Nov 13

Day 6

Sunday, November 13, 2011 – It was great to sleep in a real bed last night. The pain from the mucositis in my mouth was waking me up every few hours. I get this slimy white coating of mucous on my tongue and the inside of my mouth. It is a burning sensation. Supposedly it will go away when my body starts making white blood cells after my stem cells engraft. The stem cells should get their act together this week or this weekend and set up camp in my bone marrow. It can’t come soon enough.

In the meantime, I have figured out that an electric toothbrush is my best friend. If I let the brush run over the surface of my tongue, and also on the roof of my mouth, it loosens all the mucous to where I can drool or spit it out of my mouth, which cleans my tongue and my mouth and reduces the burning sensation. Yes, it’s somewhat gross, but I consider the discovery a godsend. I’m also using a salt and soda mouthwash to help clean the mucous out of my mouth.

This morning we went back to the hospital to get more bloodwork done. My platelets went from 22k yesterday to 7k today. 20k is the transfusion level, so I got a platelet transfusion today. It only took 30 minutes, which was nice. I also got IV antibiotics, which I will get every day until I start making white blood cells to prevent more fever and infection from returning.

heading home from the hospital

We made it to day 6! Now we are looking forward to Day 10 –Thursday– when I will be a lot closer (and maybe already at) engraftment. Here’s to a WONDERFUL week!

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Nov 12

Day 5

Saturday, November 12, 2011 – We woke up to a beautiful sunrise in the penthouse suite this morning (can’t believe I had the nerve to go and get a fever just so we could spend a Friday night in the penthouse suite!).

penthouse view

My fever has left. I have gotten lots of antibiotics. The nurses here take very good care of me. They came in every two hours to check on me and get my vitals, give me pills, etc. It was annoying to not be able to get a good night’s sleep, but I am glad that they were doing a good job taking care of me.

My hematocrit was so low I got my first blood transfusion today. 2 units of red blood cells. Jacqui says the color is back in my cheeks now. The doctor said I could go home today, but to keep checking my temperature and that I would come in again if I get another fever.

The toughest thing about being at the hospital was getting the car from valet parking on Saturday. It’s great to have valet parking during the week, but if you have to pick it up on the weekend, expect to wait a LONG TIME! There’s only one or two guys working on the weekends, so it can take a long time for them to get your car.

waiting for the car

Jacqui and I got to come home from the hospital Saturday afternoon, and we enjoyed peace, quiet, and relaxation at the house. It was wonderful!

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Nov 11

Day 4

Friday, November 11, 2011 – Today has been a very busy day! I woke up this morning with a temperature of 99.0, and then it climbed to 100.0 and 101.0. The cutoff temperature for a fever is 100.3, so we packed a bag and came into the hospital early to get checked into the Stem Cell Transplant Inpatient Facility on 11 North at Vanderbilt.

The OTU was very busy when we got there at 10am this morning, and it took a long time to get me checked in, labs and cultures drawn, etc. We ended up going upstairs around 1pm, after getting a chest xray. The goal is to keep me on antibiotics and treat me like I have an infection to make my fever go down. Once I have no fever for 24 hours I can be discharged. They are taking very good care of me here, and I feel like I am receiving the best care possible. Hoping that I can get better and go home soon. We are looking forward to next week when my stem cells will engraft and I will start feeling better!

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.andrewmacdonald.com/day-4/