Tomorrow is the beginning of the whole process. Tomorrow morning (2/18) mom will be going into MCV to have a double lumen PICC line placed as well as a 'port-a-cath' placed under her skin around her subclavian (think collar bone region). She will then go in for the next four days and receive subcutaneous injections (think insulin needle) into her abdomen to help her bone marrow 'make more stem cells'. We are told mom may have flu like achiness during this part. Then after those four days she will go in and get her stem cells taken from her blood. This process takes about 4-6 hours for as many days as it takes to get enough stem cells so that the doctors have enough to do the transplant with (and hopefully enough to save for a second in the future if needed).
Then March 1 is the BIG DAY!...mom will go into the hospital at MCV and receive high dose chemo for one day. Then she gets a day of rest and then they transplant her own stem cells back to her.
The doctors and nurses have painted a pretty nasty picture of the days to come with the side effects of the chemo and other medications...however we are told that they paint the worst picture possible so we are hopeful that mom will be able to tolerate the side effects a bit better than predicted. She is in EXCELLENT health, her blood and urine levels at present are what you and I would have if tested...she is in complete remission and that in itself is a miracle. Her oncologist stated that she has only had 2 people (including mom) that have gotten to complete remission using Revlimid. We are taking the cleanest of the clean stem cells here...wiping out what is left in mom's body (the hiding cancer cells) with chemo and then putting her complete remission stem cells back in...ideally she will be in the complete remission following the whole ordeal with tests to confirm this 60 days post transplant.
Mom will be in the hospital anywhere from 18-21 days. Mom is requesting no visitors at this time...she is not sure how she will be feeling, looking etc. While on neutropenic precautions she can have no fresh flowers or fruit delivered to her (this goes for the next 3 months). Everything has to be brand new when she goes into the hospital from her slippers to her make-up.
After she is home, mom and dad will have to go to MCV everyday for a while to get labs drawn and get mom the supplements she may need to keep her immune system up...be it magnesium infusions or antibiotics if her white blood cells count were to increase for any reason...these days can last 2 hours or all day at the hospital depending on what she needs. After the first week or so we are told the 'everyday' trips will slack off a bit or every other day or maybe every 3 days the further she gets out.
Mom's immune system will be nothing...her diet will be limited during the following 3 months post transplant. No fresh fruit, veggies, no restaurant food, no lunch meat or food prepared outside of her home. Her sheets have to be washed frequently, new towels each day....yeah, I know what you are thinking...how will Dad survive?...haha...
I will come down as I can to cook, clean and help with laundry. Once mom is at home the grandkids can't be at her house for awhile...so both kids will be at home with Pete. Hopefully, by that time mom will be feeling better however she will still be restricted to what she can do at home....mom can not do any 'dirty things' like wash laundry, wash dirty dishes etc.
That is all for now...I think that covers most everything. Please feel free to email me with questions...mom is requesting we not mention anything on facebook but please feel free to call her at the hospital, email her and I will be sending out her address while in the hospital as well. I will also be updating this blog frequently as well so please check here for fresh news.
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