My first day with the new cells. Hmm, I don't feel like Ray yet...
Things went pretty well yesterday. Ray spent most of the day in apheresis (the process of getting his cells collected) and reached the right count around 4pm. The transplant to me didn't start until about 7pm, and it only took an hour. There were some pre-meds beforehand to counter or control an allergic reaction, and some meds afterward because I did get the chills/shakes quite badly followed by a low-grade fever. All in all, from beginning to end the whole thing took about 2.5 hours. It's still pretty weird knowing that Ray and I were different blood types and after his cells "take", I will go from being blood type O to A. When I got the chills & shakes, the Charge Nurse, also known as the nurse in charge :), said "Well, we did just infuse you with an incompatible blood type..." This is pretty weird shit alright!
The fever was gone by bedtime and I actually had a really good sleep. This morning, I feel fine. They say Days +1 to +3 (transplant day is Day 0) are surprisingly uneventful, which I find kind of strange, and things start to get dicey in the next couple of weeks as they lower my immune system to accept the new cells and my body sorts things out. But for now, Wayne and I are celebrating that we have this opportunity, made it to transplant day without a relapse, and things so far have gone really well.
My appetite is not great and it's a bit of a struggle to figure out what to try to eat everyday. I know I need the calories, and Wayne, as always, offers to go out and get "anything I want". So I've sent him out to get food where the thought of it doesn't turn my stomach, only for it to arrive in front of me and I have to push it away like a finicky cat. I haven't lost too much weight yet, and as long as something doesn't make me gag, I will try to force at least a little bit of it down. There are the meal-replacement drinks, but I don't want to have them actually replace a meal three times a day.
I'm crossing my fingers that I can get out of the hospital today for a few hours on a day-pass and spend some time at home. Unfortunately, socializing probably isn't in the cards for a while. Prevention is a key focus right now and we're doing everything we can to prevent or minimize some of those undesired side-effects and possibility of infection.
Stay tuned to The Hotline for more updates.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Here We Go!
And so we begin.
I initially thought the "beginning" was yesterday, but it turns out that while I was officially admitted to the hospital, I just received a test dose of one of the chemo drugs. I was given a small amount of the drug and then had blood drawn/tested throughout the day and evening to see how my body metabolized it. From this, they'll calculate what my real dosage should be for the big-bang treatment that starts tomorrow.
I've felt really good this past month, with no major problems and yesterday was the first time I've been back in Unit 57 for six weeks! It was a bit strange as all the nurses and support staff greeted me with smiles and friendly banter. Even the lunch lady did a double-take when she passed my room, poked her head in and said "you're back!" On the one hand it's comforting to be "where everybody knows your name", but kinda depressing when the place is a hospital.
The patients do get spoiled at the Tom Baker - as you all know from my experience in the cardiology ward, not all units give such good care. I asked my nurse yesterday if she was having a busy day and she said no, she only had 3 patients assigned! She proceeded to explain that they may have gone easy on her because I needed my blood drawn regularly and at very specific and exact times, and another one of her patients was being administered chemo which is quite procedural. At any rate, a 3-1 nurse to patient ratio is pretty amazing.
For now, I get to go home in the evenings - hopefully for the rest of this week and the weekend. The British Open starts tomorrow and I can't get the Golf Channel in the hospital! They tell me that I'll start to feel the effects in about a week, and again the mouth sores are usually one of the main problems. I was instructed to put on as much weight as possible before the transplant on July 20th, because there will likely be a period of time where I can't or don't want to eat. I happily complied and have put on almost 20 lbs from when I was the lightest (94 to 112 lbs). Even the dietitian said that since it's a short-term thing, it didn't matter how I got the calories - just eat eat eat! Everything was fair game - pizza, KFC, cupcakes... yes, yes and YES! I did try to balance things out and had lots of fruits and vegetables too.
