Whack-A-Melphalan

Jim had some concerns this morning. His itching and rash are beginning to reappear. We mentioned this to Dr. Giralt. If the cancer is trying to rear its ugly head again what does that mean? Dr. Giralt reassured us all the chemo drugs he has been getting the past few days including todays will do the trick to slap the cancer around. He said it is like Whack-A-Mole, the arcade game where the object of the game is to force moles back into their holes by hitting them on the head with a mallet. So todays Melphalan chemotherapy along with the other two chemo drugs will act like the mallet and whack the heck out of the cancer cells. Dr. Giralt is great. He doesn't rush, he acknowledges Jim's feelings and he waits for us to ask questions. No wonder he is chief.

Jenny was Jim's nurse. She was excellent. The nurses work 12 hour shifts, 7 to 7. She was wonderful like our Jennifer back at home who has taken care of Jim over the past year and a half. Today Jenny explained everything she was doing and she never rushed to get out of the room. Today was the day for the big dose of chemotherapy, Melphalan. To minimize the risk of getting mouth and throat ulcers from the chemo Jimmy was instructed to chew on ice for a half hour before, during and a half hour after the chemo infusion. So for an hour and a half he chewed on ice. Any time a chemo drug is given, a second nurse comes into the room to verify it is the correct drug given to the correct patient.

The morning was very busy. The occupational therapist also visited. She went over the importance of following a schedule every day and getting out of the bed even if he doesn't have the energy. Eventually the nursing assistant came in to make the bed and wait around in the room while Jim took a shower. That was my window of opportunity to leave. I ran a couple of errands then headed to the apartment. Of course right after I left Dr. Sauter (Jim's doc) stopped by to see how he was doing.

As I entered the apartment the bellman had a package for me. Actually it was a beautiful flower arrangement from Kim and Dave. What a nice surprise.
I put Bruce Cockburn music on and made dinner before
I headed back to the hospital.

After Jim's dinner we walked the 14 laps around the unit before watching one episode of Breaking Bad. We only have 3 left to the series.  I headed home close to 11:00. Tomorrow is a day of rest. That means no chemo. I didn't get to talk about Alfred. I'll save that story for tomorrow.