Who would have thought that the worst part about the first 48 hours after Chemotherapy would be Chemo hiccups? Hard, long-lasting, nothing makes them go away hiccups! I thought that Ran had read everything there was to know about what we were headed into. We've heard very little so far that we hadn't already read at least a little about. But, NOBODY mentioned this little side effect! When we visited with Peggy after Super Hero radiation this morning she said it was normal. One nausea medicine should help it (although the other one, as Nurse Ran was convinced, may be what is causing it!)
It's a rainy cold day in Iowa City and a nap was in order.
After the sun came out we ventured to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum - if not exercising at least we would be standing and learning! It's rather funny that Randy has wanted to visit several Presidential Libraries in the past and time just didn't allow us to stop. Now, as life has forced time upon him, Herbert Hoover will be the first! It was a very well done museum. Can't think of anything more fitting at this venture than to read, watch and hear about Hoover's humanitarian centered life. A bumpy road as the President but an otherwise unwavering personal mission.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
November 2, 2011
It was a long day. A long day that did not clearly separate from yesterday and today. As the saying goes, you don't go to the hospital to get rest. We were in a shared room - which means double the buzzers and beeps. I was thankful; however, no one said a peep about me leaving. My chair was pulled as close as it could get - we held hands - and the nurses were nice enough to see I had no intentions of going anywhere.
I made a fresh pot of coffee around six. Ran saw a commercial for food and the nausea officially began to kick in. The Dr. was there at 8:05 this morning - we were his first stop just as he had promised. He ordered the new variety of meds and pushed through the paperwork for dismissal.
Straight downstairs for the new norm - 9:15 Super Hero Radiation treatment. Stomach upset but felt better as we walked around. Afterwards, we waited to meet with Amy, our dietitian. Very nice. Shared her formula for figuring out just how many bottles of Ensure Plus someone Randy's size must drink in order to be considered properly nourished. Ends up Ran is a "seven can a dayer" (which I know is not a real word)! Gotta love science! Of course, this is only if he is not eating anything else. Also gave me some sites to look at for recipes. We were both hoping for something a little more cut and dry, like. . .Day 1 - Eat this. Day 2 - Eat this. Day 3 - if you can't eat that then try this. No such luck. It's just all about calories, protein, and hydration.
A quick visit with Peggy about future Dr. appointments, meetings and such (note to self - get a white board for a visual calendar) and then out the door for our slow walk back to the Hope Lodge. Seemed like forever since we'd been there.
Dropped our stuff off and took a quick inventory of what was needed at the store before dropping off prescriptions and getting a few items to get through the week. Within the next 30 minutes the exhaustion set in which added to the bellyache - not to mention some very hard uncontrollable hiccups. Without eating Ran went to bed. We woke around 5:30 and I went to grab the magic pills so maybe Ran could eat. Made a few good attempts but really not feeling up to it. We watched the Blind Side and Randy drifted in and out of sleep in the recliner. Oh, did we mention that every room in the HL has two leather recliners? Needless to say - it won't be long before the Hobo House finally has one. There will need to be some rearranging but the battle has officially been lost!
Tid Bits:
On Tuesday each week Panara and another local bakery donate breads, bagels, and baguettes - you've never seen so much bread.
As I returned the dishes to the kitchen at 10:30 this evening I met LeeAnne. A woman who just spent the day making at least three dozen cinnamon rolls from scratch. She was just getting the last batch out of the oven to ice. She suggested I take one as they would disappear quickly in the morning. One tray was off limits she said, as it was for her husband, her reason for making them. She stated that she can't eat them anymore (due to where she is at in treatment) - but she sure loves smelling them!
We are humbled a bit more each day.
I made a fresh pot of coffee around six. Ran saw a commercial for food and the nausea officially began to kick in. The Dr. was there at 8:05 this morning - we were his first stop just as he had promised. He ordered the new variety of meds and pushed through the paperwork for dismissal.
