2nd ASCT - Day 82 - August 8 2012

Drove 135 miles to Twin Falls St. Luke's MSTI for my 8:20 AM appointment with Dr. Padavanija. I left at o'dark thirty and kept an alert eye for deer on the road...always a threat in this county. It is a very pretty drive with varied geographic changes including the Craters of the Moon National Park founded in 1928.

Rolling roads and lots of farm land with ranchers cutting and baling hay right now. Little traffic until you get to Shoshone. That last 20 miles to Twin Falls always has a lot of traffic and RARELY going the speed limit...and they aren't speeding!

I arrived in Twin Falls with just enough time to dash in to Walmart for a rolling cart. Jani packed all my things and lunch and I needed a way to maneuver it all in with me. The cart we used in Colorado was Jani's.

Got my blood on the first poke which is always nice since I have no port access anymore. They drew CBC, Chem Panel, and my multiple myeloma markers. The markers have to be sent to Boise, so it will be a next week before I know those results.

My CBC continues good. White blood cell count 4.2 (norms at MSTI 4.5-11); hemoglobin 13.8 (norms 12-15); and platelets 298 (norms 140-440).

My appointment with Dr. Padavanija went well. She always gives me a lot of time. While I was in the exam room with her, she talked to Dr. Han Myint (my transplant doctor at the University of Colorado) to discuss my continuing chemotherapy. Dr. Myint's note July 18 2012.

We are still waiting on the vorinostat approval from my insurance due to a mix up with a fax delivery. I will get Velcade 1mg/squared subcutaneously on Days 1 4, 8, 11 each month. I will take dexamethasone orally 10 mg on Days 1 and 2; Days 4 and 5; Days 8 and 9; and Days 11 and 12 each month.
When the vorinostat is approved, I'll take it orally 14 days and 14 days off. Hopefully, my blood counts won't FALL too much from these agents, but they will monitor them.

I will also start 81 mg of Aspirin orally today.

This chemo schedule will require that I drive to Twin Falls twice a week for 2 weeks and then I'll have 2 weeks free.

After my appointment with Dr. Padavanija, they took me back to the MSTI Infusion Room - which is very large. It seems even larger than it is with a 2 story ceiling and a floor to ceiling bank of windows on the far side. 8 recliners around a central round nursing area is the area I was directed too. 

A volunteer came by with a quilt for me that I get to keep. I'll keep it in Bart and use it each time I come.

Just like UCH, the infusion area is COLD. The nurse wrapped my area in a heating pad prior to her IV attempt. And, the television is too high for comfortable neck viewing.

My veins were NOT cooperative and I had 4 different pokes by 2 nurses before success. I needed an IV for Aredia (bone building) which they run over 2 hours 10 minutes. I took a Claritin tablet to help reduce the bone and muscle pain from Aredia.

The nurses were surprised that I packed my own lunch because they provide lunch for all patients in the infusion area - WOW.

I was able to leave MSTI around 1:15 PM. Went back to Walmart to pick up my dexamethasone prescription and a few things we needed back in Mackay. I took the dose of dexamethasone in the Walmart parking lot since I had just had a sandwich. I arrived home in Mackay just before 4 PM - a very long day, but I held up. My stomach was already upset form the dex and I took more Zantac which helped.

My brother, Jeff, arrives tomorrow night for a visit and Jani is scheduled to DEPART for her home in Colorado on Monday...oh, how I hate to realize that!