The Problematic Patient (AKA bed alarm bandit)

So the stem cell transplant was completed Feb 1. Pretty anticlimactic, if you ask me. They premedicate you with Benadryl and Ativan (i guess people get nervous). The whole thing takes about 10 minutes. And WOoHOo you have new cells🥳🎉

Now after transplant is when the adventure begins!! Mine began day 2 with a wonderful room change. I was very honored- I changed from a standard hospital room to a nice spacious one!

I thought I was special BUT then I really thought about it. “I’m not SPECIAL, I’m the PROBLEMATIC patient! The patient they want to keep near the nurses station!” hehe I knew I’ve set off a few bed alarms…but I’m not that bad 😛

So other than being a bed bandit, things have been pretty horrible:

Appearance. Appearance isn’t as important but it can take you by surprise when you don’t look like yourself.
My face swelled up and also my skin got a few shades darker. Not only did I look different in the mirror.  BUT I’d even feel like my legs looked someone else’s.

Neutropenic Fevers.  Your white blood cell count has basically reached 0.  You feel miserable these 10 days! I spiked neutropenic feversX2, got 2 chest x rays, fun blood cultures, and an added bonus of  a diarrhea causing antibiotic. 💩

Pancytopenia. This is when all your counts go down. Your hemoglobin, platelets and white blood cells say bye bye! Over the past ten days Ive had 3 platelet transfusions, and 1 blood transfusion. It’s been a big adventure!

Mucositis/pain. The chemo affects all the rapidly dividing cells in your body, including your mucous membranes and the linings of your mouth and esophagus. So every time I swallowed, I felt like a big spikey ball was going down my throat. I even made little popsicles with my food supplements to try and get it down! Haven’t been able to eat a real meal in 10 days! 😩

Your secretions get very thick! You need constant suctioning and cleansing of mouth. I brushed my teeth 4 times a day, used a salt water mouthwash and ended the whole routine with an anti fungal lozange! My secretions got so thick, I had to use a cough assist device to help me! Pretty cool contraption!

Loopiness. Hehe You are so out of it from all the pain meds you are getting. You start asking nurses random questions and your caretaker gets sad 😢 because you’re saying gibberish. Truthfully, I don’t remember anything. To truly understand you need to ask everyone around me. I just know when I started speaking like a normal human, all the nurses were so happy 😀

Housekeeping in the hospital even gave me these cute guys:

Plan is for discharge Monday!