Hello All.....Day +2 as I write here. I had a successful 7 days of chemo from the 12th - 18th, followed by 2 rest days and the big moment.....re-infusion of my stem cells (aka stem cell transplant). Overall, I've had relatively light side effects (knock on wood). Here's a few pics of how the meds flow and the ridiculous amounts of fluid being pumped into my body. The stem cell transplant itself was anti-climatic, just like a blood transfusion, took no longer than an hour to complete. The cool parts about it were the cryo chamber they come in and the weird taste that hits your taste buds, due to the preservatives...tasted like garlic, creamed corn (and supposedly smelled like that to others in the room - Nurse / Cryo Guy / Maneesha). So now that the SCT is complete it's just a waiting game with my blood counts. I have to bottom out and as of now I'm pretty much there. I expect to have some platelet transfusions over the next couple of days and hopefully my counts will ...
Hello family & friends...it's been a while since my last post. There are 2 reasons for this: 1. The pneumonia was the cause of my issues post chemo (rounds 1 & 2) and the last 2 rounds (3 & 4) have been non-eventful and I've felt great (for the 1st time since last year) ! 2. After my 4th round I was due for a lot of testing to determine 1) If the treatment is working and 2) based on that; will we move forward with my Stem Cell Transplant (SCT) after my 6th treatment. A MOMENT OF TRUTH! I received all my test results yesterday 10/22 and I'm ecstatic to report that everything is moving as planned, the Dr.'s are happy. More specifically ( for the Dr. folks out here 😀 ), from my bone marrow biopsy there is no bone marrow involvement and from my CT scan my spleen is back to normal size, no new areas of growth and many lymph nodes are back to normal size (some still a little larger than normal but that could just be scarring - won't know for sur...
One thing that has become VERY apparent to me is HOW IMPORTANT BLOOD DONATION IS . I urge everyone out there who possible can to begin donating blood. There is an extreme shortage with COVID and in general there is never enough. I used to donate blood through work and unfortunately I will never be able to do that again. I am someone who is probably going to need transfusions off and on for the rest of my life, so if you really want to help PLEASE DONATE!!! https://www.redcross.org/?cid=generic&med=cpc&source=google&scode=RSG00000E017&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpNr4BRDYARIsAADIx9zk1bjlJnTsJITUMJymemE4hLXDykLLk9ub9MqMYXealy90sED5BY0aAtOVEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds (***someone told me if you have the same blood type as someone you know you can actually save your blood for them, not sure if that's true but if you're O Negative and actually go out and donate you might ask!***)
Weevil! Glad to hear you are back home! Gotta send some pics of the new house!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're getting to have fun with the kids - I want to see you going down the slide!
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