her long bone marrow, and the chemo is knocking me out.

The results will not be instant.  I am marking the 100 days from here.

In spite of Laurie being a 10 out of 10 match, there are myriad openings for Graft Verses Host Disease to present, in a variety of ways. I will be learning a lot of bio- chemistry I think, as I learn how the medicos monitor levels and adjust doses.  So far they have been right on, and I have nothing but confidence in everyone who has attended me.

Providentially, we are all still out-patients. No overnight stays - just long all-day stays. But we are toast, including Anne who is still recovering from the intense stomach flu of two weeks ago.

So, fortunately, " I have previously prepared"  a short post today, to help put this whole transplant thing in  perspective. Real account to follow.

" Now for something completely different"

Ever wonder about how it works when you check the box to be an organ donor on your driver's license?

Jump on in and let the Monty Python Group come for your liver.

DOT-1 April Fool's Day, Bud's Birthday

Good Morning,

The first of April is the day we remember what we are
the other 364 days of the year.

                                                           ~ Mark Twain

My Father's 95th Birthday is today.

He was crushed to find out he didn't qualify as a donor.

Here we are a few years ago

 My new appendage for next 30 days. A battery driven pump metering and dispensing  Tacrolimus straight into my Vena Cava.  I fear a love/hate relationship may be impending. Immunosuppressant.

Laurie's Stem Cells Get Harvested today, and as promised she will be presenting this process from a 

donor's  perspective in some upcoming posts.

Soundtrack on the next page.  Thanks to all you pay pals, parking is almost covered!