Final(?) tests scheduled for early December

When I was at the BMT clinic on Monday I saw Elliott Rudisill and told him that I had received on Saturday Dr. Tricot's letter that he had dictated September 13th and which I had asked Elliott about the last time that I saw him. Dr. Tricot's letter concluded by saying: "Overall, we are pleased with the results of the treatment. There is minimal evidence of disease at this point in time. The major question is whether the disease will be stable once we stop the treatment." He had told me during the September visit that he would take me off chemo for 3 months when he sees me next time.

I then reminded Elliott that this was the first day of the current maintenance cycle, which would be the 24th maintenance cycle since treatment began, and I thought that I should expect to have the battery of tests in the 4th week of the cycle that I have had in the 4th week 0f each previous cycle. He said he would look into that and get back to me, which he did before I left the Infusion Room. When he came back he told me that he had scheduled the tests for December 2 and had me scheduled for a meeting with Dr. Tricot on December 6 and that he would confirm this with an e-mail in the next day or so. I didn't get the e-mail until yesterday and didn't download it until this morning. The tests will include a PET/CT scan, which I did not have during the tests in September because no scans were authorized by Humana at that time.

The nurse, Karen, that I had on my October 31 visit also was new and I had to remind her that the nurses aides who usually conduct me to the lab for installation of a line in my port weigh me first. And then I had to remind her as she botched the insertion of the line in the port that the aides also take my vitals. Karen put the line in the medial port and blood flow was interrupted by many small air bubbles so she reinserted it in the lateral port and there was no flow at all. She left to find help and while she was gone, Elaine who had been busy elsewhere, found that the needle had not gone completely into the port and corrected this and then drew the few vials of blood needed that day. Laurie told me in the Infusion Room that my the bloodwork showed that my platelets were low but not low enough to warrent a transfusion, but she did give me an injection of Procrit (Epoetin) which I assume was to stimulate red blood cell generation. On my November 7 visit, which was extraordinarily slow, I also received a Procrit shot probably because of a low red blood cell count, although not as low as it was the week before.