Round 2 Day 4

Today as we drove to the hospital my stomach wasn't feeling very well so I just put my chair back a little bit and tried to relax and focus my mind on something besides my stomach. My stomach felt uneasy the whole way to hospital. My mom dropped me off at the door as usually so as she is parking I can go sign in so things get started quicker. But to today as I got out of the car I grabbed my backpack and blanket and then took a few steps on the grass and Kablooomy. I had just thrown up all over the grass. I turned back waved to my mother..smiled..and then walked into the hospital to sign in for my chemo.

Today I was able to go to the Procedure Room where I am known by all the nurses and I didn't have to go to the Infusion Room where I know not really anyone. So I got my favorite nurse so I was a happy camper. The nurses name is Brooke and she has a good sense of humor and at one point in the day we were singing New Kids on the Block "Step by Step" so we were having fun passing the time as I was pre-hydrating and chemoing.

So Day four was exciting and full of fun. And Brooke told me that my pee passed with flying colors and it usually does.

Shots: 14

Pills: 47

Only one day until I can take a shower. YEAH!!!!!

Round 2 Day 3

Today was another fun day of chemo at the hospital. I am usually sent to the Procedure Room to have my pee tested and get pre-hydrated before I get my chemo. I have gotten to know the nurses that work in that room very well. But today I was sent to the Infusion Room. There is a whole different group of nurses. So I don't have my routine down with them as I do with the nurses in the procedure room. I wasn't that excited about this because you get into a groove with the nurses they what you need and everything goes my smoother. So today I helped the nurses out by telling what I need..such as that I need my pee cup right away because of how much I drink, and I need to pre-hydrate for an hour before I have chemo. I told them this right away so I wouldn't have to wait any longer than necessary. So today I met a lot of new nurses.

It wasn't all bad because there were two attractive nurses but they both had wedding rings on.

So today the chemo went very smoothly and very quick. I have received a question regarding the radiation process in my last post.

Michelle asked,

Will they run the chemo at the same time as your radiation? And how do they determine that radiation is necessary?

They may or may not run the chemo during the radiation but if they do it will be at a significantly lower dose because the combination of the two can be too harsh and really do some damage to my lungs. Radiation therapy almost always goes along with chemo. I had radiation last time on my leg. Radiation just targets the tumors directly and if everything goes well totally eliminate the cancer.

Thanks again for everyones prayers of support and for the emails and wall posts to check up on me. I really appreciate them. Thank You.

Shots: 14

Pills: 43

Round 2 Day 2

Well today we arrived at the hospital at 9:40 and they were much quicker today. They started my pre-hydration right away and then my chemo came right on time and I was done and out of the hospital at one oclock which was at least 2 hours quicker than yesterday. So I was very excited about that.

We also met with the doctor today and just talked about how everything is going and how I am feeling and responding to the chemo. It was a quick meeting we also got permission to get CBC (Blood work) at a hospital by my house. This allows me to not have to drive 45 minutes to children's hospital when all they need is blood work. I can just drive to the hospital that is like 5 minutes from my house. So that will cut down a lot of time traveling.

After my chemo today my mom and I drove over to the Radiation Oncology to have a consultation to start my radiation therapy. His name was Dr. Murphy he was a way awesome and personable doctor. He explained to us all that will go on with the radiation. It will be targeted to my lungs at a low dose. I will go in daily for about 2 or 3 weeks.

So I will go in next week and have a scan at their offices so that they will have it for their records and he will look at everything and talk to my cancer doctor and they will decide on when to start the radiation treatment.


Today I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. Yesterday I was very tired. I just felt completely wiped out. Today I feel pretty normal so today is a lot better than yesterday was.

Thanks again for everyones prayers and thoughts. They are all very important.

Once again if you have any questions you can comment on my blog or email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com

shots: 14

pills: 38

Round 2 Day 1

Well today I started my second round of the 5 days of chemo. I will be having chemo for the next 5 days. Which means the shower I took this morning will be my last until Friday. Friday is when they will take out the needle that is hook in to the port-a-cath in my chest.

