Week 2 of Harvesting Stem Cells – The Effects of Chemo

Posted on Updated on by veenakuttyCategories:Uncategorized

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 dad, a PhD in Biochem, into my personal nurse! 😀

2. Neutropenia– My white blood cells reached an ultimate low of 0.2(day 7 post chemo). What does this mean? Basically, any little germ comes near me, and I get sick! 🤕

They gave me Acyclovir and Ciprofloxacin to prevent infections!
Precautions you can take :
-Take your temperature twice a day  🌡
-COVID actually helps. Social distancing, Hand washing, and masks are the way to go 😷 
-Food- I pretended I was traveling internationally.  Drink only bottled water, eat only COOKED food, avoid fruits, avoid baked goods! Hehe except I really needed cookies so I just warmed them up well! 😀

3. Thrombocytopenia– This means I am at high risk for bleeding!🩸  So NO falls! This is a very hard concept for MS people, but use a walker and don’t try to do anything adventurous 
Falling is SUPER dangerous and you can bleed to death! So I repeat, NO FALLS! Get somebody to follow your every step! My poor mother got stuck with this job 😋

My platelets got as low as 10, so I ended up getting a transfusion!

4. Cystitis– Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide, the chemo drug) can irritate the bladder. So you feel like peeing all the time, and have urgency. Now you’d think that it’s okay, just run to the bathroom… BUT REMEMBER you have fatigue and you CANNOT fall, hehe this complicates things… DIAPERS now become your new best friend 😀

5. Nausea/Vomiting– I was lucky and didn’t have any. For those of you who know me, I’m a skinny little girl who thinks about food CONSTANTLY! So I took Zofran (ondansetron) twice a day, just to prevent any nausea or anything from me getting foods. 😀
6. Bone Pain– So during this whole week, you are injecting yourself with neupogen (granulocyte colony stimulating factor). This is to help your bone marrow produce new stem cells. The problem is when they start making more cells, your bones hurt like crazy.
Things that help:
-Do a butt dance- actually helps, and provides entertainment for those around you

On a more serious note:
-Take Claritin ( loratidine) 
– Take Tylenol ( acetaminophen)

So that is a summary of Week 2! I somehow made it through! 😀 

veenakutty

16 thoughts on “Week 2 of Harvesting Stem Cells – The Effects of Chemo”

  1. Veena, you are amazing. Your descriptions are helpful to understand just a little tiny bit of what you are going through. Keep your sense of humor. Miss you LOTs, Love, Mindy

    1. Thanks so much Mindy! Miss you guys a ton! Yeah making this stuff funny keeps my mood up! 😋

  2. I’m glad you at least haven’t gotten nauseous and can still eat! What you’re going through isn’t easy, but it’s really great to have such family support and to be able to keep your sense of humor (I did enjoy the butt dance)! I don’t think I could have!

    1. Yeah I’m super lucky to have all the support! Haha I knew you would appreciate the butt dance 😋

  4. You are an inspiration, Veena! Plus you manage to still look beautiful! I’m so glad you have a team to help you. Praying for your complete recovery and return to full strength

  5. Veena, This is only a n exam of life, go through it with your humour sense and the good support of all around you. You will won the exam with a Gold medal . All of us will pray for you .I am sure you will overcome all these situations. Lekshmi aunty and Gopi uncle

  6. Thanks for posting! I’m scheduled for a telehealth call to discuss more about HSCT on December 29th. My insurance has approved so this may be my life soon. I appreciate seeing was going to happen through you! Keep posting

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