This is Day 10 post-transplant. I lost track yesterday and said it was only day 8. I think I was tired and distracted.
First, the good news. Roger's adverse reaction to the platelets yesterday seems to have been a one-off. He is looking and feeling better today. Still, they will medicate him each time they give him platelets now, just to be on the safe side. We have been very lucky with the way things have gone the last two weeks. Both the effects of the high dose chemo and the effects of the early post transplant have been tolerable. Yesterday was a scary reminder that things can go bad rather quickly. We don't need that kind of excitement again.
Typically, between Day 14 and Day 21 (December 8 - December 15) there would be signs that the new stem cells have engrafted. When that happens, his blood counts will begin to come up and he'll have more resistance to infection, but he may also show signs of "host versus graft disease." This could include a wide range of symptoms including mucositis, lack of appetite, nausea, fevers, skin rashes and more. This is a time when weight loss could become a problem. It's why we worked so hard to pack on calories in advance.
It's important to remember they have done a lot of bone marrow transplants here at the LDS/Intermountain Hospital, and they've had a lot of successes. They have seen the same complications and side effects many times and they're prepared to deal with whatever comes up.
We'll be watching for signs that the transplant is working. In the mean time, thanks for the suggestion of holiday eggnog, Sue. Roger drank it and that's another 500 calories to the positive! Let's all raise a glass to better days!
Well, John wanted holiday eggnog today, and I said NO! Not until Christmas! :-)
ReplyDeleteBut we raise a toast to you each night, looking forward to happy times.
I was thinking about the calorie/food issue. I was wondering how the prepared military food packets would work. Especially the high calorie ones. You should talk to Casey...he could tell you which ones are good and they are 'stable' and might be a good choice.
ReplyDeleteI am also sooooo glad that yesterday's rough spot is over. I am visualizing the stem cells making colonies of cells and the Roger's body is accepting them as it's own. There is no adverse reaction because the cells in his body is actually saying... "Wow...where have you been???"