Monday, April 2, 2012 - Phase 4 Started

This morning, Derek and I headed to the clinic early.  If his labs met minimum levels, he was slated to begin Phase 4 called "Delayed Intensification" (DI).  Yes, the name aptly describes it.  It will be intense.  It will be like Phases 1 and 2 combined.  He was scheduled for a lumbar puncture with sedation and intrathecal chemo, an echo cardiogram, two more IV chemo meds and an oral one I had to pick up later and administer at home.  Because of the scheduled sedation, Derek couldn't eat or drink anything beforehand.  The clinic was extremely busy and he didn't actually get drawn until around 10 a.m.  Starving hungry, he then had to wait until the results came back.  Finally, by 11:00, we received the all-clear.  By noon, they had him in the procedure room preparing for the lumbar puncture.  He did really well, but I had to push him a little to wake up in time to get over to the hospital for the echo cardiogram at 2:00.  He ate "breakfast" in the car on the 10 minute drive to the hospital.  The echo went fine, and he dozed through part of it. At 4:00 we headed back at the clinic to wait for the results. He ate lunch on the way back to the clinic.  The echo came back normal, and by 5:00 they gave him his last two chemo meds.  Finally, little after 6:00 p.m we walked out of the clinic.  Another marathon nine-and-a-half-hour day.

Derek will have weekly clinic visits with chemo for the next several weeks and oral meds to take at home.  It is likely to drop his counts very low and keep them there for a while.  Keeping him well will be the biggest challenge.  DI here we come.