T Minus One

It’s a slow but eventful day here in Room 216 on 4 North A. When I got here this morning Nurse Practitioner Charlene was doing a physical exam, which showed no problems. That allowed RN Bernard to take down the iv fluids and hang up the chemo (melphalon) and steroid (decadron). Karl was also given  Zofran (anti-nausea), lasix (to make him pee), and enund (which helps protect and flush his kidneys). In between all of the drugs there was more iv fluids, and that is all he is getting right now. He had the iv fluids all night last night, which made him pee a lot and therefore affected his sleep.

Charlene and the hemotologist on duty popped by to ask Karl how he was doing. Pharmacist Megan and her upcoming mat leave replacement, also Megan, came so that replacement Megan could gather a drug history. RN Bernard changed the dressing around the Hickman catheter amid several expletives from Karl, and Anne came to clean the room. We can hear the floor cleaning zamboni out in the corridor, but otherwise all is quiet. Just the way we like it.

Karl will stay on iv fluids until just before he gets his stem cells reinjected at 10 tomorrow morning. Basically we are in a holding pattern until then. We decorated the little Christmas tree we have for his room, made some sandwiches for lunch, and played as many games of solitaire on our iPads as you can without completely losing your mind.

The chemo and the cryogenic agent that the stem cells have been stored in are likely to cause some issues, which I will document if and when they occur. The chemo is also going to completely kill his old bone marrow (and the Myeloma cells which are still hiding there). The death of these cells will cause his immune system to flatten until the young stem cells start to grow and replace the bone marrow (which is why this process is sometimes called a bone marrow transplant). The process of the immune system completely flattening will take about week.  So right now Karl is well enough for visitors, but by mid-week next week it will be emails, Facebook messages and phone calls only.

Yvonne, the nurse manager of the transplant program, just came by with a new calendar which documents what will be happening in the next few weeks, and how Karl is expected to react. While knowing won’t make the process any easier for Karl physically, emotionally and mentally it is much better to be prepared.

Since Karl is not eating the hospital food I’m going home in a little while to make supper to bring back. Our dog Sadie thinks the hospital food is ok. 

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