So today was probably the slowest day yet at the hospital. We arrived at about 9:40 and was there until 2:30. There was a lot of waiting around I guess the hospital was more busy than usual. So I caught up on all my internet reading. So the chemo and the medicine really wiped me out and I took and long nap for the rest of the day. I woke up in time for the world series to be stopped by a rain delay. Stupid Rain.

So I will have more to write about tomorrow for day 2. Hot Nurse #2 talked to me while I was at the hospital it was the highlight of the day.

Thanks again for all your prayers.

Needle pokes: 14

pills: 36

Another "Push" of Chemo

So today I went to Children's Hospital to receive another "hit" of chemo. Though it is just a shot sized of chemo, we were at the hospital from 9:25 until 12:30. It took forever today for them to make my chemo. But time went by, because I read just about every article on ESPN.com, Padres.com, Denverbroncos.com, realgm.com, and sportingnews.com. So I am well caught up with my sports facts and perhaps know to much than I need to. I also surfed the shop on mlb.com (baseball), and nfl.com (football) for my Christmas list. I am a die hard sports fan just in case you didn't know. I wore my Denver Broncos football jersey today because the Broncos are playing tonight on Monday Night Football. That is how much I love and support the teams I love.

And just to let everyone who hasn't seen me since I started chemo I still have all my hair (at least the little bit I do have), and it doesn't seem to be falling out like last time, but time will tell.

So I was asked another question

Katie asked a question in response to one of my responses to a question in my last post.

I said, You said that they will continue with chemo if it seems to work and if not they'll remove part or all of the cancer. she asked, Why wouldn't they just do the surgery then?

They want to see how my body responds to the chemo first, and if the chemo is working well and there is significant reduction of the cancer then the surgery won't be necessary. They like to avoid surgery on the lungs because of how important they are to our body. When you have surgery on your lungs you could faces complications of a collapsed lung, infection in the lungs (which is never good). So that is why we won't do the surgery if the chemo is doing very well against the cancer.

Shot Total: 10

Pill Total: 29

Thanks again to everyone who is praying for me. I know every prayer will make a difference.

Answers to Questions!

First off I am enjoying a week free from chemo and hospital visits and a life as normal as it can get at this stage in my life. The nurse came back and taught my mother how to give me shots. Yesterday was the first day my mother gave me a shot without the presence of the nurse and to tell the truth it has been the least painless shot of GCSF (Immune system builder) that I have had so far. So GO MOM!

Today I wanted to just answer some questions that I have been asked by readers:

Tory asked, Are you only doing chemo treatments or are they going to do surgery as well?

So the game plan as of right now is that I will have one more round of the 5 Day treatment and then I will have all my scans again (MRI, CT Scan, bone scan, Ect.) to determine the result that the chemo is having on the cancer in my lungs. My understanding from my doctor is if the cancer is responding well then we will skip surgery and continue chemo, and if the cancer has not shrunken at all then I will have surgery to remove some if not all of the cancer. So that is the game plan with surgery right now!

Michelle asked,

I know you have pain(on the pain scale 1-10, what is your range?), is the pain from the biopsy/surgery or is it the crummy cancer bugs? Does it make your whole body hurt all the time or is it only in the spot in your chest where those mean bugs are?

There is actually no pain involved when you are receiving chemo. It is just liquid going into my body and you cannot feel the chemo once it is inside the body. The pain comes as side effects of the chemo such as jaw pain, lack of energy, body aches. So it is not to painful at all. I would rate it as a 1 or 2 on the pain scale. Of course I have my bad days in which I take a hot bath and let me body relax, but it never gets unbearable.

Mary asked,

What is Sean's situation and does he have cancer in the lungs as well?


