DOT+16 We have Engraftment !

DOT +16       Medical Content

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" 

                                                                                                 - Mark Twain

Sorry about no posts in the last 12 days, but I have not trusted myself at the keyboard due to the number and nature of my meds, and the attendant lack of lucidity.

Big doing's though,

Anne has been in the hospital too.

Stories of weird dreams and more after the jump, and at last some medical content -   to wit, a chart showing my rising blood counts!





Today, Friday, April 19th, 2013, I am back in Outpatient Mode at the Clinic, after a week in the Duke Bone Marrow Transplant Center.


Here are my numbers for the last week:

First time in two years whites.platelets and Hemoglobin have risen without  chemical stimulation!

Anne is on the mend too, after her visit to Durham Regional Hospital while I was at Duke Med Center.
Her "Tummy Ache" turned out to be abscessed diverticulae, requiring surgical installation of a drain.

Fortunately Jan Hessleman RN was able to attend to Anne during her hospital stay, and Bob Thomas RN came up for a few days to keep an eye on me.  Huge thanks to both of them.  Anne got out a few days before I did, and her sister Carol Rowland is here with us until Sunday. At that point we will be back on track and self sufficient. It will be a great relief to have just the two of us here, not that we have not enjoyed the help, but we don't need it anymore.

The way the hospital stays played out was most providential.  She had a CT Scan Thursday afternoon, when Cousin Carrie was still here as asst. caregiver.  They picked me up at the Clinic and Carrie left for home in Greensboro..  Around 4 p.m. Anne's Doctor called and told her she needed to go right to the hospital, he had a surgeon lined up.

So I called the Clinic and told them I needed to go Inpatient at The "Big House", at least for a night, until we could get a caregiver/driver lined up.  They paved the way, Anne dropped me off, and drove herself to Durham Regional. Well as it turns out, I would have needed to be admitted that night anyway, for my temp rose to 100.5, and I presented with a lung infection.

Anne was released on Monday after 5 days  and I got out last night after 7 days. The routine at the hospital is most impressive.  Blood Draws at midnight, Lab results back by 2 am, and if needed, transfusions are immediate. I got blood and platelets almost every day, along with magnesium, antibiotics, and saline, and more!  Just look at this  IV pole with multiple piggybacks all going through 4 pumps into just three lumens on my Hickman Catheter! ( really only two, because one lumen is dedicated to the immunosuppressant  Tacrolimus , the stuff I have in fanny pack pump rig 24/7 when not on IV)

A Plumbing Marvel

So with all those chemicals being pumped into my Vena Cava at once, there are bound to be some side effects.  One that is documented is hallucinations. I did not experience any, but had some amazing vivid dreams, usually after getting my pre-meds for blood product transfusions around 3 am.


  In one, I was present in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris Movie.  I was visiting at Gertrude Stein's
house in Paris, discussing Long Island geography with Scott Fitzgerald when Gertrude asked me a question.
I turned to answer her and opened my eyes and poof! dream over, alone in the room. Try as I might I could not get back to it.