My Journey begins....

My journey began a couple weeks ago.  I had been ill with a stomach bug of some sort.  For about a week each day's main activity involved a couch, a blanket, and a couple pillows.  Our daughter-in-law in Hudsonville finally suggested I see our primary care physician to determine if I had something contagious.  I was scheduled to babysit for her and neither she nor her 3 daughters and our son had getting sick on their day planners.

Dr. Tweston-O'Toole, our PCP, suggested that I did have a stomach bug which was "going around".   But just to be sure there wasn't more, he ordered a full blood panel.  I returned from my appointment and resumed my daily position - prone on the couch under a blanket.

The next day, a Thursday, I felt better so I decided to see my sister in Grand Haven.  My husband, Greg, and I had just walked out the door on our way to the car when my cell phone rang at 12:20 p.m.  The caller was from Dr. Tweston-O'Toole's office.  Blood test results indicated my kidneys were only functioning at 10% capability and the Dr. wanted me to go to hospital emergency within two hours.  Of course that gave us enough time to visit my sister and get to emergency by 2:20 p.m.

Once in Mercy Hospital's emergency my life as I knew it began to change.  I was soon attached to a fluid bag and pole who would become my "best buddies" over the next seven days.   PA Tenbrink was the first of what soon was to be a list of 16 doctors and PA's to see me over the coming week.  He informed me that at the moment I was being treated for sever dehydration and that I was going to be admitted to the hospital at the very least overnight.  Over the next 5 hours ( remember this was emergency and I didn't have a knife sticking out of me) I saw a Nephrologist (kidney doctor), three Internal Medicine doctors, and one Emergency Medicine doctor.  Not to mention numerous RN's and Phlebotomists.  I was finally transferred to a room by 8:20 p.m.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get very comfortable.  Not just because my roommate happened to be a "groaner", but because so many hospital staff kept visiting my room for "vitals" and blood samples.  Fortunately, I was distracted from my discomfort by numerous visitors - family, friends, and pastor.  As evening came I attempted to get some sleep.  My slumber was interrupted  numerous times by the "groaner", "vitals", and blood sample takers who I really believe revealed fangs when they smiled.  (These visions may have been due to lack of sleep, however.)  Friday came with more visitors, doctors of Nephrology and Internal Medicine dropping by, and hospital staff performing their assorted tasks.  Greg was about to leave to sell basketball tickets at Muskegon High School for two evening games when Dr. Staniforth, a Nephrologist, came into my room to issue a startling revelation.

He revealed that the profusion of blood tests had revealed the cause for my kidney malfunction.  A proliferation of proteins in my blood stream had clogged my kidneys making them similar to a clogged oil filter.   The possible cause - Cancer- the big "C".  More specifically a blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma.  Dr. Staniforth was so sure of his suspicions that he had contacted a Pathologist to come to my room to conduct a bone marrow biopsy to determine if indeed I had Multiple Myeloma.   Before Dr. Shireman, the Pathologist, arrived to take a sample of my bone marrow, Dr. Katherine Alquire, Oncologist/Hemotologist, entered my room and announced that I would be transferred within the hour to St. Mary's Hospital, Lack's Cancer Center in Grand Rapids.  She had already contacted her partner there, Dr. Thomas Gribbin, and he had a room ready for me.

Events were unfolding at a dizzying pace.  As Greg and I were processing the declaration of possible cancer we were introduced to another medical process that would be performed on me at St. Mary's.  Since my kidneys were near failure mode due to the overabundance of proteins in my blood, the offending proteins had to be removed.  This would be accomplished through a process called Plasmpheresis in which my plasma is pumped through a machine which separates out the protein clogged plasma and replaces it with clean plasma.  The protein laden plasma is collected in a large, plastic bag and later burned in a biohazard incinerator.  The procedure would be done once a day for 5 days after which I could be discharged to go home and begin chemotherapy should the biopsy indicate what the doctors suspected - namely Multiple Myeloma.

The machine used for Plasmapheresis

As I was attempting to process this information overload, Dr. Shireman came in to perform the bone marrow biopsy in my room.  He explained in detail the precedure then deadened the needle entry point.  As he went deeper into my
left pelvic region, injecting anesthetic as he went, the bone was finally reached.  This, too, he deadened.  Then he began to push the needle into the bone.  I felt no pain, just a feeling of pressure as he pushed the biopsy needle deeper.  Soon he reached the bone and began to suction the bone marrow into the syringe.  At this point I experienced what to me felt like an electric shock as the suctioning process continued.  Soon the procedure was completed and my bone marrow was on the way for testing.  The results would be ready in about 4 days.  After the bone biopsy, I was informed that I would be transported to St. Mary's by ambulance within the hour.  While I was waiting, Greg and I decided that he would go home and come to see my Saturday in Grand Rapids.  He waited with me until the ambulance crew arrived to transport me to GR.  After I was wrapped cocoon-like in blankets and strapped onto the gurney, we bid adieu until the morrow.

