It's Wednesday! As of this past Monday night our basement bathroom has been remodeled!! Yeah! I shower has been installed, the toilet is back, a new sink is in, everything is tiled, and all is painted. Now, it's my turn to finish the touch-up work (some small spots on the walls that need touch-up when the pipe broke the other night in the middle of re-modeling, the baseboards, the doorframe, and cleaning!!).
But it's so nice to know that the bathroom is done - and nearly two weeks ahead of schedule! Now we just need to demo and re-build the upstairs bathroom - which is what started this whole mess in the first place! But, that we are going to wait until the second part of July to begin (maybe even August) since we leave on vacation in 10 days, come back to finish preparing for Dad R's surprise 70th birthday party the following week, preparing for Chris's surprise 35th birthday party the following week (with a golf tournament in the middle and a MDJC Exec meeting too), to having one week at home before we head down to the Outer Banks for a long weekend with his whole family (and I mean WHOLE family - siblings, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles - I'm actually more excited for this vacation than for beach week!).
So for now, it's just another day in remodeling paradise!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Heat Stroke? - Nope, just Allergies
Yesterday was another Chemo day. The day started out pretty much as usual. It is now at the point where I just make Chris’s appointments for him while he is going through treatment, especially since he never remembers when they are anyway and always calls me the Sunday of his Chemo weeks.
Well, I really thought I had a surefire way to get him to his appointment on time. His appointment was scheduled for 10:00 AM and I told him it was scheduled at 9:00 AM so he had to be to my house by 8:30 AM. Well, when all was said and done, we finally arrived at the hospital at 11:00 AM. So much for that tactic. Though I am using it again for his last three treatments and hopefully will have better results (I think I need to call him even earlier on the morning of his treatment to get his butt out the door!).
As I said, all went as planned, he had his blood work taken and it all looked good this time. Apparently a missed cycle of his chemo really helped out those platelet counts of his! He got hooked up and I waited until he was asleep. Right before he dozed off he started complaining about how hot it was in the treatment room – which I agreed, it was rather warm. About an hour into his treatment I left to go to the outpatient library and try to get some work done. Just as I was leaving I noticed that my brother’s face seemed very red. Unfortunately I attributed it to it being warm in the room.
Well, about an hour later I returned from the library to find that the nurses will all in a tither around my brother. Apparently, for some unknown reason, he has developed an allergic reaction to one of his chemotherapy drugs – the one in the mix that is supposed to make the others more effective. They managed to keep everything under control and rushed some Benedryl and some other medications into him to calm the reaction. So, his red face was not from heat, but rather from a rapidly worsening allergy. My advice to everyone, always ask questions even if they are “dumb” ones.
As far as my brother’s treatment, well, they are going to pre-treat him the next round with Benedryl and try the drug one more time. If he reacts again then they will just stop using that drug and potentially extend his treatment with the other drugs to ensure full potency of chemo in his body. The only part I am a little nervous about – the doctor said that this reaction is like a bee sting allergy – you know each time you get stung you react a little worse than the time before. I completely trust the staff at JHU to know what is best, but I sure as heck can’t wait to have this be a memory in the very near future!!!
Well, I really thought I had a surefire way to get him to his appointment on time. His appointment was scheduled for 10:00 AM and I told him it was scheduled at 9:00 AM so he had to be to my house by 8:30 AM. Well, when all was said and done, we finally arrived at the hospital at 11:00 AM. So much for that tactic. Though I am using it again for his last three treatments and hopefully will have better results (I think I need to call him even earlier on the morning of his treatment to get his butt out the door!).
As I said, all went as planned, he had his blood work taken and it all looked good this time. Apparently a missed cycle of his chemo really helped out those platelet counts of his! He got hooked up and I waited until he was asleep. Right before he dozed off he started complaining about how hot it was in the treatment room – which I agreed, it was rather warm. About an hour into his treatment I left to go to the outpatient library and try to get some work done. Just as I was leaving I noticed that my brother’s face seemed very red. Unfortunately I attributed it to it being warm in the room.
Well, about an hour later I returned from the library to find that the nurses will all in a tither around my brother. Apparently, for some unknown reason, he has developed an allergic reaction to one of his chemotherapy drugs – the one in the mix that is supposed to make the others more effective. They managed to keep everything under control and rushed some Benedryl and some other medications into him to calm the reaction. So, his red face was not from heat, but rather from a rapidly worsening allergy. My advice to everyone, always ask questions even if they are “dumb” ones.
As far as my brother’s treatment, well, they are going to pre-treat him the next round with Benedryl and try the drug one more time. If he reacts again then they will just stop using that drug and potentially extend his treatment with the other drugs to ensure full potency of chemo in his body. The only part I am a little nervous about – the doctor said that this reaction is like a bee sting allergy – you know each time you get stung you react a little worse than the time before. I completely trust the staff at JHU to know what is best, but I sure as heck can’t wait to have this be a memory in the very near future!!!
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