2/29/2007 New date for Cycle 4

New date for Cycle 4 of Interlukin-2 is set for next Tuesday 2/6/2007.

Jimm y B.

1/29/07 Cycle 4 postponed!!!!!!!!!!!!! (IL-2)

Cycle 4 postpone due to nasal infection/head cold. I am going on antibiotics today. I hope to reschedule for next week. I will keep you informed.

Jimmy B.

1/25/07 Round 4 with the Devil!!!!!!

Well, I got the word that round 4 will start next Tuesday January 30th . Dee and I will drive downMonday and stay at the Shady House if they have an opening. I am not looking forward to this cycle of interlukin. I am still trying to recover from the last cycle. Fatigue has really hit me hard. I feel like I aged ten years.

Well enough complaining. I just hope that the therapy is continuing to shrink the tumors. Then it will be well worth the pain and agony.

Take care, and I will try to stay in touch while I am in the hospital.

Jimmy B.

1/22/07 I am still here!!!!!!!!!

The headaches finally subsided!!!!!!!!! I‘ve been resting. Fatigue has set in. It is the worst bout of it to date. I sleep 8 to 9 hours but wake up very tired. It is like I have never slept. It doesn’t help that I have to go to the bathroom every two hours too. My skin is flaking and is causing me to itch all over. My skin feels like a reptile with scales. I have tried Lubriderm but it only last for a couple of hours. Tonight I am going to try an oil bath. This should be fun.
I am not complaining, things could be worse. Like going back down to Pittsburgh for another cycle. I am now waiting to hear when this is going to happen.

That is it on my end.
Take care
Jimmy B.

01/06/2007 So I am Going Home …. Yah Hoooooooooooooooooooooo!

So Saturday morning I got myself packed and ready to go home from Shadyside. I had called Dee the night before and to get ready for a road trip. I knew I would get release sometime Saturday. The Doctors usually make their rounds in the morning and then write their scripts and then sign release forms. I guess I have the system down. So Dee left Rochester around 8:30 am and would arrive around 1:00 pm. Well the timing worked out just right that I got released at 2:00 pm and we were on the road by 2:30 pm. We arrived back in Rochester a little bit passed 7:00 pm. Round three is now over and I must gain my strength back.

01/05/2007 Eight Is Enough !!!!!!

8 Doses were enough for me. I started experiencing great swelling and sharp pain in my chest every once in a while. So threw up the white flag and gave in. I said to myself “Stop now and there will always be another day to fight this terrible demon.” It was Friday and I would need to recover at least 24 hours before I would get my release papers.

1/09/2007 Off to donate some blood.

I hope they can find a good entry point to draw some blood. When they put in the PICC line, they made a mess if my arm. With my arm bruised and battered, it looks like I am doing drugs. My soars in my mouth are going away and my appetite is coming back. My body weight is just about the same weight as before I was admitted. The 24/7 headache has been a challenge. Tylenol is taking the edge off of it.
Well I am off
Take care,
Jimmy B

01/05/2007 I started my 8th dose of interlukin-2

I started my 8th dose of interlukin-2 and all is going well. I feel I may be able to handle on one or two more doses. I didn’t have the swelling to bad. I think I will be going home Saturday or Sunday. Time will tell.
Take care
Jimmy B.

01/04/2007 I start my 6th dose at 3:30 pm.

It is a go to get my 6th dose. So far they seem easier to handle. It looks like my belly has bloated up. My legs so far are in good condition. They are using blood pressure medication to keep my pressure in check.

I guess, no news is good news.
Take care,
and I will write after the next dose.
Jimmy B.

1/3/2007 Working on my Fourth Dose!!!!! (Interlukin-2)

The third dose went pretty well. I just had the chills so I was given Demerol. The next dose (4th) is slated for 11:30 pm. To keep me entertained, I am watching the ND vs LSU ( I believe it is the Sugar Bowl.)
That is It for now
Jimmy B.

