Today we met with the transplant doc, NP, and clinic coordinator to go over the procedure for the second transplant. Nothing new here for us, but here's a quick review for those watching from home: tomorrow I'll get a central line (aka Hickman catheter) installed, through which the chemo, stem cells, and all the many blood tests ahead will be routed. Wednesday they will give me the main chemo drug, melphalan, and a couple of others to minimize the immediate side effects. Thursday is a day off, then Friday is the transplant. After that, we try to stay out of trouble and wait for everything to work its magic, with daily monitoring of cell counts, vital signs, fevers, nausea, vomiting, etc. The whole experience should be a little more streamlined because we do not have to collect a new set of stem cells--we just use one of the two remaining bags that are in the freezer.
Past performance is no guarantee, but I am hoping this time will not be too bad, either. We hope to be done by the end of the month.
Good luck, Rich. Praying for you!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes on round 2. Keeping our fingers and toes crossed!
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