DAY 13 – ANOTHER TRANSPLANT IN THE BOOKS

Today was my third stem cell transplant done by lumbar puncture again. Just like the first it was done in about 15 minutes and went very smooth. This time when it was finished I asked some questions of the doctor regarding how he injects the cells into my spine. It is difficult to get understanding but he did show me the needle that he inserts, it was approximately 4 to 5 inches long and very thin. The needle was different than normal, not straight and solid but flexible so he can guide it where he needs to in my spine. When he has it positioned where he wants they attach a syringe and inject the cells. This time he injected the cells further up my spine but other than that I didn’t notice any difference.
The six hour recovery time was better today because my back wasn’t so soar. I did blow up the air mattress that was given to me but my actual bed mattress seemed better so I stuck with it. That is not to say it was easy, a new twist happened today. I did mention that the air conditioning was back on but they don’t have it on as cool a setting which would normally be fine. However today was the day they had workers scheduled to come in to remove everyone’s drapes for cleaning. The drapes are floor to ceiling and completely cover our side wall that is all windows, very nice for the view but very warm once the sun hits midday. I didn’t really start to feel the effects until about 2 pm, about 3 hours into my recovery time. Then it really started getting warm so I had the nurse point the fan directly at my bed on full speed. It helped but the heat was still very uncomfortable. I really wanted to take my shirt off but still had an IV line attached to my arm. The nurse removed it shortly thereafter so I could get my shirt off which helped again. I then only had to endure about another 1 to 2 hours of heat before it became more comfortable. Once the sun had started to go down the workers were back to reinstall clean drapes, they really get to work and get things done here! Overall it wasn’t too bad and I think it’ll get easier each time. Monday however is the 24 hour bed confinement! At least I don’t have to lie down the whole time and I can sit up and move around but I believe I’ll still have to use the bed pan the whole time, glad I’m not female in that situation!
So I now have the weekend free before getting back into it Monday morning. TK and I will try to get out and have some fun while taking in some more sights. I’m going to take some video of our drive and hopefully be able to post it on the blog. You’ll get a good kick out of it if I can make it happen! I will also upload some pictures next week to put some visual images to the stories I tell.
Chow for now,
LC