Day 10

Well day 10 was full of excitement. 10 days after chemo your counts are at their lowest, so risk of infection is at it's highest. I received a blood transfusion on Saturday and Sunday. It's not uncommon to have a reaction to blood like chills and fever. Well I ran a fever on Saturday and when I started running a fever on Sunday they wanted to run more tests to make sure I didn't have an infection. The gammet of test were run and I guess everything is ok, because I haven't heard anything but I will be on IV antibiotics for the next few days. Also when I woke up yesterday morning my mouth was hurting and slowly thru the day I realized that I am getting the mouth sores that commonly come along after chemo. Day 10 is usually the worst day, so hopefully from here things will start to get better.

On my daily walks around the 7th floor I get to see who is here and I realize that I am the youngest person on the floor. There are days when every bed is full. It's sad how busy the oncology unit is. Cancer is a terrible disease and I pray that in my lifetime we will see some advances in preventing cancer so people, especially children do not have to deal with this monster.

Last night I watched Extreme Home Makeover and of course I bawled my eyes out. The team was helping a family that had a child with cancer. She was only 8 years old. She beat cancer once, and after being in remission for a while she found out her cancer was back. I relate to this little girl, even though her treatment is way more aggressive and painful than what I am going thru. She is one tough little girl. While she is going thru her treatment she finds the strength to help others with cancer by using her own money to give teddy bears to other children that are fighting the same disease. I feel pretty selfish that I don't do the same to help others. I am pretty crafty, but I have a hard time coming up with the ideas. So if anyone can help me come up with an idea I would love to start making little things that I can sell to raise money for different cancer organizations. One thing it will make me feel like I am doing something to help and also it will keep me busy.

Thanks for your help!

I made it!

As of 11:22 last night I was finished with chemo. I was emotional as she took the bag off and threw it in the trash knowing that the bag was not going to be replaced by yet another one. Chemo is such an emotional roller coaster. You are on so many different drugs to combat nausea and all the other effects chemo causes that it starts to affect your mental state. Now that I am off, I feel much better mentally. It might be because the steroids have finally left my body! Today they started me on a white cell booster to get those to start producing again. So is it too early to be planning my escape? I was thinking since I am no longer on chemo and hopefully they will stop my fluids soon, maybe I can recover at home as long as I promise to be a good cancer patient and stay in the house and away from germs. I know I have to be here until Friday since that is the date for my next bone marrow biopsy. As long as there are less that 5% blasts in my marrow, the chemo did it's job. I'm glad that I will be in the hospital for the next biopsy so I can get all the good IV drugs that makes the procedure at least tolerable, since they won't put me to sleep.


Today I am getting my first of many blood transfusions. I can tell I need one because when I get up and walk around I get light headed. My heart rate has been high over the past few days. This morning my resting heart rate is 122. I guess we know that my heart is working just fine! Thanks to everyone who has gone to Carter to donate blood for me. I didn't realize that you had to give so much information just to donate. If they give you any trouble, just call me and I will give you all the information you need. Getting blood is an all day process. They have to drip it in slowly so 1 bag can take from 2-4 hours. I will be getting 2 bags today. Thank goodness for TV and Internet.

Chemo is finished (In a few hours)

The only exciting thing going on today is chemo is finished tonight!! YEAH. It has been a long week hooked up to continuous chemo, but I see the light. My counts are very low today. I had to get platelets this morning and I will need a blood transfusion tomorrow. Other than that noting exciting going on here. I am just hanging out watching TV and updating my I-pod. I love my new I-pod. Debbie surprised me with it the other day. It helps me go to sleep since I can listen to my relaxing music and ignore all the other hospital noise. Some of the guys that my dad works with gave me $125 worth of I-tunes gift cards so I have been buying lots of new music. I appreciate everyone wanting to help take care of me and give me something to look forward to. It is getting harder to keep myself occupied during the day. I love everyone and thanks for keeping me in your prayers.

Love,
Sam

1 week in, 3 more to go

Well I have been here for a week now. I can't believe it's been 7 days. I can't even remember what life was like on the outside. To go outside would be fantastic. When I leave my little room I have to put my mask on and put my IV pole. I take my walk down the hall, sit by the window to watch the cars drive into the parking garage and then walk back to my room. One my way back to my room I peek in the other rooms. I am by far the youngest in here and by the looks of it doing the best. I can't help but not feel for these other people that are here in worse shape than I am. It makes me feel so lucky and helps my spirits to know that I am going to be fine. Once the chemo is over, I fell that things will start looking up for me. I will be off a lot of the medicines and they will just be checking me to make sure I am not running a fever. So far I have been able to hold on to my white cells and platelets. Dr. Crim says on day 10 (Sunday) should be where I am at my lowest count wise.

