1/14/05 Today SUCKS

Last night I did not get a wink of sleep, the growth factor to stimulate white blood cell growth can sometimes cause what they call bone pain. For the last 9 days I have been injecting this medicine without any problems but last night my pelvis area ached and throbbed like I had never felt before. I thought it might be lower back pain due to being in bed for so many days so I tried the standard things I usually do to get comfortable. It did not matter if I was laying on my back, stomach, side, on the floor in a chair with green eggs & ham it hurt like hell. So my day did not start off very well. We then went over for my Doc appointment and low and behold my red blood cells and platelets counts were very low and we need to do infusions to bring those counts up to acceptable levels. The white blood cells looked like they were starting to recover but the growth factor does nothing for the red blood cells or platelets. They also decided to take me off of the growth factor to stop the bone pain. Of course there is a catch to everything, the pain may take a few days to stop. I guess I will have some more comfortable nights to look forward to. The infusions tomorrow will take between 4 & 6 hours so I will get home on Saturday night now. Alex and Emily are going to be very disappointed and I would imagine Alex will express his discontent by acting out. I still have to come back on Monday for a Doc appointment and there is a possibility that I might need more infusions. One bone marrow transplant sucks and two suck even more. I just want to see Emily and Alex and be in the comforts of my own home.

As I am composing this Dana Farber called me back to let me know that the only infusion time available on Monday is at 11 AM and that I need to be there 2 hours prior. That means that I have to leave Sunday night.

Now you can see how today, tomorrow and now Monday really suck. You know, I hate Boston and hope the Pats get their butts kicked this weekend.