Treatment Days, Port & Pump

Typical Treatment Day...

Treatment days are long... we used to go into the city early which we hated. It meant starting our day off in Boston rush hour traffic as well as ending our days in traffic. It made an already miserable day that much more miserable. Now we like to arrange for Mike to get treatment later in the day. An 11:45am appointment requires us to leave about an hour in advance. We start our day by leaving the house at 10:45am. Once we get to Dana Farber we park in the very convenient parking garage and go up to the 2nd floor to check him in. Parking is free for cancer patients so I usually run back down to the 1st floor to validate his parking. I also pick up his prescriptions for the week at the pharmacy on the 2nd floor. After that he waits at the lab in a room of about 20-40 people to get his blood work done. Then we make our way upstairs to the 7th floor (gastrointestinal floor) to meet with his Oncologist, Dr. Rubinson at 1:15pm. His oncologist is great! He is the same age as Mike, 37. He is young, informative, and really listens to our concerns. We like him. It's crucial to have an awesome oncologist on your team. We are very thankful for him. We can call him any time day or night with any concerns we have.

After meeting with the doctor we go over to the transfusion side and wait to be called in. Around 2:00pm Mike goes in to receives his chemo therapy for 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours. The current chemotherapy that Mike is being treated with is FOLFIRINOX it is the combination of 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin. Some treatment days are better than others. Usually he feels pretty miserable and exhausted. He gets very hot and extremely nauseous. He spends most his time resting in and out of sleep. I keep busy by reading or using my computer. His mother Judy comes to treatments each week with us. We take our usual trips down to the café and bring back different snacks for Mike. He always laughs at us. Between Judy and I we always make things interesting for Mike. It is usually quite comical! The rooms are small. Some are better than others. We love the private rooms with a bed and a tray. They are quiet and have more privacy however they are hard to come by! Sometimes we have to deal with what we get. Mike did push one time to have us moved to a "better" room. His wishes were granted! While we are there certain specialists drop by to meet with us. We see a wonderful social worker each week. She has helped us with getting gift cards for groceries, information to set Mike up with different programs, resources for Mike, Ava and myself, information on support groups, as well as a check in with me to see how things are going. She has been great. Any information that comes her way she shares with us. Sometimes we see a nutritionist who helps me work on Mike's diet. We have also seen a pain and palliative specialist that has helped with Mike's pain management. The nurses are always great and very helpful. We both can not speak highly enough about how great Dana Farber has been to us.

When his chemo is ending the nurse comes into to disconnect the IV's. He then has a pump put on to go home with. Once we pack up our things we are off to usually sit in traffic on Storrow Drive. I have to admit I do the driving in and out of Boston and I've gotten pretty good at it. Even Mike's mom agrees with me! If we are lucky we make it home around 7:00pm or 8:00pm. Treatment days are easily 9 hours days. They are exhausting... and we hate them...

Port

What Mike's port looks like under his skin

Shortly after being diagnosed Mike had a port put in his chest. For those who do not know what it is here is an explanation...  
A port (or portacath) is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical "needle stick". 

IV being connected to the port through the skin

Mike's port is on his right side under his collarbone. He has a small incision scar as well as a bump of where his port is beneath his skin. For the most part he does not feel it. However it is hard for him to sleep on his right side. He has to be careful and make sure nothing hits it. Each time he goes in for treatment they access the port and give him chemo through it. Whenever he has blood taken they also go right through the port. Mike hated having IV's in his arm so this is a much more effective.

Pump

Here is Mike with the 46 hour pump

Like I mentioned before Mike goes home with a pump after treatments. The pump has 3 oz of chemo that slowly continues to go into him for 46 hours. The purpose of the pump is to continuously release chemo into Mike's body to continue to kill cancer growing cells over a longer period of time. After his pump is finished we have to follow certain instructions to disconnect the pump and take it out of his body. I have learned how to do this so we don't have to take him back to Dana Farber each time. It is one less hospital trip for us which is always a plus. After I disconnect it I give him a shot in the back of his arm to boost his immune system. Now Mike is free of needles and cords which makes him very happy. Usually the first thing he does is run to shower. You can shower with the pump on but its usually pretty miserable being tethered to a line.

The next few days he usually takes it easy and rests a lot. We play the endless battle of making him drink plenty of fluids and make sure he eats. Sometimes it's nearly impossible when he is too nauseous to get out of bed though.

He is a champ. He doesn't believe me but he is. He has admitted to me in the past that at low times he quits but... I won't let him. Between the two of us he will NEVER give up. I love my fighter! 


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