Post Transplant Day 18
All news is good news!
In my last update last Thursday I reported that Karl had been released from hospital. Since then we have been staying pretty low key. It was pre-arranged that he would go into emergency at the hospital on Saturday morning for blood work. That all went really smoothly and about an hour after we got home Dr. Bergstrom called to tell us that all blood counts were continuing to head in the right direction - either up or down as needed.
This morning we went back into Ambulatory Care, where RN Stacey drew blood and did his vitals. While he passed the blood pressure sitting versus blood pressure standing test which indicates possible dehydration, she decided to give him a bag of fluids ‘just because’, and we had to wait for the blood counts to come back anyway. When the blood results came back they were all wonderful: platelets 194, hemoglobin 100, neutrophils 3.0, creatinine 77, potassium 3.7. All normal except hemoglobin, and that’s still rising nicely. The only other count off any at all was his magnesium, which was down a little. We got a print out telling us what foods to eat in order of amount of magnesium. The second item on the list was almonds, a little further down was chocolate, and French fries were also there, so we think we can handle those food supplements!
After the blood work came back Nurse Practitioner Charlene came for a quick exam. She confirmed that we have the appointment for Karl to get the Hickman catheter removed on Wednesday, and then she cleared him to go home to Eastport on Thursday!! Christmas at home!
On the way back from the hospital Karl put in a request for lunch from a place on Merry Meeting Road that he used to frequent when he was a police officer. I picked it up and we brought it home. After he ate he went for a nap and 3 hours later he is still there. Tiredness is his major side effect right now. Charlene said it will likely be the end of January before he gets over that, but she also said he should do what he can in the meantime, as long as he listens to his body when it says stop. He is also continuing to have some periodic nausea, some heart burn, a sore mouth, and his bowels haven’t returned to normal functioning. These are all symptoms of the mucusitis which was caused by the chemo malphalan. Charlene said that these symptoms are normal, but they should be abating by the end of next week...by the start of 2018 he should be a new man! We were told this morning that since he has a brand new immune system we should be looking at it like another Birthday. So December 1, 2017 was Karl’s Bone Marrow 2.0 Birthday. Big celebration planned for December 1, 2018!
Unless there are issues along the way I won’t update this blog until after Karl’s next appointment with the transplant team, which likely will be on January 25.
Thank you everyone for supporting us through this journey. Your comments, messages, phone calls and likes on Facebook helped to keep us looking forward, even on the worst days. We hope you all have a safe, happy and most of all healthy Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, or whatever other holiday you celebrate over this winter solstice season. Hugs xx
In my last update last Thursday I reported that Karl had been released from hospital. Since then we have been staying pretty low key. It was pre-arranged that he would go into emergency at the hospital on Saturday morning for blood work. That all went really smoothly and about an hour after we got home Dr. Bergstrom called to tell us that all blood counts were continuing to head in the right direction - either up or down as needed.
This morning we went back into Ambulatory Care, where RN Stacey drew blood and did his vitals. While he passed the blood pressure sitting versus blood pressure standing test which indicates possible dehydration, she decided to give him a bag of fluids ‘just because’, and we had to wait for the blood counts to come back anyway. When the blood results came back they were all wonderful: platelets 194, hemoglobin 100, neutrophils 3.0, creatinine 77, potassium 3.7. All normal except hemoglobin, and that’s still rising nicely. The only other count off any at all was his magnesium, which was down a little. We got a print out telling us what foods to eat in order of amount of magnesium. The second item on the list was almonds, a little further down was chocolate, and French fries were also there, so we think we can handle those food supplements!
After the blood work came back Nurse Practitioner Charlene came for a quick exam. She confirmed that we have the appointment for Karl to get the Hickman catheter removed on Wednesday, and then she cleared him to go home to Eastport on Thursday!! Christmas at home!
On the way back from the hospital Karl put in a request for lunch from a place on Merry Meeting Road that he used to frequent when he was a police officer. I picked it up and we brought it home. After he ate he went for a nap and 3 hours later he is still there. Tiredness is his major side effect right now. Charlene said it will likely be the end of January before he gets over that, but she also said he should do what he can in the meantime, as long as he listens to his body when it says stop. He is also continuing to have some periodic nausea, some heart burn, a sore mouth, and his bowels haven’t returned to normal functioning. These are all symptoms of the mucusitis which was caused by the chemo malphalan. Charlene said that these symptoms are normal, but they should be abating by the end of next week...by the start of 2018 he should be a new man! We were told this morning that since he has a brand new immune system we should be looking at it like another Birthday. So December 1, 2017 was Karl’s Bone Marrow 2.0 Birthday. Big celebration planned for December 1, 2018!
Unless there are issues along the way I won’t update this blog until after Karl’s next appointment with the transplant team, which likely will be on January 25.
Thank you everyone for supporting us through this journey. Your comments, messages, phone calls and likes on Facebook helped to keep us looking forward, even on the worst days. We hope you all have a safe, happy and most of all healthy Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, or whatever other holiday you celebrate over this winter solstice season. Hugs xx
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