Just in case you are new to my blog Sean is a 20 year old kid I have met at Children's Hospital where I am being treated. It was good to meet him because most of the other patients are all younger than about 14 years old. Sean has cancer in his blood and this is his second go around against cancer like me. He is receiving entirely different treatment and different chemos. His chemo is part arsenic (ingredient of rat poison) so he has to be monitored even closer than I do because of the effects his can have on his body. And his treatment plan is a lot longer than mine will be. That is currently all I really know about Sean's situation.

Michelle asked,

The nausea medication, are they giving you a different or new drug to help with that this time?

I am taking the exact same nausea medication as I did last time. My theory is if it ain't broke don't fix it. So it worked last time and it is doing a great job this go around so I have no desire to try new one.

I believe those are all the questions I have received so far. If you sent me one and I didn't answer it or you have a new question email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com.

And I would like to thank my FHE brothers and sisters for their package of letters it was a great surprise and I enjoyed reading them. It brightened my day. THANK YOU!

Well I will write again when I go in for another push of chemo on Monday.

Thanks again for everyones support and prayers.

Shot total: 6

pill total: 26

Just a "Push" of Chemo

Today was another day for chemo. I went to children to receive my vincristine "push". Now I wasn't quite sure what that meant. So I woke up at 7:00 am to start drink my mass amount of liquids so that I would pass my pee test. When I arrived to the hospital I was told by the nurse that so U.A. (Urine Analysis) was needed for this chemo. So I had drank my usual 91.1 ounces of liquid for the mere benefit of being well hydrated if nothing else.

They started of with accessing my port-a-cath. Which means that they stuck a needle with a tube attached into my port so that they could draw blood and give me my "push" of chemo. To explain what a "push" of chemo is...it is the hospital's terminology for a small amount. Kinda like drug addicts take a "hit" of drugs or a baker uses just a "pinch" of salt while making the recipe. A "push" of chemo is basically just a syringe used for a regular shot filled with chemo. This shot of chemo also does not induce nausea so my fasting all morning was also not needed.

Well today I also started my GCSF shots. This is where I will have a shot every day for ten days to help boost my immune system, focusing on producing white blood cells, since the chemo wipes out the good and the bad cells in my body. So a homecare nurse named Terri came and administered my first shot. The shots will be given in my legs or arms. She will come again tomorrow and teach my mother how to give the shots and after tomorrow my mother will give me all my shots that I will receive outside of the hospital.

So no more chemo or visits to the hospital until next Monday when I will receive another "push" of chemo. Then the following Monday, October 27th, I will start another round of the five days straight chemo.

Pill Count: 21

Shot Count: 4

Thanks again for all the prayers that have been said in my behalf. I am thank for the support of so many family and friends.

Again I am open to any questions, comments please email me at cansirboi1986@gmail.com

Chemo Final Day of Round 1

So first off, right now I feel like a million bucks! I just took a shower, and shaved for the first time since Sunday. I haven't been able to shower during the week because the Port-a-cath that is inside my chest has been accessed all week long. Which means that there has been a needle in it with a short tube attached to it for the whole week which has kept me from enjoying the wonderfulness of a hot shower.

So today was the final day of Round 1. So that means I only have 11 more rounds to go. the next full round will start on Oct. 27 and thats when I will repeated the 5 consecutive days of chemo again. Until then I will just go in each Monday and receive...for lack of a better word..shot of chemo. It will be very quick.

So I wanted to answer a question posted in my comments by Ginger.

She said "How does Chemo work?"

That is a very good question I guessed I fail to really describe what all takes place when I go get chemo because I have done the whole fight with cancer thing before and it isn't anything new to me. I am sorry to all of you readers who have had to use your own imagination to determine what goes on when I say I went to go get chemo. So I will do my best attempt to describe exactly what goes on.

Once I arrive at the Hospital. I ask for the Urine cup so that I can take care of that business first and then the nurses take my vitals (temperature and blood pressure) to make sure that I don't have a fever because then I would have to be admitted into the hospital and stay overnight until it goes away.