Straight downstairs for the new norm - 9:15 Super Hero Radiation treatment. Stomach upset but felt better as we walked around. Afterwards, we waited to meet with Amy, our dietitian. Very nice. Shared her formula for figuring out just how many bottles of Ensure Plus someone Randy's size must drink in order to be considered properly nourished. Ends up Ran is a "seven can a dayer" (which I know is not a real word)! Gotta love science! Of course, this is only if he is not eating anything else. Also gave me some sites to look at for recipes. We were both hoping for something a little more cut and dry, like. . .Day 1 - Eat this. Day 2 - Eat this. Day 3 - if you can't eat that then try this. No such luck. It's just all about calories, protein, and hydration.
A quick visit with Peggy about future Dr. appointments, meetings and such (note to self - get a white board for a visual calendar) and then out the door for our slow walk back to the Hope Lodge. Seemed like forever since we'd been there.
Dropped our stuff off and took a quick inventory of what was needed at the store before dropping off prescriptions and getting a few items to get through the week. Within the next 30 minutes the exhaustion set in which added to the bellyache - not to mention some very hard uncontrollable hiccups. Without eating Ran went to bed. We woke around 5:30 and I went to grab the magic pills so maybe Ran could eat. Made a few good attempts but really not feeling up to it. We watched the Blind Side and Randy drifted in and out of sleep in the recliner. Oh, did we mention that every room in the HL has two leather recliners? Needless to say - it won't be long before the Hobo House finally has one. There will need to be some rearranging but the battle has officially been lost!
Tid Bits:
On Tuesday each week Panara and another local bakery donate breads, bagels, and baguettes - you've never seen so much bread.
As I returned the dishes to the kitchen at 10:30 this evening I met LeeAnne. A woman who just spent the day making at least three dozen cinnamon rolls from scratch. She was just getting the last batch out of the oven to ice. She suggested I take one as they would disappear quickly in the morning. One tray was off limits she said, as it was for her husband, her reason for making them. She stated that she can't eat them anymore (due to where she is at in treatment) - but she sure loves smelling them!
We are humbled a bit more each day.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
November 1, 2011
Here we go!
We overslept this morning in our dark cozy room. We had the best intentions of getting up early and going for a long walk but . . . we went to Micky Dee's instead! Direct orders from Coach Bill Dunn (thanks for breakfast Billy, Adrian and Carly Rose)!
The first radiation went off without a hitch. The most painful part was the five minutes of embarrassment that came with walking around with a waffle face caused from the Super Hero mask! They have Pandora and offered to play any songs that Ran wanted to hear during the 15 min. treatment. Suggestions for a playlist or artist for future visits are welcome.
We left the hospital for lunch and a walk downtown. Refusing to admit for the evening before we absolutely had to. We requested a window seat at the Atlas Grill as Iowa City has proven to be a great town for people watching on a 70 degree Tuesday afternoon (rain and snow on tap for tomorrow).
We parked at the Hope Lodge, packed an overnight bag, and decided to walk to the hospital - a short 1/2 mile away.
It was a little chaotic at first but things soon settled down and Ran was changed and ready for treatment number one. We had all kinds of visitors for the first few hours: doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, Mike - our roommate! The chemotherapy process seems to be as follows:
Check in; find a vein (this may take few attempts); two hours of fluid to make sure hydration is at an all time max; a few different types of nausea medicine and steroids; 192 minutes of chemo fluids; followed up by additional fluids to protect those pretty kidney's.
We are an hour into the chemo and so far so good. No complaints from Randy at all! We're just watching the late night shows that we NEVER stay up late enough to watch. Is it just us or does Jay Leno not age - ever?
We overslept this morning in our dark cozy room. We had the best intentions of getting up early and going for a long walk but . . . we went to Micky Dee's instead! Direct orders from Coach Bill Dunn (thanks for breakfast Billy, Adrian and Carly Rose)!
The first radiation went off without a hitch. The most painful part was the five minutes of embarrassment that came with walking around with a waffle face caused from the Super Hero mask! They have Pandora and offered to play any songs that Ran wanted to hear during the 15 min. treatment. Suggestions for a playlist or artist for future visits are welcome.
We left the hospital for lunch and a walk downtown. Refusing to admit for the evening before we absolutely had to. We requested a window seat at the Atlas Grill as Iowa City has proven to be a great town for people watching on a 70 degree Tuesday afternoon (rain and snow on tap for tomorrow).
We parked at the Hope Lodge, packed an overnight bag, and decided to walk to the hospital - a short 1/2 mile away.
