Day Negative 1

So I want to tell you about Alfred. Yesterday when I went into the guest kitchen I struck up a conversation with a volunteer named Alfred. He is a retired attorney living in the Upper East Side across from Central Park. He told me he started volunteering at MSK after his wife was a patient. She was diagnosed with a type of lung cancer and was only given 6 months to live by a doctor from another hospital. After reaching out to a physician friend in South Carolina, Alfred was able to get an appointment with a well known thoracic oncologist at MSK. His wife went on to live another 6 years. Alfred has also had his share of cancer. He currently has a manageable form of leukemia. He spoke so highly of Memorial Sloan Kettering and reinforced to me we were in the right place. He also stressed the importance of finding the right doctor. One that is positive, empathetic and hopeful. Jim and I thank God we found Dr. Horwitz. He is just that kind of doctor Alfred was talking about. Dr. H. gave us hope. He was the first to ever mention the possibility of a cure. Alfred also talked about the importance of mind over body, using meditation, yoga and massage to help in the healing process. I hope to run into him again. He was a shining light in my day.

This picture was taken this morning at 6:30. I should have been sleeping but my eyes opened at 6:15 and I was compelled to get an early start. I found out later that Jimmy also was awake at 6:15. Must have been telepathy.

The morning bellman at the apartment is a short European roly poly sort of man. He is very friendly and always asks "how your husband is doing?" People like to give advice or solutions when you talk about cancer. The doorman told me to get rid of the cans and meat and eat vegetables. If he only knew. The apartment has 4 or 5 different bellmen. Apartment living is so strange. At night I can hear someone's television. It plays loudly until 12:30 unless I am fortunate enough to fall asleep beforehand. I can also hear the mechanics of the elevator. And of course the constant honking of the cars from the street 16 stories down.  I wear earplugs which helps. The residents I have passed keep to themselves. Very few people engage in eye contact. They come and go looking down or on their phones. I find it that way at the hospital when I walk down the halls or when I am on the elevator.

Today was Day -1, the day of rest. Basically that meant no chemo today. There are many other medications Jimmy still gets on a regular basis and will for a while. His blood counts are beginning to drop. Today was probably the last day he would be allowed to leave the room. We walked the halls and did the 14 laps around the unit. The intention of the high dose chemotherapy is to stop his bone marrow from producing new cells. Without new cells the body stops making red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. These are the three components that make up his bone marrow. Tomorrow Jim will receive the donor's cells. What needs to happen now is the donor's cells will eventually find their way to Jim's bone marrow and take it over. They will slowly begin to make new red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. This process can take several weeks. During this time Jim will not have any defenses to fight infection. He will not have any way to stop bleeding and he will be extremely fatigued. This will be a trying time for him but we all know what a fighter he is and he says "bring it on". He is ready to begin getting control back of his life.

The best part of the day was when we saw a very special visitor. Dr. Horwitz came to wish Jimmy good luck. He was the best medicine of the day.