In My Room

I am in my new hospital room at UCSF. I have a window facing south with a view of a hillside with eucalyptus trees and a peek of the top of the Sutro Tower. Outside the room down the hall there is a solarium with comfortable chairs, a TV and a nice view of the city looking north. The door stays closed all the time. A technician was in here earlier to check the air flow in here. He told me there is positive pressure and a HEPA filter that circulates the air at least eight times per hour.

I'm overjoyed that the food is profoundly better than Sutter. The bread is not always white and there is a good selection of fresh fruit. The meat is not overcooked and the sauces have subtle flavors that suggest a real chef is at work. I have only been here for a day and a half now so I haven't seen the whole rotating menu but so far it is very good. I asked about how the menu will change after I am neutropenic. The nurse assured me that there will still be fresh fruit and salads. Recently a nurse did a study here and found that there is little or no difference in the cleanliness of fresh fruit over canned fruit as long as the hospital does the selection and cleaning.

This morning a spinning bike was brought here. I will have to share it with another patient down the hall. I spent about 50 minutes on it already. The seat is a little too cushy like most spin bikes. I prefer the more bone like saddle that I am used to. The bars don't adjust forward enough to mimic my road bike but you can't have everything. I have my cleats with me and the pedals are compatible which is nice.

I have started my first round of chemotherapy with the drugs Fludarabine and Busulfan. So far my platelets have dropped along with my white cell count but it seems that my red cells are holding steady for now. The regimen is for five days. They will give my body two days of rest and then introduce Mauras' stem cells next Thursday.

Maura stopped in today to say hi after she picked up her Neupogen. She will have to inject herself for the next five days to stimulate her bone marrow to dump a whole lot of stem cells into her blood stream. She will be back here next Wednesday just down the hall strapped to a table while they harvest all those fresh stem cells. I will have to go over there and visit for a while.

Overall I still feel good. The staff keeps asking me if I am nauseous or if I have any pain. So far so good

Take Care