The First 7 Days

It has been 7 days since my T-cell infusion, and I finally feel "back to normal." Day+1 to day+5 were some of the hardest days of my 9 year fight. I experienced all of the symptoms I had expected, but was not prepared for how bad they would be. I ran a 102-103 degree temp for about 3 days that never really broke. Every time I would sleep, I would hallucinate due to the fevers. The thought of food made me dry heave. It was like having the worst flu ever multiplied by 10. What was happening in my body was a massive release of cytokines. Cytokines are, in basic terms,  proteins that help signaling between cells. In essence this large release of cytokines was causing all of these symptoms, as if I had a massive bacterial infection. To track the "level" of inflammation they measure my c-reactive protein, which is a non specific measure of inflammation in the body. This of course spiked at about day +3 and then slowly trended down. Because all of the symptoms look like an infection, blood cultures were drawn every 24 hours. One of the cultures came back positive for staph bacteria so I was started on 2 IV antibiotics. That positive culture looks to have likely been a contaminant so hopefully I can get off of those today!

I am very thankful that I had my wife here for the real hard part of this. I do not know how I would have made it through those days without her. This treatment and disease is incredibly hard on me, but it is 10 times harder on my family. I am thankful everyday for the immense support I have from my family and friends. We have friends that have selflessly given us gift cards and cash. Friends that have opened up their homes to us for weeks at a time at a moments notice so we didn't have to pay for hotels. Friends and family that go out of their way to come visit me just so I can see a familiar face. I do not know what I have done in life to deserve the support I have, but I could never in a million years thank you all enough!

Lastly, this week is nurses week, and I would be remised if I did not mention the amazing nurses taking care of me in this blog. As a Registered Nurse myself and a Certified Oncology Nurse, I am slightly biased in my views! I have been fortunate to be surrounded by a tremendous group of Oncology Nurses here at MSKCC. Their ranking of number 2 Cancer Center in the country shines through their nurses. As a nurse, I am a bad patient who is always paranoid and questioning my nursing care. Its the albatross all nurses have! During my stay, every one of my nurses has been knowledgeable about my treatment and have all been incredibly professional! My T-Cells were given to me by a Registered Nurse, Megan. She ran the show and made sure everything was done according to plan and she was prepared for any emergencies all the while keeping me and my wife relaxed and informed of everything that was happening. Again, I know I am bias, but nurses are truly amazing people who juggle so much responsibility with so much elegance. Be sure to shout out to all of your nurse friends this week, because they truly deserve it!