Soon time to go back...

Plans for admittance on Wed. to HUP for Round 4 have not changed. Richard had a follow-up visit with Dr. Andreadis this morning for a cancer-related physical. The doctor said his counts are up, and he appears to be ready for more treatment. Richard said they plan to do another scan on Wednesday night or Thursday morning before they start the Methotrexate to see how the tumor responded to the last treatment.

Richard was tired this afternoon and evening and went to bed early. He's been doing a lot since he felt so good, but I think his body is now telling him that he needs to keep active, but make sure to get a lot of rest too! Hopefully, a really good night's sleep will help. Speaking of sleep, I'm well overdue to be in bed...5:15 a.m. comes too soon! Goodnight everybody! Love, Daphne

Weekend Update

Good evening, everyone! Richard is still feeling more like himself. The results from Mondays CSF culture did not show any bacteria, so it looks like his infection is completely gone. His counts are looking good right now.

We are still working on the house to get a lot done before Richard feels bad again. It's coming along, but not without roadblocks. Things just can't go smoothly for us - we're starting to get used to it. We have started saying, "Well, this is another example of 'our luck'." However, we still end up the "winners" in the end. Not much can stop us from accomplishing what we want to accomplish.

Dr. Andreadis plans to admit him to HUP this Wednesday, May 2nd for his 4th round of chemotherapy. This will be a cycle B. I was able to take off on Thursday and Friday this time to be with him. We are hoping with a Wednesday admittance, he'll be able to come home on Sunday. This cycle is a shorter cycle, but then he has to wait for the drug called "Methotrexate" to flush out of his system. When it gets to a safer level, he's allowed to go home. This cycle really knocks out his platelets, so we will be keeping a close eye on them when he comes home after this round. Richard is not looking forward to be back at HUP already and then feeling tired again, but he knows he has to do it.

We still need prayers!

Love, Daphne

Up and About

Richard is still feeling fairly well. He went out for a few hours today and said hello to some of his friends at work, including his boss. He also went and ordered some plumbing fixtures we need at our house. This evening, he and his dad are working on hooking up our washer and dryer at our house. We better watch out - he's getting his hands in a little bit of plumbing work!

On Monday, Richard got a "push" of chemo. into his chest port. It's just a part of his treatment schedule. He also got some CSF pulled from his Omaya for another culture. The doctors at Penn. just want to be sure the infection is gone. This coming Monday, he will go down to HUP for a follow-up exam with Dr. Andreadis. The doctor is expecting to readmit him for Round 4 next Wednesday, May 2nd. Richard feels like he just got home! He's not really looking forward to going back, but what can we do? We have to keep shrinking that tumor.

Thanks to all of you who continue to leave comments on the blog. We look forward to reading your thoughts, prayers, well-wishes, words of wisdom, humor, etc. It keeps us all "in the loop."

Have a wonderful evening!
Love, Daphne

Feeling Good... :)

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated for a few days. Richard has been feeling fairly well the past few days, and we've been taking advantage of it. The metal mouth side effect seems to have passed. He finished his at-home antibiotics on Saturday. A visiting nurse came out and de-accessed his port this morning. The only side effect he's dealing with now is tired arms and legs. He doesn't feel as "sleepy" tired as he was earlier in the week.

We found a bedroom suite that we liked at Good's Furniture on Friday night. It's made by Broyhill and it's their "Northern Lights" set. We are going back to order it tomorrow.

On Saturday, Richard helped his Dad outside, which was enjoyable for both of them.

Today, Richard and I had a small picnic at the park across from the development where our house is located. We went to Lowe's and picked up some items for our bathroom (vanity, wall cabinet, etc.). Richard commented to me that he really enjoyed this weekend because we/he spent a lot of time doing "normal" things.

He's calling his doctor in Phila. tomorrow to find out when he should be heading back for Round 4. We are thinking it will probably be the first or second week in May.

