Fitted for Suit

Well, it has been quite a week of medical tests starting on Monday and wrapping up with a final review with the Dr and approval to move ahead this afternoon. Actually, the consent forms that I signed are still subject to results of tests that my brother had today but won't be known until Monday. The start of the process has been delayed until Tuesday, May 1, when I should check into the hospital.

The first thing that will be done is placement of a central line, a dual-lumen catheter that is inserted into my chest and goes under the skin to my jugular vein near my neck. This will be used for all IV and blood draws for the next several months. A review of that procedure was the subject of one of my consultations this week. I had other consultations about all of the chemotherapy and side effects. I signed about 6 different agreements for research studies relative to the main BMT or related tests.

One was related to the study of osteoporosis in BMT patients. I had a bone density scan that showed that I did not qualify since my bones are denser that average. [One benefit of being overweight.] I had a pulmonary function test that showed my lungs were operating at about 75% of normal. A chest x-ray, a CT scan, an EKG and a MUGA heart scan did not show any problems. In fact, my lungs seem clear from the blood clots that I had before though there has been some permanent damage.

The big test was a Bone Marrow Biopsy which still showed all of the same results that it has for the last two years. This biopsy was about average level of torture of the five that I have had. I did it with just local lidocaine and novocaine. There was pressure as they extracted the bone marrow sample with a hollow needle and then pain as they sucked out aspirate three more times. The December test took three attempts before they got a good bone sample.

So why am I being fitted for a suit. That was actually a joke with the doctor who I consulted with about the radiation therapy. I will get a TBI, total body irradiation. The radiation is given from both sides of my body . In order to assure that the radiation is uniform between narrow parts of the body, such as the head, versus wider parts such as through the arms and chest, the technician makes up filters to reduce the x-ray beam to the narrow parts. In order to make the filters, the patient's body is measured with wide calipers, similar to being measured "for a suit". The actual radiation will probably be given on Monday, May 7, and is at a level about 1/5th what they use normally. That will be after about 5 days of chemotherapy and just before the actual BMT.