After vitals, the nurse hooks my port-a-cath tube up to the IV pole. Then they hook me up to a bag of potassium water and hydrate me for an hour. (This is to flush my bladder and kidneys in preparation for the chemo.

So after an hour of being pumped with a lot of potassium water they then hook up one of the bags of chemo and it is pumped into my body by way of the port-a-cath in my chest. The chemo is a lightly tinted blue liquid. The first bag of chemo takes about an hour to pump into my body and the second bag takes only about a half an hour. So all together with hydration the chemo process takes about three hours after all the paper work and checking in and out of the clinic is all taken care of.

And before the start of chemo I am given two pills (Zofran, and Ativan) which are used to help my body against the nausea that chemo can cause.

Once the chemo is inside of my body, It destroys everything in its path the good and the bad. Since it kills everything in its path I am under close doctor supervision to make sure that I have good red blood and white blood cell counts. If my blood counts get to low I am admitted into the hospital and given one or two blood transfusions depending on how bad my blood count is.

Ginger I hope that helps you understand "How chemo works?"

If this description has raised new questions please shoot away!

Well that is all for today and I have a day of from chemo tomorrow so my next post will be on Monday.

Thanks again for all your prayers, thoughts, and cards! They really do make a difference!

Pill Total: 20

Chemo Round 1, Day 4

So, first off before I talk about my day I would like to apologize for how horrible my grammar is. I will look at my posts the day after I post it and I am left surprised that all who are reading it understand what I am saying. I wish I could blame it all on the fact that I write them after a round of chemo so I am still under a strong influence on drugs, but I must admit that I could still work on my grammar. I am just glad that this blog thing has spell check or I would be dun for sure.

Also I would like to explain why my last post spent most of its time talking about pee. I think I should explain why they need to test my urine before each round of chemo. They check my urine because one of the chemo drugs (Cytoxan) is very harsh on the bladder so they want to make sure that there is no bleeding in the bladder. To help keep my bladder clean I drink a TON of water and gatorade to keep the side effects of the chemo on my bladder as low as possible. They also hydrate me with potassium water through the IV for an hour before each session of chemo. So I think that's all thats left to talk about on the pee issue. Though if you can think of any questions I would be more than happy to answer them.


So today I wanted to talk about the lifestyle transition going from a healthy BYU student who is very active and enjoying life to becoming a cancer patient for the second time. The easiest way to describe the transition is like when you break your bone and get a cast. Now no one likes to have that cast because you can't go swimming, take a shower, and it limits your activities. But you know that if you listen to the doctors and tough it out and don't cut your cast off early that at the end of the treatment you will be back to normal.

So I look at my fight with cancer the same way. Do I like doing chemo, going to the hospital many days a week, taking tons of pills. NO. I would rather be in Provo cheering on the #8 BYU football team and watching the game with friends and fellow school mates. But going through all the treatment is just part of what needs to be done so that I can return to my scholastic career for the Fall Semester of 2009.

My life right now just has what you would call a new normal. Now normal for me is when arriving at the hospital for my chemo treatment and the nurse says that my chemo is all ready. I shout Hooray because that means that there will be no delays in my treatment today. Shouting Hooray weird? no it is just my new normal. I now just take life easy, I don't always have a whole bunch of strength so some days my only activity is going to Wal-Mart with my father just to get out of the house.

My life just has a new normal. Getting poked by needles happens is just as common as brushing my teeth now. It just a new normal. All that cancer terminology, the BIG words, medicines, doctors, nurses. It is just a new normal.

Last of all with this new transition to a new normal is the hospital staff. You see them all everyday and they become part of your family you have the nurses that you love and that always stop to chat with you to see how you are doing and you have your doctor that knows you by name and in between talking about chemo dosages you talk to her about the newest Office episode and about how her son is going to be Dwight for Halloween this year. You become just one big happy family.