It was a little chaotic at first but things soon settled down and Ran was changed and ready for treatment number one. We had all kinds of visitors for the first few hours: doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, Mike - our roommate! The chemotherapy process seems to be as follows:
Check in; find a vein (this may take few attempts); two hours of fluid to make sure hydration is at an all time max; a few different types of nausea medicine and steroids; 192 minutes of chemo fluids; followed up by additional fluids to protect those pretty kidney's.
We are an hour into the chemo and so far so good. No complaints from Randy at all! We're just watching the late night shows that we NEVER stay up late enough to watch. Is it just us or does Jay Leno not age - ever?
Pre-op October 31, 2011
I know that Randy gets sick of me saying "make a wish" with every 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 1:23, 12:34, etc. that I see on the clock. But, he squeezed my hand and wished along with me as we left Holly's house in KC to head to Iowa City at exactly 4:44 a.m.
We arrived early, attempted to move into our new home, the Hope Lodge, but they weren't ready for us. We went to get. . .you guessed it, coffee! The one thing that reminds me that our life has not changed - Randy is still our same funny, energetic, determined, sweet man who has a not so healthy relationship with coffee - we have merely been interrupted.
11:00 Dry-run with the radiologist. You should see the net mask (aka Super Hero regalia) that Ran will be slipping into five days a week for the next seven weeks. We're hoping we get to take it home when it's all said and done - kinda like a cast! A pretty cool piece of memorabilia for our wall. There are about five people outside the room sitting at computers showing every possible angle - looks like the high tech bat cave!
Met with Peggy, our nurse. A wonderful woman who makes us believe we are her only patients in the world.
12:30 A trip up to the dentist but too late. Waited a bit but had to head to get blood work done.
1:00 A room buzzing with activity. We both had to stop - look around - and take note of how many people were in the large waiting room with us - how many people are affected by cancer. The young lady that drew Ran's blood was from Thailand and, as usual, Ran made her feel more comfortable than she made him with his pleasant conversation and interest in who she was and where she was from.
1:40 We met with Dr. Wehbe. A great guy who holds no punches. Young and energetic - he says it how it is with not much cushion. Thankfully, Ran has an awesome outlook. You can't ask for much better then 90% cure rate! He's strong and therefore he'll have everything "plus the kitchen sink" thrown at him but at the end - we'll be stronger than ever.
We left the hospital around 3:00 and headed to grab a snack. Went and got settled in at the Hope Lodge, making our room look as close to home as possible.
Room 107, shelf 107, and fridge 107!
We arrived early, attempted to move into our new home, the Hope Lodge, but they weren't ready for us. We went to get. . .you guessed it, coffee! The one thing that reminds me that our life has not changed - Randy is still our same funny, energetic, determined, sweet man who has a not so healthy relationship with coffee - we have merely been interrupted.
11:00 Dry-run with the radiologist. You should see the net mask (aka Super Hero regalia) that Ran will be slipping into five days a week for the next seven weeks. We're hoping we get to take it home when it's all said and done - kinda like a cast! A pretty cool piece of memorabilia for our wall. There are about five people outside the room sitting at computers showing every possible angle - looks like the high tech bat cave!
Met with Peggy, our nurse. A wonderful woman who makes us believe we are her only patients in the world.
12:30 A trip up to the dentist but too late. Waited a bit but had to head to get blood work done.
1:00 A room buzzing with activity. We both had to stop - look around - and take note of how many people were in the large waiting room with us - how many people are affected by cancer. The young lady that drew Ran's blood was from Thailand and, as usual, Ran made her feel more comfortable than she made him with his pleasant conversation and interest in who she was and where she was from.
1:40 We met with Dr. Wehbe. A great guy who holds no punches. Young and energetic - he says it how it is with not much cushion. Thankfully, Ran has an awesome outlook. You can't ask for much better then 90% cure rate! He's strong and therefore he'll have everything "plus the kitchen sink" thrown at him but at the end - we'll be stronger than ever.
We left the hospital around 3:00 and headed to grab a snack. Went and got settled in at the Hope Lodge, making our room look as close to home as possible.
Room 107, shelf 107, and fridge 107!
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