Good morning everyone,
Tuesday, 8/12, was Day -2, I was admitted to the hospital, given approxiomately 5 hours of hydration via IV, and 20 mg of dex prior to the first dose of melphalan.
I was given ice chips to chew on for half an hour prior to melphalan, but of course hospital time doesn't work like time in the real world, so I chewed on ice for 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to the chemo dose arriving in my room. Then another half hour as it was going in.
It was rather surreal, as the chemo went in, I sat and looked out of the 7th floor window. A storm blew in and it was lightening outside ... more ice for half hour after. Followed by monitoring of vital signs, etc ,and peeing all evening for what seemed like every 10 minutes..
Day -1 (Wednesday 8/13), was very similar to Tuesday, another day of potassium chloride hydraton , ice chips and melphalan. No real adverse affect being felt yet.
Day Zero ... more hydration, then I was given some Benadryl (diphenhydramine), and my stem cells were brought to the room, thawed in a water bath, and 3 smaller bags were combined into one bag and was added to my central line for the return to their rightful owner.
The sun shined brightly outside as my daughters wanted to sing "reunited and it feels so good".
So after that, I was discharged to return home. Feeling ok, a bit tired but fine.
So far my appetite is normal,
It is now Day +1, and I'm currently sitting in the hospital today for monitoring, and will be visited by my myeloma specialist today. I brought several things to do to help pass the boredom. We shall see what else I will endure over the next several days.
I will be making this commute to the hospital each day for at least the next two weeks. And of course the tunnel that I would normally take to get here will be under construction during that time. Murphy's Law, I guess.
Take care everybody,
Larry
Forums
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Larmo222 - Name: Larry M
- Who do you know with myeloma?: me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February, 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 58
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Sounds as though you are doing pretty well under the circumstances! Wishing you an easy time of it. Please keep us updated, as well as you can. Sending positive vibes your way!
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Sounds good so far, Larry. Keep up the good work!
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mikeb - Name: mikeb
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: 2009 (MGUS at that time)
- Age at diagnosis: 55
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Hi everyone.
Well, It's Day +4 and so far things are going well. I have been commuting back and forth to the hospital on an outpatient basis. I get my IV hooked up, they draw blood, and I walk around some and surf the Beacon ...
A little fatigue, stomach queasy at times, but no vomiting or diarrhea (yet).
Boring is good at this point. My blood counts really haven't dropped yet, so that will take several days yet to occur ...
Take care.
Larry
Well, It's Day +4 and so far things are going well. I have been commuting back and forth to the hospital on an outpatient basis. I get my IV hooked up, they draw blood, and I walk around some and surf the Beacon ...
A little fatigue, stomach queasy at times, but no vomiting or diarrhea (yet).
Boring is good at this point. My blood counts really haven't dropped yet, so that will take several days yet to occur ...
Take care.
Larry
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Larmo222 - Name: Larry M
- Who do you know with myeloma?: me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February, 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 58
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Sounds like you are doing well, Larry. I hope things continue in this vein! Thanks for the update!
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Larry,
Boring does sound good under the circumstances
Wishing you all the best as you head into the next phase of this. Thanks again for sharing your experiences during this journey.
Boring does sound good under the circumstances
Wishing you all the best as you head into the next phase of this. Thanks again for sharing your experiences during this journey.-
Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Hi Larry. Wishing you a continued good experience as you go through the SCT process.
Dana A
Dana A
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darnold - Name: Dana Arnold
- Who do you know with myeloma?: self
- When were you/they diagnosed?: May 2009
- Age at diagnosis: 52
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Hi everybody,
It's Day 9, and things have not stayed quite so boring as they have been.
Thursday I woke up and vomited a little, but I attributed that to me not taking my nausea medicine as routinely as it should have been.
As Andy so aptly named it, "dire rear" started as well. I came to the hospital and the doctors debated about whether to keep me since I had vomited once and was experiencing diarrhea,
I was admitted Thursday evening and tests confirmed that I had a C. diff infection. I was pretty miserable for about 12 to 16 hours, but since I got on hospital care, I am feeling much better.
Today, Day 9, I received units of blood, and platelets.
My appetite had disappeared on Thursday, but it has now returned. I am able to eat actually better than ever, but until the diarrhea is gone, I am reluctant to eat very much.
Take care everyone, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I will try to keep you up to date as things progress.
Larry
It's Day 9, and things have not stayed quite so boring as they have been.
Thursday I woke up and vomited a little, but I attributed that to me not taking my nausea medicine as routinely as it should have been.
As Andy so aptly named it, "dire rear" started as well. I came to the hospital and the doctors debated about whether to keep me since I had vomited once and was experiencing diarrhea,
I was admitted Thursday evening and tests confirmed that I had a C. diff infection. I was pretty miserable for about 12 to 16 hours, but since I got on hospital care, I am feeling much better.
Today, Day 9, I received units of blood, and platelets.
My appetite had disappeared on Thursday, but it has now returned. I am able to eat actually better than ever, but until the diarrhea is gone, I am reluctant to eat very much.
Take care everyone, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I will try to keep you up to date as things progress.
Larry
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Larmo222 - Name: Larry M
- Who do you know with myeloma?: me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: February, 2014
- Age at diagnosis: 58
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
It's great to hear from you, Larry. I noticed earlier today that you hadn't posted since earlier in the week, and I was a little concerned.
I'm sorry that things got tougher for you, but it sounds like you're in good hands and starting to come out of the woods, so to speak. I hope everything continues to improve.
Thank you for your updates, and good luck!
I'm sorry that things got tougher for you, but it sounds like you're in good hands and starting to come out of the woods, so to speak. I hope everything continues to improve.
Thank you for your updates, and good luck!
Re: Larry's Stem Cell Transplant
Sorry for the complication Larry. Sounds like the staff handled it well. I hope you continue to recover well.
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