Checking in at Mass General tomorrow for High Dose Chemo & Stem Cell Trans.

[Boston Josh]

Greetings all.

First posting.

Left Ball gone.
4X Etop./Cisplat.
RPLND
Stem cell mobilization - 1 night of etoposide followed by 10 days of neupogen shots.

And now it's time for High Dose Chemo and Stem Cell transplant!

I have my trilumen catheter flushed and ready to go!
A healthy batch of my very own cells is on ice waiting for me!

Tomorrow I'll begin my approx 3 week stay at the hosp. Any ideas on how to while away the hours?

[dadmo]

Boston Josh:
Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry it's been so tough for you but the High Dose Chemo and Stem Cell transplants have worked quite well for other members and there's no reason to think it won't work for you.

[Karen]

Boston Josh,
Welcome! The guys and gals here who have traveled that road will help you and we'll all be here for support whenever you need it.

As for passing the time, I keep trying to get guys to put 15 years worth of photos in albums for me so if you get really bored let me know!

Take care and let us know how you're doing and if you have any questions someone may be able to help out with!!

[Russell's Mom]

The strongest days!!!

Your words are clear and strong. I will picture you dancing out the other side as I am doing for my son!! As for the time in the hospital. Find some interesting nurses and staff. They love their patients (at least most of them) and don't often get a chance to spend extra time to get to know you. Usually there are housekeepers who are interesting and will have the extra time to talk with you. They actually know just about everything going on in the hospital. There are lots of lonely people who would love a conversation and probably don't have a great web site like this for support. I have been a nurse for a really long time...let me know if there is anything I can clarify. Take care, image yourself well!! Russsell's Mom, Sharon

[Lori]

My husband just finished his two rounds of high dose with stem cell on Sept 25th. He was able to do all of his outpatient, but we were in the hospital every day for about 6 hours. It did get kind of boring but ideas:

- get up and walk around the floor. it helped my husband with nasuea
- definitely talk to the nurses. they love easy socialable patients
- jon read every magazine around and we got caught up on all the news

Good luck with this treatment - you will do great. Any and all questions, send my way

[Kman99]

If you're up for a visitor from a complete stranger, I will be at Dana Farber on Oct 23 and would be willing to bring over a burger, 'good' magazines...you name it....anything to help you pass some time.

If this sounds cool, send me a PM with your last name and room #.

All the best..

[Fish]

Josh;

Best of luck with your treatment.

[Kev332]

Josh,

I'd definitely bring some books and an i-pod if you have one... Cant go wrong with a good book or good music. or maybe a crossword puzzle book or something? Hope all goes well... Keep us updated.

-Kevin

[tccancercop]

Boston Josh:

Curious as to what led you to be required a stem cell transplant? I just finished up a tandem one early this month and am almost recovered completely AND in remission. My afp last year was at 4.6 after the I/O and it started to go up so I had 4 x EP which dropped it only to 5. Now it is 3.6 - 31 days AFTER the transplant!

[IowaBrian]

Well I always said if i have to go in I would take the kids darn video game thing that they love so much can't think of the name of of mini playstation if you don't have one have a friend run to a pawn shop and pick one up and a handful of games much cheaper then buying it new. I don't know how the kids can play them for hours on end but it is something to do darn Mario Brothers Good Luck
Brian

[Scott]

When I was hospitalized, I watched a lot of DVDs, read a lot of books and newspapers, and did a lot of crossword and Sudoku puzzles. I wished I'd had a real PC with Internet access instead of the in-room terminal with an on-screen keyboard and a habit of rebooting itself.

I hope you have a way to stay in touch with us while you're there!

[Hopeful]

My husband went through HDC last year. He was outpatient part of the time until some side effects got him into the hospital for both treatments.

When he was outpatient, just like when he was getting regular chemo, he took his laptop with him. He actually did work part of the time, surfed the net, paid the bills, etc. Then he would go home and sleep alot.

Hang in there during HDC. Pretty interesting stuff.

Patti

[Boston Josh]

Discharged on Oct. 24 and hanging out at home for a couple weeks.

Greetings all!

Got out of Mass General last Tues. after 17 days that passed fairly quickly. Dial-up internet, DVD's, music,books, magazines, friendly nurses and room cleaners, family and friends visiting.

I was a little worried when my absolute neutrophils stayed at 0 for 5 days straight, but they shot up quick in the final 3 days of my stay.

The Zofran, Decadron (anyone ever had the butt burn?), and Ativan did wonders for nausea. Just had one pukey day where my canned peaches and cottage cheese decided they did not want to be digested. I'm a vegetarian. The hospital food options are so so. My wife brought me frozen meals and snacks - some of which having been associated with chemo are no longer palatable.

Protocol: 3 days of Cytoxin of Carboplatin. Although I only got 2 days of Cytoxin because just as the 2nd night's dose completed, my heart rate suddendly increased unexpectedly and stayed elevated for some time.

Had an alergic reaction to the platelelet transfusion - something that apparently is not extremely uncommon. The reaction was easily remedied with I.V. Benadryl and an inhaler (can't remember the inhaler drug).

Now I'm out at home for another week avoiding crowds, salads, left-overs, and fresh fruit etc. Doing some limited work from home via PC. I can't work more than half-time or I'll have to re-file for short term disablity.

I'm a little worried about my insurance paying for the 2nd transplant. My doctor has to file an appeal. The reason for the transplant & HDC was the presence of embryonal cancer cells found in the RPLN'd lymph nodes. My AFP was approaching normal after the RPLND, but the presence of the embryonal cancer cells suggested a high likelyhood of microscopic metastasis.

Thank you for all the kind considerate replies!

[Scott]

It's great to hear that you're home and doing well. Rest and recover!

[Russell's Mom]

thanks for the update

Good to hear from you.....image yourself well!!! Chemo in the morning for Russell, so will keep this short. Take care, Sharon