Author:veenakutty

And now the fun begins! On Jan 25 I was admitted to the Cleveland Clinic to have the BEAM chemotherapy regimen to get rid of my immune cells and then to have my stem cell transplant! Day 1– I was excited! Today I received carmustine. It wasn’t bad. However, I did find it interesting how …
Continue reading BEAM therapy fun!

So when you’re going through a transplant, it is definitely causing craziness in your life, but you may fail to think about everyone around you 🤔What are they going through? It can’t be easy seeing someone you love suffer… Hehe in my opinion, it’s definitely harder to be the caretaker. As the one going through …
Continue reading Making things normal

So day 14 after my chemotherapy(cytoxan/cyclophosphamide) I started losing hair! I thought maybe my hair wouldn’t fall out, but that would be too good to be true 😋My scalp started being itchy and tender, and then my hair started falling out in clumps! My husband, daughter and I decided to make a game of it! …
Continue reading Hair Fairy

So  this week was the final exam. We would see if all the work I put in the past 2 weeks (chemotherapy and GCSF injections) would culminate in a successful harvesting of stem cells. To pass the test I had to collect 5 million stem cells. So I was connected to an apharesis machine! And the …
Continue reading The Final Exam-First Part

So I thought everything was good, and then day 5 post chemo hit and everything started going crazy  😜  1. Fatigue– You think MS causes fatigue, haha well so does chemo! But don’t fight it, let your body rest and sleep whenever you can!  😴 And have someone act as your nurse! I turned my …
Continue reading Week 2 of Harvesting Stem Cells – The Effects of Chemo

So the first week of Harvesting of Stem Cells is done! And the end result: I look very chipmunk 🐿 like, hehe 😜 This is how I got there: EVENT 1- Dec 14, Placement of the Apharesis Catheter This is a nice skinny tube inserted into the internal jugular vein and threaded through the superior vena cava …
Continue reading Chipmunk Face!

So after watching Home Alone again for the zillionth time, I realized how similar my insurance battle was to Kevin McAllister’s fight against the burglars. “This is my house and I have to defend it.”I realized that this fight was my battle and couldn’t just rely on the Cleveland Clinic to do it. Like Kevin, …
Continue reading Home Alone

So my suitcase has been packed and ready to go for my adventure to Cleveland 😀 … for about 2 weeks now 🙁 The problem? INSURANCE doesn’t seem to want to help me 😕  Nov 4- paperwork was submitted to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for approval of my stem cell transplant Nov 13- …
Continue reading Fortune Cookie

I thought I’d get a cute short haircut to more easily transition into going bald.  But it didn’t quite happen as I had imagined… I pictured myself going to a nice salon, getting pampered,and strutting out (well,more like hobbling out) with a new hairdo!But corona put a damper on that dream…Instead, I opted for my …
Continue reading A new look for a new adventure!

I am now waiting for insurance approval! Few patients before me had the procedure covered so I’m hoping it goes through.I do have one piece of advice: MAKE SURE YOU GIVE ENOUGH TIME FOR INSURANCE APPROVAL BEFORE SCHEDULING EVERYTHING! So once you decide to have the transplant, you have to go through a pre-transplant evaluation. …
Continue reading Insurance