Wednesday, July 18, 2007

3rd Day

Wed. July18, 2007. 2:30 am. Carol drove me into the city Monday. At registration did vitals, IV hookup, EKG, bloodwork, then to X Ray for Chest workup, by then room not ready, go get lunch, do not pass go!! Got escorted up to room about 4:30. More paperwork etc. Dinner, eyedrops etc. Debra came by for a visit and to support us. LuAnne and a friend came by to say hello. Jeff is on the 8th floor prepping for a Bone Marrow Donation. Hes about -3 days at this point. We'll keep up with him.1st bag of Chemo was hung at 9 pm/3 hours drip. Same Tuesday am 9-12 noon. Bob K came by to visit at 12:30. We hashed glories from MapleWoodstock. What a weekend. Gas! My HS buddy Tom Gould and his wife Judy came by to check out our Band JJ Blues. Fun. Pix.Then in afternoon Vivian came by for a nice visit. Carol came up after work and brought me new comfy summer slippers. I'm wearing my new shirt "I Heart The 12th Floor Nurses". Its a big hit here. The nurses are jokingly harrassing me as to why their picture isn't on the shirt, why just Eddie? Hah!!. Made a new shirt:
" I heart the MSKCC Doctors"with my pix with Dr. Berman from last winter with masks on. Hah!! She loved the shirt when Carol showed her, so she took home an extra large! She said it'll be a nightshirt. Hah!! No Chemo Tues. night into Wed amm. Old roomate left at 4 pm. New roomate checked in at 9 pm. Watched Yankees squeeze out a win. Sleep. Up to dig Miles etc. while writing. Before MapleWoodstock we had a scare in our Maplewood Community Music family, Susan (our "Mom") got an attack of Appendicitus. Uncomfortable on a gig Thurs night. Called Ben to go to St. Barnabas 3 am. We visited her 11 am (me, Ben and Sue K) and by 12 she was rolled into OR. We went back to see her about 2pm. Done. Arthroscopic surgery. Home Sat.. I saw her at Maplewoodstock Sunday!! Sue is going easy for a few days, but we're all amazed at her stamina/recovery. Appendix out and up in 2 days!! Man that used to be a week to 10 days in the old days. Modern medicine keeps knocking me out. Well next weekend is Maplewood JazzFest. It will be a gas, but I'm forced to lay low at that point, probably will miss sitting on the field but will try to listen from the car if I can. Both Dr. LaManna and Dr. Berman visited me Tuesaday. They tell me Dr. Mark will release me Sat. So this is my last scheduled Chemo. From here we come back for the Neulasta shot and bloodwork next Mon at 11 am. Will be monitored EODay for 2 weeks or so, then Monthly the next year or 2. You have to be careful with this disease, it can rear it's ugly head in a hurry, but I expect to be in remission come Fall.

3 comments:

Debra said...

Hi, Jim. It was great to see you on Monday. I hope you're feeling well today.

I plan to come by Thursday night after my singing lesson.

Love you,
Debra

Lori Riter said...

Hey Jim,
Hope you are feeling well. Modern medicine is amazing! Try to enjoy yourself. As tough as the hospital stays can be, I still have good memories. Did you know that the first time I saw the Wizard of Oz was on the 9th floor... Columbia Pres? I still remember it because I was scared silly!
Anyway, take care!
Love you,
Lori

Brad Aspel said...

Jim:
Congrats on entering your last phase of Chemo. I'll try to pop up and say hi when I'm there next week for an appointment if I can.
The T-shirt stories are awesome! I hope this is a real smooth one for you - in and out of there.
Best,
Brad