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| Waiting for Transplant to start.. |
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| Feeling good prior to transplant |
Monday, the 21st, was transplant day. Laraine and Emily came and decorated my room. I will always remember this day as my "Bone Marrow Birthday". I was given benadryl to make me sleepy. There was a nurse and a student nurse watching over me. I was given a total of seven bags of stemcells, all cryogenically preserved. The tech would "thaw" one bag at a time in a water bath until they were about 39 degrees and then the nurse would hang the bag and let it drip into me. It took about 1 1/2 hours to complete the transplant and then the dry heaves set in. I felt cold afterwards so Emily got a couple of warmed blankets, which made me more comfortable. I was able to sleep after that.
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| Bringing out the frozen cells |
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| Hooking Jeff up to the transplant tubing. |
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| The stem cells are infusing! |
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| Transplant finished, now the stinky smell of cream corn sets in for a couple of days! (That comes from the DMSO or preservative that the stem cells were frozen in) |
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Each day since then is about the same (the doctors say it's supposed to be boring) so that is good. They're trying to keep the nausea under control and I'm still trying to eat enough calories and protein. I have to wait another 10 to 12 days before engraftment and things start to get better. Right now my blood levels are dropping, as expected. Eventually I will bottom out and hopefully soon after I will engraft and my body will start making its own blood cells, my body will slowly start to heal and hopefully food will look and taste good again. Quite a process.
Aly and Davie are here from St. George for the Thanksgiving weekend. It's always nice to have my family around me.
CANCER SUCKS!
I just wanted you to know that we are following your blog. Thank you for taking the time to keep us updated! We are praying for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteCamille, Keith and kids
Just a note to tell you of our great love and concern. You are both never far from our hearts and minds and certainly you are in every prayer. We know we can't begin to understand what this is like for both of you. We are thankful for the medical care you are receiving. As dreadful as this is, we wouldn't have much hope without it. We won't try to visit you while your situation is so fragile, but our hearts are there.
ReplyDeleteLove, Grandma, Linda and Jack