It is a new normal and my new hospital family tries to make it go as smooth and clear as possible.

Life hasn't gotten worse it has just changed. It is my new normal.

I would just like to thank Eliza for the link for the comic. I enjoyed and had a good laugh. Thanks you can never have to much laughter.

I would also like to shout out a special thanks to the BYU 177th ward for the little package of mail they sent me. I enjoyed reading your words. Thanks for you prayers, thoughts, and love.

Again thank you to everyone for you prayers and thoughts.

If anyone has anything they would like to know about my whole cancer treatment. I will answer any questions I am a very open individual and won't mind talking about any aspect of the treatment.

pill total: 10

Chemo Round 1, Day 3

So after my chemo treatment yesterday I opted to go home for the opportunity to enjoy a evening at home and to sleep in my own bed. So I went home and enjoyed a salami and cheese sandwich on a mini bagel...I ate two of them!

After eating dinner I watched the movie Martian Child. It is a very unique and interesting movie.

Before I headed up the stairs to go to bed I grab a large mixing bowl because my stomach was feeling uneasy. I set it by my bed and went to sleep. Also as a result of sleeping in my own bed and not being at the hospital is I am not hooked up to an IV pumping me full of liquid so I don't wake up as much to use the restroom during the night.

So this morning at 7 o'clock when I woke up I didn't feel very good at all my body hurt and my stomach very uneasy. So I started to drink A LOT of water so by the time we drove don to children's hospital I would pass the urine test with flying colors. During the whole drive down to the hospital I drank about 1 liter of water and 1 bottle of Gatorade. Having to hold it the whole time we were driving. So we finally get to the Hospital and they take my vitals and I ask the nurse if she needs to test my pee before I can start chemo. She goes checks an returns and tells me that I will not need a UT (urine test)...So I then walk quite briskly to the restroom and relieve myself of the pressure of drinking so much liquid. As I return to the Procedure Room (Where they do the Out-Patient Chemo) another nurse approaches me and asks me, "We have got to check your pee before we can start your chemo do you got any for us." I tell her what just happened and she told me that nurse didn't know. But since I had drank so much liquid before getting there it only took a few minutes to find some more pee.

So I went and took care of my business and when I came back and put my urine on the tray the nurse was amazed about how clear it was. It looked as if I had just filled the container with water.

So enough about pee. One of the head Nurses had reserved me a bed next to another patient who kinda has the same story that I do. He like me was re diagnosed during what would have marked our 5 years in remission. And he is 20 years old. His name is Sean and he is back to battling cancer just like I am. So Sean his mom Susan, my mom, and I chatted while our chemos as being pumped into us. He is an awesome kid with a good outlook on the whole thing. The whole time we were all joking and laughing about the stuff that we as cancer patients have to go through. Laughing at those moments that looking back all you can do is life.

Sean is a strong young man. He helped me realize that enough though thinks seem like they are going bad it could always be worse. Sean had a stretch were he went to the hospital for 55 days straight. I am only at day 4 so I have nothing to complain about. I am glad I met Sean and Susan they were great to talk to and it made the time go by much quicker I will look forward to talking to them whenever we run into each other at the hospital.

Ok I have a few more fan mail questions:

These are from Ashley

she asked if I was still going to have my jaw surgery?

My oncologist has put my jaw surgery on hold and it will not happen anytime in the near future.

She also asked had what skills will I be working on while I am going through treatment? such as mastering video games, dominating fantasy sports, unicycling, or literary items.

Well Ashley first off I am sure now again I will be playing some guitar hero to pass the time and I am looking forward for Rock Band 2 to come out and then I can start working on those skills. Now Fantasy Sports: I got second place in a league of 10 this year for baseball and I am currently in first place with a 5-0 record in my fantasy football so i would have to say I got that skill in the bag. Unicycling will be an option once my chest fully recovers from last Mondays surgery and I probably wont be doing much reading or writing other than the writing I will do here in my blog.

