Beth Morgan Multiple Myeloma Treatment Blog
My life as a myeloma patient for almost two decades
This was day+6. My counts were as follows:
HGB: 11.4
WBC: 1.3
PLT: 50
I also tried my my hand at a podcast, just to see how that goes. Most days I don’t really feel like typing. I make too many typos, and I get bored with it too easily. I can’t remember when was the last time I felt so bored and just wanted to sleep, like I do now.
It’s day +5. My WBC is now 1.7. Not much happened today. I got some fluids. My blood pressure was pretty low.
Amy asked how the re-infusion went. I hated that part. She mentioned that was a prime opportunity for nausea to creep in. I had some Zofran, Ativan and some oxycodone in my IV. If you even anticipate needing these things, make sure you get them. Also, ask for a slow infusion. There’s less discomfort that way.
Th
is is day +4. It’s also Kathy’s birthday, so we’re wearing hats. I think I might be the only one wearing a hat.
Here are my lab values for today:
Hgb: 10.7 g/dL (ref range: 12.0 – 15.5)
Plt: 104 (ref range: 150-450)
WBC: 2.8 (ref range: 3.2 – 9.8)
There’s more, but I’ll add that later.
So far, I’ve expererienced mild nausea a few times. We all know how afraid I was of that. In fact, it made me put off the SCT for years. I find that if I just keep eating small snacks, it makes me feel better. I try not to let myself get hungry.
I should be getting out of here for the day. I’ll probably take a quick nap when I get back to the apartment, and then try to catch up on some work.
More soon!
This will be day +3. Yesterday wasn’t too terrible. I had a few periods of nausea. A local Reiki practictioner came to the apartment to help me through the second one. It really did help. I ended up asleep, which was good. If you’ve had a stem cell rescue of any kind, I wonder if you experienced the intense discomfort I did when the cells were being infused? I felt pressure/discomfort/pain across my midsection. It was unpleasant. I don’t mean to scare anyone, but if that did happen to you too, you weren’t alone. I have a way to go before I can go home. They expect that I could go as early as day +16. Right now I feel just fine. When I wake up for real, in a couple of hours, I’ll try to find my labs and record them here.
This is my first day of simply recovering, after having had stem cells infused for 2 days. I felt pretty queasy this morning, so I spent a while in the clinic with some IV Zofran and Ativan. I’m not sure what caused this to happen, since I felt fine on the way to the clinic. I kind of just wish I could stay home now. I think schlepping into the clinic causes problems. There’s nothing that can be done about that though.
I had a good laugh, which really did help me to feel better for a bit. Now I think I’ll rest for a while. Then I have to make myself exercise! They say it can help.
Even though I’m still having more stem cells infused today, it’s still called day +1. Yesterday was uncomfortable. I believe it was a reaction to the preservative, DMSO. I felt a great deal of pressure and discomfort in my chest while the stem cells were being infused. Luckily, there are fewer to do today.
I’m keeping up on the ativan and compazine to try to avoid any nausea. So far, I’ve felt a little queasy, but nothing major. I’ve been told that after day 5, I should be past that.
My iPod broke last night, so Todd went and got another one for me. I have some things to transfer over.
I just saw Dr. Long, who is a great doctor. I highly recommend him if you’re in the market for a stem cell transplant.
This is day 0, the day on which I’ll receive some of my stem cells. I’ll get more tomorrow, too.
They’re getting ready to do it soon, it appears.
Something I had (maybe chemo?) gave me terrible indigestion last night and this morning. I also had a bad headache. I didn’t sleep very well, so I hope to catch a nap while I’m here.
This is a picture of one of the syringes filled with my stem cells. I had such an unpleasant experience with the re-infusion that I hate to even look at this!
There’s no turning back now. I had my high dose melphalan today. If they just sent me home right now, I’d probably die from an infection in a matter of days. The chemo is myeloablative. It kills the bone marrow. My stem cells will be infused over the next 2 days. I don’t fully understand why it’s going to take 2 days, but I’ll find out tomorrow. I’ll have my own special room at the clinic while this is being done. It should be more comfortable than sitting out in the open in a chair. It’s very quiet here, and I’m sensing an opportunity to take nap.