This week, Richard has his regular blood work Monday and Thursday, but he will also be getting some CSF fluid pulled from his Omaya for a culture. They want to make sure the infection is gone for good.

Rich is trying to accomplish and enjoy as much as possible during his good days here because his white blood cell counts may drop this week. Usually, he doesn't feel the fact that they've dropped (except for fatigue), but if they do, he has to try to avoid crowded public places. Usually, they come back up within 2-3 days.

Thanks for your patience with this delayed update. Hopefully, Rich will get a chance to update for himself this week so you all can hear from him personally!
Love, Daphne

HOME AT LAST!

Good morning! Richard came home last night from HUP! He's feeling okay...he has slight nausea if he doesn't take meds for it. Other than that, he's just very, very worn out. His body is very weak, but what do we expect? They just pumped toxic chemicals into his body! I would be tired and weak too! He's very happy to be home! He's resting today.

The visiting nurse came over to his house last night to show him how to hook up his antibiotics with his port. She accessed his port so he has a needle with a tube on the end. Every 8 hours he hooks up a pressurized ball of antibiotics to his port. He will have to do this until Saturday. The pressurized ball only allows the antibiotic to flow in at 175 mL per hour. He has 335 mL total. He learned how to flush his port with a syringe of saline before and after antibiotics as well. It's not hard for him - he's watched the nurses do it often enough, plus he's a plumber! Tubing, connections, and valves are nothing new!

We're so happy to have him home again! Thanks again for everything you all do for him! Love, Daphne

Coming Home Today!

Good morning! Richard is coming home today! The doctors are going to continue his antibiotics this morning and send him home this afternoon. He's ready to come home -that's for sure!
He's been feeling very, very tired and worn out the past day or so from the chemo. Thankfully, medications are able to control any nausea. He's ready to get a couple days of sleep.
On Thursday, he has an appt. with Dr. Andreadis (at HUP) to get one more dose of antibiotics into his Omaya port and his Neulasta shot (white blood cell booster).
Thanks to everybody who made food and/or came and stayed with him during this last hospital stay. It's really nice of all of you to take your time and resources to help us all out. We still have a long road ahead, but we're working through it - one day at a time.
Richard is really looking forward to his good days before his next round. He and I want to start looking at furniture for our bedroom at our house! Our house is coming along - my sister has been instrumental in helping get primer on the walls and trim. It's tinted to our paint colors, so it's really starting to look like a home, rather than a construction zone! We're almost done with primer! Richard hasn't seen the house for awhile, so boy, will he be surprised when he sees the progress we've made!
Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. The road to Richard's remission is getting shorter one day at a time! Love, Daphne

Still at HUP...

Good afternoon, everybody. Richard finished his last bag of chemo. at 3:00 a.m. this morning. Unfortunately, he is not yet able to go home because the doctors said he has to finish his antibiotics. He is getting intrathecal antibiotics into his Omaya port and antibiotics into his chest port as well. We requested that the doctors discuss sending him home and then have him get the IV antibiotics from a visiting nurse group. He will probably at least have to stay here to get the intrathecal antibiotics through Wednesday or Thursday. Richard is quite disappointed about this because he was thinking he would be able to go home when the chemo. is complete. After this cycle of drugs, he sleeps for several days. He is not looking forward to trying to accomplish that here at HUP. We just keep telling ourselves that it could be worse, and this is really not all that bad compared to what some people go through. Thanks again for all of your love and support. Love, Daphne

P.S. Gabby, I resent the comment about the Easter pics.... ;P

HUP, HUP, HUPPY EASTER!