The bottles contain the good plasma to put
back into my body.  The long, plastic bag
contains the bad protein laden plasma which
will later by destroyed.

The St. Mary's staff could not have been nicer upon my arrival.  They tucked me into bed and let me sleep uninterrupted for the night.  However, reality returned Saturday morning when Sherry came into my room to cheerfully arouse me...at 5:30 in the morning!!!  Today would begin my Plasmapheresis treatments.  But not until I would have every bone in my body X-rayed.  Because ab-normal plasma cells called myeloma cells collect in the bone marrow, they may damage the solid part of the bone.  When myeloma cells gather in several bones, the disease is called Multiple Myeloma.  Hence, the X-rays to determine if this was the situation in my case.

Greg arrived at the hospital in the late morning and we strategized.  We decided the best course of action would be that he would return home that night to Muskegon and attend church Sunday morning.  He would then return to the hospital that afternoon with clothes and pajamas and spend the remaining days with me as my room had a hide-a-bed.  Actually, my room was quite nice; more like a good sized hotel room with couch, recliner, small round table with two chairs, flat screen TV on the wall, and bathroom with shower.  And no roommate! (Other than my husband).  Dr. Gribbin, Oncologist partner to Dr. Alguire, came to see me and further explained the Plasmapheresis procedure which I would undergo for the next five days, one hour per day.   The usual course of treatment was 1 to 5 days.  Dr. Gribbin felt that 5 days would do the trick for me and my kidneys would be back to functioning normally.  However, before I could begin my treatments, a vascular catheter would have to be inserted into the vein near my right neck to facilitate connection to the Apheresis machine.

This is the Vascular Catheter

I was taken to a lower floor of the hospital into a sterile environment where an Interventional Radiologist inserted the vath/cath.  Upon returning to my room, I rested the remainder of Saturday afternoon.  That evening I received my first Plasmapheresis treatment which lasted about 1 hour.  I was restricted to my bed, but other than that, I was free to do what I wanted such as eat, read, knit, watch TV, have visitors, etc.

After 2 days, Dr. Byron Slayton, a Nephrologist, came to my room to announce that my kidneys were responding positively to the treatments.  He believed that after 3 more treatments (3 days) I should be able to return home.  That was great news and helped relieve some of the anxiety I was experiencing.  I shared the positive prognosis with visitors and staff who came to see me.  We all celebrated!  Greg and I discovered that on the fifth floor (one above mine) there was a walking area.  My last two days at St. Mary's, we walked laps and even enjoyed some time in the sun outside in an open area on the 5th floor.

 In the picture at the left, I am not wearing plaster casts on my arms.  Rather both of my arms are wrapped in warm towels in an effort to bring my veins closer to the surface in order for the Phlebotomists to have an easier time drawing blood needed for the many monitoring tests during my Plasmapheresis.  My poor arms felt like pin cushions and my inner elbows were black and blue from all the poking and jabbing by needles.  But all the blood draws were necessary to determine if the Plasmapheresis sessions were working.  And they were!  Dr. Slayton visited two more times and each time said that he didn't have much to say which meant that he had good news and I should be released on Wednesday, six days after I had first been admitted at Mercy Hospital in Muskegon.  Greg and I smiled at this wonderful announcement and praised God.

In the meantime, Dr. Gribbin paid a visit on Tuesday to let us know that the bone marrow biopsy confirmed all the doctors' suspicions - I had Multiple Myeloma; not curable; but treatable.

 Pictured at right is one of my RN's, Jason, dressed in a "Hazmat" like suit with double gloves in preparation to give me my first chemotherapy injection.  This is the one time during my entire hospitalization that my anxiety level peaked at a high level.  When I asked Jason why he was dressed this way he responded because he was giving me a chemo shot and had to protect himself from getting the drug spilled on him.  I thought, "wait a minute!"  You are about to put this drug in me and yet this stuff is so "dangerous" that you have to wear a "Hazmat" type suit for the injection.  Greg later read on the internet that OHSA was responsible for Jason having to dress this way.  Since chemotherapy drugs kill human cells and can harm chromosomes, they are thus labeled "dangerous" drugs requiring those working with them to dress accordingly to protect themselves from harm.   I have since had additional injections here in Muskegon at the Johnson Family Cancer Center.  The lab staff there do not dress in "Hazmat" garb, but rather wear the normal white lab coats and use gloves when giving the injections.  Needless to say I am much more comfortable with my chemotherapy injections now.

I was released as planned on Wednesday afternoon, the first of February.  Greg and I stopped in Hudsonville to surprise our 3 granddaughters.  From there we traveled to my sister's house in Grand Haven and had coffee.  Returning home, we unpacked our belongings and settled down to catch our breath and begin to "debrief" ourselves concerning the life changing week we had just experienced.  In my next posting I'll discuss our interactions with God during this time.

Until then, I remain firmly "In His Grip".  Louise