Well thanks again for everyone for you thoughts, prayers, comments, emails, wall posts, I love reading them and hearing about how everyone else is doing.

You are all awesome.

Pill Total: 8

Chemo Round 1, Day 2

First update is that I held down my cheese quesadilla that I had for dinner last night for dinner. I also got the craving for some fruity pebbles so my dad drove to the store for me and bought me a box and milk and had one bowl for a snack before I went to bed. As a matter of fact I have not thrown up at all yet. So I am pretty excited about that because throwing up is probably my least favorite thing to do in life.

After my snack I took a sink shower and change my clothes because I was starting to not smell very good.

Then I watched a very interesting independent film called "King of California" it was a very interesting movie about a 16 years daughter dealing with her mentally ill father and his hunt for a foreign treasure that is in the Costco. It was a funny flix and I would give it a 6.5 on a scale from one to ten.


After getting 2 mL of morphine I was off for another night of sleep. To my surprise I actually feel asleep and had a pretty much slept through the night except for when the nurse comes and wakes me to check my vitals (blood pressure and temperature).

More good news is that the doctor told me the results of the MRI on my brain and right thigh (which is where the tumor was the first time I had cancer). She told us that all the test were negative which means that besides my lungs my body is cancer free!!!! So that is very good news for me.

Well My friend Mary had asked a few questions so I will answer them for her.

What stage is your cancer in?

I am not exactly sure what stage it is in but it is isolated in my lungs and has not spread to any part of my body and it has not reappeared to where it was before. So I would say it is in the very early stages and it is very treatable.

What are your thoughts, emotions, feelings? Are you afraid?

My thoughts and feelings are that this is something that my Heavenly Father feels is important for me to experience while I am here on earth. I learned a lot about myself and the importance of the small things during my first go around with Cancer, but obviously I didnt learn it all so I am just enjoying my time and looking for opportunities to learn and help life the spirits of those around me.

Last Question: She also asked if I get tired Physically and Mentally?

I do get quite fatigued during each chemo session and during the session I choose not to eat because I would only throw it back up. I learned this trick from my first fight with cancer. Mentally I feel that I am doing fine except for the times when I have so much drugs in me that I am on cloud nine and not really all there. But most of the time I am fine mentally.

Thanks for everyone who has left comments I love reading and they brighten up my day. Also if anyone else has questions feel free to write me an email at cansirboi1986@gmail.com or you can write on my wall on facebook.

Well thanks for all your prayers they really are making a difference I can tell.

And a quote my buddy from Peoria sent me from this years general conference

"Come What May and Love It"
- Elder Wirthlin

Pills taken since monday: 5

Good News!

We received the results from the bone marrow aspiration and bone scan and everything looks good. It looks like the cancer is isolated in my lungs and has not spread to any part of the body.

Also good news for today I ate a cheese quesadilla which besides a few bags of pretzels was my first meal since 8:00 p.m. Sunday night where I had made amazing enchiladas. So far my stomach is handling the food well and lets hope it doesn't come back. I don't think it would taste as good the second time.

So I will be spending the night at the hospital again and receive the same three chemos tomorrow then if I am feeling up to it I think they might let me good home.

Thank you again everyone for you thoughts and prayers! They really mean a lot to me!

Tuesday Oct. 7th

So after a not so nice sleep in the hospital bed I gave up trying to sleep and woke up at about 7:00 a.m.After I woke the day nurse came in to give me the breakdown of what the day had for me. She first gave me more morphine because my chest was still bothering me.

Though she laid out the day with starting pumping and pumping TONS of fluids into my system so that my pee was healthy enough before he could start the three chemos I would be getting today. And of course we all know how awesome I am, my pee passed on the first try..Which my Nurse Sam was very astonished because usually it takes 2 or 3 times before pee passes the test.