Hello to All,
We spent Easter weekend at the hospital at U. of P., and some of our family came to visit. I wanted to share some of our photos with all of you, to prove to you that Richard is still in good spirits and fighting a good fight! Enjoy the pics, Karen & Rich

Photo #1: The Rocchi family bringing Easter dinner to us in the family waiting room at the hospital. Thank you, Marie, for the delicious ham dinner, and thanks, Pat, for taking the photo!
Photo #2: Rich and Daphne celebrating Easter, 2007 together.
Photo #3: Part of the Frattarola clan celebrating Easter Monday (Visiting Day as known in the Amish community) with us. Paula, thanks for the great dinner.
Photo #4: Richard trying his darndest to get his meds into his head-port. The drugs are getting to him!!!!

Friday Night

Richard started his third chemo. treatment yesterday afternoon. He will get a total of 6 bags every 12 hours. He is feeling good and has had no fevers. He goes for walks around the hospital each day, usually dragging his "tree" behind. They are continuing to give him doses of antibiotics into his Omaya port each day as a precautionary measure. He is also still getting antibiotics throughout the rest of his body. Hopefully, he'll be a able to come home in a couple of days. For those of you who are interested, he was moved to floor 6 because they needed a room on floor 7 for a transplant patient coming in. He has two primary nurses on this floor that are really nice. They "signed up" for him, apparently. One of them actually lives 3 minutes from our house in Neffsville.
Have a great night everybody! Love, Daphne

P.S. Thanks for the poem, Carl!

A GREETING FROM RICHARD FROM H.U.P.

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. Hello to the County Line Medical Staff who I found out puts my latest updates up for all to read. Thank you for putting me on the road to recovery. Thank you to Dr. Andreadis from H.U.P. for keeping me healthy and getting me better everyday! Now, onto business. Chemotherapy treatments are starting tomorrow, Thursday, April 12. So I will be going from feeling pretty good and energetic to, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. But, like I say, it is a means to an end. The infection in the omaya port in my head has been clear now for three days and neither I nor the doctors think it will be returning. As far as the chest port is concerned, it has been working now for two days without problem so I am keeping my fingers crossed because I am learning to really hate getting stuck with needles for blood tests. Thank you to all in my family for bringing me homecooked meals, you know who you are. Yum. Yum. Gotta love family food over this hospital food. Well, I will hopefully be updating this from my home next time if I am able to keep my head up and off of the keyboard for more than ten minutes. My love to all! Richard David

The Latest

I was not at the hospital today; however, from talking to Richard on the phone a little earlier, he seemed to have had a good day today. Dr. Andreadis (hi, doc!)feels comfortable starting his chemo. tomorrow as long as the culture of CSF they took today shows up negative for infection/bacteria.

His chest port is getting blood return again. Apparently, the specialists injected "draino" for chest ports. (I don't know the official name - I only got to talk to him for a few minutes, I'll add the real name later on tonight after I talk to him in more detail.)

His temp. has remained at a normal level (although, he is still HOT...)! ;)

I had to take care of some things at home tonight, but I will be going back down tomorrow after work. I'll give you all the inside scoop. As always, thanks for your thoughts and prayers! They're helping us through this.
Richard sends his love to everyone! Love, Daphne

P.S. Thanks for the poem, Carl. I love it!

Happy Easter!

Hello everyone! Happy Easter to all of you! Rich and I are relaxing today...not much going on. The doctors do not yet see any infection in the CSF they took yesterday from his Omaya port. That's great! They will continue to give him the antibiotic in the Omaya for a few days just to be sure and they will continue to monitor the culture they took yesterday to make sure nothing starts to grow.

Richard's red blood cell counts were a bit low, so he got 2 units of blood today. He is on the 2nd bag now and all has been successful.