As mentioned in my previous post, I had a barrage of tests to do in preparation and my doctor told me yesterday that they all turned out really well. The CT scan showed my lymph nodes are the smallest they've been (since she started monitoring them) and my bone marrow biopsy showed ZERO contamination. Looks like the GDP chemo did a really good job of getting things under control. The dentist also gave me a big thumbs up, which strengthens my argument with Wayne that yes, he really SHOULD brush his teeth twice a day :)
Things are also well under way for the immuno-therapy treatment in Houston after the transplant. It turns out that this treatment is still in a trial phase so it's free! As far as I know, and my doctor agrees, there isn't a lot of risk associated with it so I'm not too worried that it's still in trials. Ray (or rather his blood) passed all the required tests so both his blood and mine have been sent to them. They'll do whatever magic they do and then I hope to go down there around end of October to be infused with the modified T-cells they've grown/manufactured. Kind of weird, yah.
So I'm feeling a bit anxious, scared and excited all at the same time. I'll try to keep you all updated on how things are going. My hair has grown back quite a bit in the last 6-8 weeks so it will be a bit of a downer to see it all fall out again (if it does). Right now I look like a baby monkey - and Wayne likes to rub my head and say "Awwww!". I'll need lots of encouragement in the next month so please keep in touch!
I initially thought the "beginning" was yesterday, but it turns out that while I was officially admitted to the hospital, I just received a test dose of one of the chemo drugs. I was given a small amount of the drug and then had blood drawn/tested throughout the day and evening to see how my body metabolized it. From this, they'll calculate what my real dosage should be for the big-bang treatment that starts tomorrow.
I've felt really good this past month, with no major problems and yesterday was the first time I've been back in Unit 57 for six weeks! It was a bit strange as all the nurses and support staff greeted me with smiles and friendly banter. Even the lunch lady did a double-take when she passed my room, poked her head in and said "you're back!" On the one hand it's comforting to be "where everybody knows your name", but kinda depressing when the place is a hospital.
The patients do get spoiled at the Tom Baker - as you all know from my experience in the cardiology ward, not all units give such good care. I asked my nurse yesterday if she was having a busy day and she said no, she only had 3 patients assigned! She proceeded to explain that they may have gone easy on her because I needed my blood drawn regularly and at very specific and exact times, and another one of her patients was being administered chemo which is quite procedural. At any rate, a 3-1 nurse to patient ratio is pretty amazing.
For now, I get to go home in the evenings - hopefully for the rest of this week and the weekend. The British Open starts tomorrow and I can't get the Golf Channel in the hospital! They tell me that I'll start to feel the effects in about a week, and again the mouth sores are usually one of the main problems. I was instructed to put on as much weight as possible before the transplant on July 20th, because there will likely be a period of time where I can't or don't want to eat. I happily complied and have put on almost 20 lbs from when I was the lightest (94 to 112 lbs). Even the dietitian said that since it's a short-term thing, it didn't matter how I got the calories - just eat eat eat! Everything was fair game - pizza, KFC, cupcakes... yes, yes and YES! I did try to balance things out and had lots of fruits and vegetables too.
As mentioned in my previous post, I had a barrage of tests to do in preparation and my doctor told me yesterday that they all turned out really well. The CT scan showed my lymph nodes are the smallest they've been (since she started monitoring them) and my bone marrow biopsy showed ZERO contamination. Looks like the GDP chemo did a really good job of getting things under control. The dentist also gave me a big thumbs up, which strengthens my argument with Wayne that yes, he really SHOULD brush his teeth twice a day :)
Things are also well under way for the immuno-therapy treatment in Houston after the transplant. It turns out that this treatment is still in a trial phase so it's free! As far as I know, and my doctor agrees, there isn't a lot of risk associated with it so I'm not too worried that it's still in trials. Ray (or rather his blood) passed all the required tests so both his blood and mine have been sent to them. They'll do whatever magic they do and then I hope to go down there around end of October to be infused with the modified T-cells they've grown/manufactured. Kind of weird, yah.
So I'm feeling a bit anxious, scared and excited all at the same time. I'll try to keep you all updated on how things are going. My hair has grown back quite a bit in the last 6-8 weeks so it will be a bit of a downer to see it all fall out again (if it does). Right now I look like a baby monkey - and Wayne likes to rub my head and say "Awwww!". I'll need lots of encouragement in the next month so please keep in touch!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)