1/2/2007 The first dose

I received my first dose at 3:30 pm and it went off without a hitch. About an hour and a half into my treatment I got the chills so I received some Demerol. Sometime during the 8 hours cycle my blood pressure began to elevate. This is not good. They need to maintain it or I would have to skip the next dose. Well the pressure did not stabilized so I was off the hook for the next dose. I missed the 11:30 pm dose. During the off hours they gave me some blood pressure medicine to get my pressure under control. By 5:00 am everything was back to normal and I am slated to receive my second dose of interlukin-2 at 7:00 am.
That is it for now.
Jimmy B.

01/2/2007 A funny thing happen along the way to getting a PICC Line!!!!!!

Everything was going so smooth until I was to have the PICC line put in. Shadyside is a teaching hospital so I was going to have a resident put the line in under the supervision of the doctor on duty. Usually the Physician Assistant, Dave would be doing the procedure but they lost the PA supervisor to another job opening. The PA supervisor gave 6 months notice, but the hospital administrator staff never replaced him and the PA cannot practice without working under a PA supervisor (an MD).

To make a long story short, the resident had major trouble finding a vein to work with so the doctor took over. Since the doctor didn’t do this PICC line procedure very often, it was like the blind leading the blind. The 20 minutes procedure turned into an hour and half. The doctor used two PICC lines. The first one got damaged while trying to find a working vein. All the while Dee was in the waiting room. I had told her that the procedure took about 20 minutes. She was climbing the walls. I think she was able to finish knitting the baby scarf in that amount of time.

It was now 1:30 pm and we headed up to my room (718) main.

1/2/2007 The Next morning. I am in BIG Trouble

I had set my alarm for 6:45 am, I thought but I forgot to set back the time on the clock (Fall Back) so I woke up at 5:45 am. Boy, did I hear it from Dee. She could not sleep to well because I had the windows a cracked to let in some fresh air and plus the room was quite warm. The city traffic never stopped and the bus stop on Centre Ave was right below our window. You could hear the Bus’s air brakes each time they stopped. It reminded me of the old steam locomotives with all the hissing sound. I was waiting to hear the conductor to say, “All aboard”. You also could heard the bus take off. I got use to it, but Dee was a different story. She said she woke up every 10 to 15 minutes all night.

Anyway, we got ourselves together and headed over to Ritter’s Diner for some breakfast. We had our usual, eggs and home fries with a side of bacon, and a coffee to wash it down. After breakfast we went back to the Family House and checked out and were at the Hillman Center by 8:30 am. We were ahead of schedule. I checked in and had my blood work done. We then went to terminal D where I had a once over from Jan the physician assistant. I asked for an official copy of my CT scan for my files. I always like to see things in writing.
My next appointment was at Shadyside Hospital to have my PICC Line put in. This was my ultimate test to see if I knew the right procedure for admission to Shadyside. The last two times things got all screwed up.

So, we are off to Shadyside using the internal bridge to get there. I hope there are no trolls along the way.

Jimmy B.

1/2/2007 We’re Here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well we made it in record time. It took about 4 hours and 15 minutes to get down to Pittsburgh. The roads were pretty empty on New Years Day. I was driving like a bat out of hell. I don’t know why. We were in no rush. I guess I wanted to catch some bowl games on ESPN. We left around 11:00 am and got there about 3:15 pm. Mary Coyne greeted us at the Family House. Dee And I proceeded to check in to room # 406. It is in the front of the house facing Shadyside Hospital. We could see the helipad on top of the hospital.

To kill some time before dinner, we decided to take a walk to the local market. This helped to stretch our legs after the long drive. We did some sight seeing in the store. We didn’t need any groceries because we brought our dinner from home. On the menu was pepper steak over a bed of white rice. Too much to our surprise, when we returned the Shadyside Family House, they had a great spread in the kitchen. It was leftovers from the New Years Eve party. So, we had H'Orderves and sparkling juices for our appetizers from 4 to 6 pm. Dinner followed.

After dinner we returned to our room and I watched the bowl games and Dee knitted or read a book.

We crashed about 10:30 pm.

1/01/2007 Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, we are on our way back down to Pittsburgh (Interlukin-2). We decided to travel a day early because they want me at 9:00 am. So we are trying to get a room at the Family House across the street from Shadyside Hospital. I will be there for 5 to 6 days. I am not looking forward to this visit.

Anyway, I will try to stay in touch while I’m down there.

Take Care

Jimmy B.