11/11/11 - The Long Day

Started early this morning, arriving at Froedtert at 7:00am. Got right to labs where they had to draw eight tubes of blood and change my PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line dressing. That is the little deal that sticks out of my arm to get blood, chemo, and IV drugs. My next stop is the day hospital where they will do a bone marrow biopsy. The biopsy consists of laying on my stomach while they drill into my back/hip. They need to get enough marrow to test for disease, they also take a small piece of bone to test. This is a pretty important test. It is where I find out how much disease I have left in my system after all my rounds of chemo. This will be my 6th biopsy and I have had mixed results. Previously, I had too much disease in my system to go through with the transplant and needed and additional round of chemo, which is when the issues with the chemo drug arose. I have also had biopsies that have come back with very little to no disease. We are looking for no to little disease so that we can get to transplant. I also get another round of chemo days before the transplant, so the idea behind that, is the chemo kills the remaining disease and the transplant "re-decorates" my marrow and starts making healthy new marrow.

Just got finished with my bone marrow biopsy. It went pretty well, but these always hurt a bit. This was the first time I got to see the piece of bone they took out. It essentially looks like an inch long rod, about the thickness of old school pencil lead. It is a fairly bloody process as well, they have to get enough marrow to run a bunch of tests. They put it on numerous slides and send it to all the various places. I will have preliminary results on about Tuesday. IT takes longer for the full results, a couple weeks, so I won't know the full extent until later.

I am now waiting on my CT scan. I have to drink a bottle of crystal light mixed with omnipaque. This is absorbed into the bloodstream and allows organs to be contrasted in the CT scan image for better visualization. Unfortunately for me, the contrast that they gave me moved my PICC line and now it is pointed the wrong way. This is only an issue if I need chemotherapy...which I will before my transplant. They now have to pull it out today, after my MUGA test and they will put a new one in on the 28th of this month. I will be able to take a shower without wrapping my arm in cling wrap, sleep without a weird sleeve on, no dressing changes, and Adeline can't tug on it! Awesome....I'll take it. They'll have to stick me to draw blood, but that is only once until the 28th.

Finally, I have the MUGA. The MUGA scan (Multiple Gated Acquisition scan) assesses the function of the heart. The MUGA scan produces a moving image of the beating heart, and from this image several important features can be determined about the heart’s major pumping chambers. The MUGA is done by attaching a radioactive substance, Technetium 99, to red blood cells, then injecting the red blood cells into the patient’s bloodstream. The patient is then placed under a special camera (a gamma camera), which is able to detect the low-level radiation being given off by the Technetium-labeled red cells. I will more than likely fall asleep during this. This should hopefully end my day at Froedtert. The picture of my dog, Lambeau, sleeping is an example of what I will be doing in the Gamma Scan tube. Minus the hair, of course.

Now, for those of you who aren't into sports, the sports portion of the blog. Skip to the bottom for the end if you don't like sports. The football Badgers are alive with the crazy goings on at Penn State. The Badgers need the Nittany Lions to lose one game and lose to the Badgers. They play Nebraska this week and then the Badgers have to get work done, for once! this year take care of business. The Hockey Badgers, despite how young they are, are playing ok! Very fun to listen to and watch and this weekend they also play the Golden "shower" Gophers. Good luck to my cousin (in law) Jefferson...hopefully he lights the lamp. The Penguins are still playing well despite their lack of star Sidney Crosby. Even without the kid, the Penguins lead the Atlantic East...hopefully they continue to play well. Great picture above of Evgeni Malkin sporting the purple cancer awareness jersey. The boys hockey at Homestead has started and I am looking forward to hearing all the great news from there. The boys have a lot of talent and with the work ethic and effort, they could really make this a special season. Last but not least, the Packers take on the Vikings on Monday night. My buddy Brent shows off his Packer pride sporting the 2008 sideline Packer hat. I think he looks great, and happy in the hat. Go Packers.

I want to thank everyone for the continued support. I feel like things are finally getting to the transplant. It has been a long long long road. Extra thanks to Lauren and Bridget for continuing the effort in support of our family. We can't tell you how much it means to us. Also, thanks to one of my hockey players, Kevin, who is keeping me in his thoughts through-out the hockey season. The entire Mequon-Thiensville area is amazing and my family is blessed to be involved in such a supportive community. I hope that this finds everyone healthy and happy. Thank you veterans for everything you do. Happy Veterans day!

Tony