July 2011 - Day -1

Back at the hospital today, my last day as an outpatient, tomorrow starts my inpatient stay. We will arrive at the hospital at 6:00 am on Thursday to get checked in and settled to let the fun begin.

Today is considered day -1, and tomorrow will be day 0, then we start counting up from there. That is officially how the transplant is tracked. My blood counts will be tracked daily and my white blood cells will eventually drop to 0, no immune system.

Today I am receiving my high dose Chemo (Melphalan), the day starts with an iv push of salene solution for 2 hours, then one bag of Chemo for an hour then another bag of Chemo for another hour, then another iv push of salene solution for 2 hours. Along with the Melphalan, I will be taking 5 other drugs mainly anti-nausea drugs and one drug to help the kidneys, since all dead cells pass through the kidneys.

During the infusion of the Chemo I will also be sucking on ice. One bad side affect of the Chemo is mouth sores and sores in the GI tract. The ice shrinks the blood vessels in the mouth so they get less of the Chemo drug, hopefully minimizing any mouth sores. If mouth sores occur it can make it difficult to eat and getting good nutrition during this time will be important.

Another side affect of the Chemo will be hair loss, I will loose all my hair, but it will grow back within a few months.

Tomorrow when I receive my stem cells, it will be considered my "new" birthday. I am told I will even get a birthday cake.

I am going to try and post everyday to keep everyone up to date.