They are hoping to start his third round of chemo. this week so he can go home as soon as possible.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers! Love, Daphne

A quick "hi" from Richard as well

Hello to everybody. When I'm feeling better, I'll write a longer message. Thanks for all of your continued support. Sorry I've been unavailable or haven't answered calls for awhile, as I've been sleeping a lot or attempting to run away from phlebotomists with big needles. Waiting for results can be just as exhausting. In conclusion, I still have cancer, but I'm on the road to recovery. Love, Richard

Back at HUP...again

Here we are again...back down at HUP. Richard's Omaya (head) port has traces of infection - co-ag negative Staph. The doctors at LGH recommended that he come back down here to have the doctors who put it in decide what is best. They may attempt to treat it with antibiotics, if possible. If they cannot, they will have to remove the port and will not be able to put another one in for a few weeks. His doctor hopes to clear up the infection and give him his next round of chemo. while he is here. Richard was transported in a wheelchair van late this afternoon. Nothing much has happened this evening. It's hard to have him back at HUP again, but in the long-run, this is one step closer to being done with all this and Richard being back to his optimal health. He is feeling fairly well, with the exception of fatigue and occasional nausea (mostly first thing in the morning). He's in with a doctor now, just answering some basic questions, etc. He will also have his chest port looked at while he is here because they are having trouble getting blood return. They think the tube might be too far down into his heart. Well, I just wanted to fill you all in on how Richard's doing and what's going on with his health. Love, Daphne

STILL at LGH

Richard is still at LGH. The doctors are still doing a lot of bloodwork and blood cultures. They can't seem to control his fever for an extended amount of time. Headaches come on suddenly. Last night, the nurses had difficulty re-accessing his chest port. They removed the tubes for awhile to let it air out, and when they went to re-access it, 4 different people could not get blood return or get fluids in. All felt that they were in the right place. This morning, he is supposed to have a portagram, a test that allows them to see the needle inside the port with an x-ray type machine. Hopefully, whatever is going on is an easy-fix and nothing too complicated. He is in good spirits most of the time and doesn't feel too bad most of the time. The toughest thing is getting a moment's peace! He had a good night's sleep last night, thankfully.
Love, Daphne

Rich still at LGH...

Just a quick note to let you know that Rich is still at Lancaster General with a fever. The fever has calmed down with the help of drugs (And Darlene's chocolate cake and milk). They think that Rich may have a touch of pneumonia, because they see some shadows on his CAT scan. But, the really good news is that his tumor has reduced in size to less than half of what it was before! Alleluia! Thank God and all of the doctors and nurses for their good work! Keep it up!

Word around the room is that he won't be going to HUP for Easter, his doctor wants him to go home after this hospital visit and rest until the following weekend. Which is alright with us; we want to see him get home for awhile. Rich's spirits are high, but he's anxious to get up and around again. He sends his "Hello's" to everyone, and said that he'll be on the blog again soon when he gets home. Thanks to all of you for the thoughts and prayers.
We love you, Karen

Richard at LGH for awhile...

Hi All,
On Saturday morning at 3:00 AM Richard woke up with a fever higher than the allowed level of 100.5. We called the doctor, and were told to monitor it for 30 minutes to see if it returns to normal. It went down to normal, and we all went back to bed. We all awoke to a hot Richie. (No, not hot like that! Although, he thinks he is!!!) This time the fever wouldn't go down, so into Lancaster General went sped. After testing his blood and spinal fluid and calling the Hospital of U. of P. to confer, so far we knew as much as before: sometimes these things happen during chemo treatments. We have a couple of results to wait for, but the doctors seem to feel that the fever just has to run its course with antibiotics and hydration.

So we are unsure if Rich will be going to HUP on Thursday as planned; everything depends on his recovery in the next day or two. As of today, I'm at home feeling a cold coming on, so I'm not taking any chances being with Richie, but Rich and Peter are at the hospital with Daphne, her family, and her friends,Erin and Mike from Ohio.

During all of this testing to find the cause of the fever, we did have some good news, Rich's tumor is very small. Compared to when he first went to Lancaster General, Rich's tumor is minimal. Let's hope the progress continues with few problems and no fevers along the way.

Keep the prayers coming; the end isn't in sight, yet.
If I don't see all of you any time soon, have a very Happy Easter. It's my favorite time of the year!
Love, Karen