Then at 11:30 I was given my three anti nausea drugs which are Zofran, Adovan, and

After letting the drugs sit in for 30 minutes time came for the first round of Chemo. The Chemo for this round are CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE or (Cytoxan). This was administered to me through the IV on the port in my chest. The second Chemo was Vinciristine and the third is Topotecan.

All of this chemo was pumped into my body over a hour and a half. I now feel much better but am debating whether or not I should try to eat becuase a side effect of all the Chemos is Nausea.

So one day of Chemo is done and they will repeat this same process for the next 4 days making it 5 total days of chemo. I will than be allowed to go home and enjoy the comforts of my bed ad home cooking.

So there will be a total of 10 rounds at least and they will all be about three weeks apart from each other. Also they want to add radiation and surgery so a guesstimated length of total treatment is 10 months to one year.

I have moved back home to San Diego to work with the doctors who helped me through my first round of cancer treatment.

Many have asked what kinda of cancer I have.

I have a bone cancer called Ewings Sarcoma. The first time I was diagnosed they found a tumor the size of a golf ball in my right thigh. And I went in for my annual check ups during the past few weeks and they saw something suspicious in my lungs. So after a PET Scan (a scan that scans everything in your body) they saw that there were for sure lumps of something in both lungs and a cluster of them at the bottom of the left lung. So they signed me up to have surgery on OCT 1st so that they could go into my lungs get some of the stuff out to biopsy and see what it really is.

The next day the phone rings and it is my Doctor Dr. Schiff. She tells us that it is in fact Ewings sarcoma and that we will need to start chemo immediately. So thats how I got from normal kid to now sitting on a bed blogging. It is life and it will be fun.

Monday Oct. 6th

Today was quite an eventful today. It all started with a 8:30 am appoint with my oncologist (cancer doctor) Dr. Schiff. They told about with chemo I will be getting and the side affects that each one has. Then we went to check in for surgery at 9:30. After completing check-in we sat in the surgery waiting room for about an hour then were called into the consultation room to meet with the surgeon and anesthesiologist where we sat for another 20 minutes or so. After meeting with the surgeon and anesthesiologist the nurse came and escorted me to the operating room where I laid down on the table and the anesthesiologist told me she would let me know when all the sleeping medicine was in but I passed out before that happened.

When I woke up for my deep sleep I now had a port-a-cath in the left side of my chest which is a totally under the skin and is accessed by a needle. This is used to give me the chemo and connects me to the IV pole. During the surgery I also had a bone marrow aspiration so that my bone marrow can be tested to see if there is cancer in that as well.

After I woke up they moved me to my room where I am spending the night. I had to move beds which was quite painful. At this point all I wanted to do was sleep but my many visitors who not allow me. I met my nurse Michelle and she wanted me to get out of bed so that she could get my weight and height which I kindly declined to do because of the pain I was in. She then took my vitals (blood pressure and temperature) . Then at some point in my anesthesia/morphine induced sleep I was awoken by the women doing my bone scan later in the day. She injected me with radio active stuff which will light up my bones so that they will be able to see them better and determine if there is anything wrong with them. Then at about 5:45 I woke up and was actually coherent enough to get out of bed and to do my height and weight and sign all the papers that are needed because my mom cannot sign my papers because I am over 18.

After getting more morphine I was put in a wheelchair and wheeled over to radiology where I had the bone scan which scan my whole body and takes about 30 minutes. I was then wheeled back to my room to 2 bites of pretzels, which was the first bite of food for the day and then another wheel chair arrived for me to go and have an MRI of my brain and right leg. After the hour and fifteen minute MRI I was wheeled back to my room which I ate 2 bags of pretzels, a bottle of water, red gatorade, and am now eatting some cheddar crackers with peanut butter.

So that was my day today. Very busy and jammed pack. Tomorrow I start my first of many rounds of chemo and will keep you all updated on how things go.

I will also be keeping a running total of how many times I get poked by needles, which will include shots, IV's, and have blood taken. I will also be keeping a running total of how many scans I will have.

Today's needle pokes: 2