Ding Ding Ding

The bell has rung... round 1 is over! He did it!

The last drop of chemotherapeutic agents went into my Dad's body at 1pm on Saturday.

In the last few days he has received a 2 bags of platelets and 2 bags of blood. The transfusions were necessary as his platelet and hemoglobin levels were coming back low.

He has lost all the fluid weight he has gained since being admitted. Now he must maintain his fluid and food consumption in order to not lose anymore weight. Chemo is not a diet.

The doctor was concerned with his central line (the main tube that delivered everything to his artery beside his heart), as the site was red and tender. There was speculation that the central line is the cause, or could potentially cause an infection. (About once a day my Dad has been running a fever; a fever is a sign of an infection) The doctor made the decision to take the central line out on Saturday. My dad and I watched the Flames game while the doctor removed the central line at his bedside with MUCH MORE ease then when it was being put in. You may be thinking, "but Sam, how will he be getting his medications now that his central line is out?" Let me tell you... Earlier that day the nurses put him through mini hell while they put a peripheral line in his arm. A peripheral line looks just like an IV line and is in the elbow crease of his right arm. All of his meds, and anything needed to be transfused will now be administered through this line. This is only a temporary situation. On Monday a pick line will be inserted into his arm, and the tubing will go up his arm and insert into that main artery by his heart again. The nurses will be able to draw blood from this line; something they cannot do with the current peripheral line. We haven't said goodbye to our friend central line quite yet. Another one will need to inserted into my Dad (this is a procedure done in the operating room- OR for all you Grey's/ER or people with actual medical designation), but not until the next round of chemo. He said the resident doing the last central line procedure looked more scared then he did, and after numerous attempts, ended up having the attending finish the procedure. As you can imagine, Jer requested that a student NOT do the next one.

Days 7-14 is a crucial time period. This is when his blood counts are at their lowest levels and he is at the most risk of getting an infection. Kelly and I have been very diligent with proper asepsis... if we could shower in bleach, I'm sure we would.

On a lighter note...

I think I have a pretty cool Dad. He sports trendy clothes (sometimes...sometimes he struggles). He knows of the 'hot' places to go in Calgary. His stampede party schedule is idolized by my friends. Well.... His LATEST fashion trend is none other then, the snuggie. MY pink snuggie my friends got me for Christmas. Jer Diddy...always keepin' it fresh.