Electra & AML: Once More Into The Breach Dear Friends

(See all posts related to Electra's ongoing treatment)

So, I haven't really kept up my plan of "post more often, if shorter posts". So let me start with a bit of an update:

Electra is currently back in hospital for round two of treatment. It was a little bit of a rocky road getting in there. The original plan was to have her get her bone marrow treatment on Tuesday the 1st and go back in for round two on Thursday (the 3rd). However, as I mentioned previously, she pushed it back to Thursday. Ultimately, the choice between painful procedure versus less painful procedure and additional weekend of freedom with myself was an easy choice. So in the end, she was scheduled to go back in on Monday (the 7th).

However, best laid plans being as they are, even this was ultimately altered. The ward she's in had no available beds, so she was asked to try again on Tuesday. Evidently, even though the first cycle must be administered with the utmost urgency, once wiped out the malformed "blast" cells take some time to come back, so the push to recommence is lessened. So she came back on Tuesday, when a bed freed up. However, still things were not as required. In the intervening time, Electra managed to pick up a nasty infection (probably another iteration of her recurring throat infection). Since chemo decimates one's immune system, they are loathe to start it while the patient is already ill. So, intravenous and oral antibiotics were the course of choice. The idea was to tackle the infection first and foremost, then commence chemo.

And yesterday (Saturday the 12th) was the kickoff. The infection had raged a bit, and Electra had been kept in the hospital the entire time for the sake of monitoring and administration of the antiobiotics. But by Friday, things were calming down and she was pushing to get chemo started on Saturday (as weird as it is to request the injection of poison into your veins, an early start does of course correspond to an early cessation). And she was successful! So she is currently (as I write this) completing her second day of round two.

This time around, though, it's been harder. We knew it would be, of course, so were somewhat prepared. But because her system was already at less than 100% when the treatment started, all the effects have been worse than the first time around. Cycle one didn't start to get bad until at least half-way through; cycle two started to get bad about a half-hour into the treatment. The symptoms were as before: nausea, fatigue, chills, etc. But this time they seemed much worse. Fortunately, Electra is getting better at asking for help in these instances (though it still takes some prodding from yours truly), and the anti-nausea meds have done a reasonable job.


On my end, the push back on the start date of chemo affected my plans. I'd intended to go up today, but Electra and I decided that it was best to have me present for the week after the actual chemo application (which is generally the hardest week and the one where she really needs support). So I've bumped it back until Wednesday the 23rd (due to a doctor's appointment of my own and a work commitment, I can't leave until that Wednesday). This will be the longest stretch we've had apart since this whole shebang started, and it will be very tough for both of us I think. I miss Electra quite a lot and though I know it's dumb, can't help but feel that I'm not doing my duty and really should be up there. Electra for her part, misses the comfort and support that I can provide, though she's been very clear that it's good for me to spend time in the South and not be a martyr in this. Plus, this longer period of time allows me to get some things done that I've been putting off too long. When I'm only home for a week at a time, I tend to triage much more than during longer breaks: I only deal with the most pressing "to do" items, so the myriad of little things I want to work on tend to slip. This longer break will give me a chance to correct that. But that doesn't mean it's not hard.


So, the treatment continues. This cycle promises to be harder than the first, a daunting prospect no doubt. But as usual, I am cautiously optimistic. Electra's progress during the first cycle was incredibly promising, and although there were bumps in the road in terms of infections and side-effects, these are to be expected and the key signs (response to the chemo and bounce-back time of her immune system) all point to a course of treatment bound for success. Doesn't mean I'm not keeping my fingers crossed while knocking on wood and rubbing a rabbit's foot wrapped around a four-leaf clover, but hope is present.