Lindsay went to Dallas today to get her blood tested. I think she is worried because they took 5 vials from me. She doesn't want to be drained like I was. I am very proud of her to be doing this for me. I know she is my sister and I would do the same for her, but I appreciate her going along with this. I will owe her my like if she is able to give me this gift. Just pray that her time in the Peace Corp does nothing to harm her bone marrow in any way. I need it to be healthy. Love you sis! I hope you will be my life saver.

Day 6

So today is day 6 in the hospital. Tomorrow it will be a week. I am surprised it has been that long, but the days sure are going by slowly. My last chemo is hung Thursday night and then I can finally get off these damn steroids. This is my first experience with them and I really don't like what they do to me. I heard they can cause worse things like depression, and mood swings. I sure don't need to be depressed! I have the body movements. I can't sit still. I am constantly moving side to side when I am sitting in bed. If you get motion sick then don't look at me. One nurse told me that there was a preacher in here and while he was on the steroids he was cussing and mean. His wife was beside herself because that was not the man he was. Steroids can mess you up. I am just lucky it hasn't done that with me.

Today was the first day I actually got to take a nap. I feel so much better. I have to take Ativan to counteract the effects of the steroid. I guess I asked for it early enough that it finally kicked and I laid down. In between the tech coming to take my vitals and by IV pole beeping I got a 2 hour nap. Praise Jesus! I am so happy. Anything to make the day go by faster.

I am so glad to see Charles and his mama today at lunch time. It is hard when everyone else is working and I am here. I gets lonely! Juanita brought me some pound cake and some other dessert that is divine. I was so glad to see Charles before he takes his trip to Vegas for his birthday. He spent the last few free minutes with me before he had to go home and pack and leave for the airport. Have a great time honey and win lots of money for me! This hospital stay is going to be expensive. LOL!

Blood

Well my fedex package arrived today and my nurse drew 5 vials of blood for my HLA typing. I was a little light headed after filling so many vials. Dad is fedexing the package back to Dallas. I hope it arrives in time, because I don't want to do that again. So far my counts are still good. White cells are the same as yesterday (.6) and my platelets and hemoglobin are on their way down, but not low enough for a transfusion.

As far as blood donations. If you are in Ft. Worth you can donate at any Carter Blood Center. When you make an appointment you need to fill out a planned designation form so I can recieve the blood credit. All you should have to give them is my name (Samantha Galpin) and what hospital I am at (Harris Methodist Hospital, Ft. Worth). If they need any more information tell them that Beverly Johnson had all my information or you can call me and I can give it to you. My room number is 817-250-2738.

What I know so far about transplant

So on Friday I got 3 phone calls from the transplant team in Dallas. First they wanted to check my insurance to see what they will cover. Lucky for me I am covered, but I found out that the search for a donor and cost of having my sister typed is not. Because my sister is my best chance for a match and the fact that it cost $360 to have anyone typed for a match, I do not want to ask anyone to go thru that if the odds are not that great. So if my sister does not match, then off to the National Registry. I appreciate everyone wanting to be a possible donor. I just thought insurance would cover that expense, but I should know better. Health insurance pays the bare minimum they have to.

If you can't help me and you want to know what else you can do, think about being tested for the National Bone Marrow Registry. There are thousands of people waiting for a donor. You can call Cliff Ackerman at 214-820-1589 to get more information.

I finished my last round of Idarubicin (the orange stuff) last night. I only got that for 3 nights. I will finish my last round of Cytarabine (24 hour infusion) on Friday night. I thought this would be easier since I know what to expect, but it has been different. I have had more nausea this time. I have not had blood or platelet transfusions yet (but they are coming soon). Hair is still going to fall out. Doctor says that will happen between 10-14 days. I'm not worried about losing my hair, but once my hair falls out then I look the part of the cancer patient. You can no longer look at me and not know why I am here. I found a website that sells t-shirts that say Bald is the new black. I think I will buy one and wear it proudly.


For those who want to know more about my diagnosis go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma website http://www.lls.org/ and look up Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.