Transplant: Postponed Until Further Notice

My husband and I flew into LA the evening of April 22 and got to our hotel to settle in for the PET scan and stem cell harvest the next day. 

The PET scan went smoothly...then I was off to be harvested.  I got to the hemapheresis unit at about 12:30 and by 1pm, they had me hooked up.  They put in two IVs, one took the blood out and the other brought the blood (minus my stem cells) back in.  I just had to sit there, relatively still for about 3 hours while my blood went through this machine that separated out my stem cells.  When it was over they took out the IVs and taped on some ice packs.  They had me verify my name etc. on a bag of what looked like watery blood, which I later found out was my stem cells.  We were told they probably wouldn't have the count, to know if I had to harvest again, until the next day.  

The next morning my transplant coordinator called to let us know that harvesting was done.  They collected more than enough in one day!  They needed 2 million and I gave them over 5 million.  I was glad I didn't have to sit there again...mainly just because it was boring and I got tired of not getting to move.  The coordinator let me know that a doctor, not my normal UCLA doc because she was on vacation, wanted to meet with me to go over the PET scan results.  The meeting was going to happen at 12:30, and we didn't have our flight out until the next day so we decided we would go to the beach after speaking with the doctor.  Then...

At the doctor's office the doctor bluntly explained that the scan showed new growth...Ugh!  He said he felt bad meeting me that way but...he wanted me to get a round of ICE chemo right away.  He asked why my doctors had been giving me the Gemzar/Navelbine chemo and called it an "old lady" chemo.  Well,....I don't know why.  I just remember hearing something about them preferring to use that over another round with ABVD(my first chemo combination).  I think mainly because ABVD can be hard on your heart.  So...I got checked into the room and they put me on IV hydration. I assumed they would try to get started early the next day, but I didn't get my PICC line until almost noon and didn't get my first chemo, Etoposide, until 8pm.  I don't really like waiting around.  Then the next day they tell me that I will be checking out the following day.  To which we respond, "How?  I've only had 1 day of chemo and I still need two more."  That days chemo wasn't scheduled to begin until 8pm.  So they figured things out and started my chemo early. I received 1 hour infusions of Etoposide and Carboplatin and then got started on my 24 hour infusion of Ifosfamide.  The Ifosfamide one kind of scared me because it came in a glass bottle instead of the regular IV bags and it was the one with the side effects to watch for...but I didn't have any bad side effects. My infusion of Ifosfamide was set to be finished at about 5pm so my nurse ran my last infusion of Etoposide along with it, so they would finish close to the same time.  Then I was able to be discharged and go back to the hotel with my husband.  My main instruction was to drink a lot of water.  I did drink almost a gallon of water in a 24 hour period.  Our flight home wasn't until the following evening so...

The next day, we went to the beach.  We rode a bus down to the Santa Monica Pier, had lunch, and a nice little walk on the beach.  The water was freezing!  It was a lot of fun...and of course we had to get presents for the girls! Then we were off on a bus back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and then having to rush to make it to the shuttle back to the airport.  We made it...and we were so happy to be home!  We missed the girls so much! 

I met with my new LV doctor today.  Although he isn't sure...he thinks that I will be doing another treatment with ICE before I get another PET scan.  Then, hopefully the transplant will be back on track.  Die Cancer Die!!!