The big day has arrived. And how we have waited for today for Jimmy to have his stem cell transplant. I got to the hospital and went to find out if his blood results had come back yet and was told the Doctor had them. This is just typical....there is never any yes or no answer. Just like we never know how well something is going to work or how long something is going to take. I then got clever and asked Jimmy if he had breakfast thinking that if he was nil per mouth then he would be going into theatre to have the Hickman removed and replaced with a new one. Yay, some good news, he did have breakfast. Of course now my mind was running along again thinking oh crap! Does this mean he has an infection in his blood stream?
Dr Fine arrived about an hour later with a big smile on her face and asked Jimmy is he ready for his transplant? I asked her about his blood results and she said that the bacteria had come from one of the tubes in the Hickman and not from his blood so they would carry on with the antibiotics and there was not need for a new Hickman. This was such a relief. I knew the last thing Jimmy wanted was to have to go back into theatre and secondly, he doesn't need an infection before his cells have even been wiped out.
Dr Fine set everything up for the stem cell transplant. The stem cells are transplanted from a bag through the Hickman into Jimmy's blood stream. Much like a blood transfusion and it didn't even take 30 minutes. Dr Fine wished Jimmy happy birthday saying that this was the first day of his new life. She had given him a big fat Phenergan injection before I got there and this had made him very drowsy so I'm not even sure he was 100% sure of what was happening most the time. They had him hooked up to all kinds of machinery and monitored everything every few minutes. And with that it was basically over.
Jimmy was very groggy and spent the whole day sleeping so I left the hospital early. I got home at 3:30pm and he has just phoned to say he sees I'm not there :)
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| The bag of stem cells |
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| Dr Fine monitoring everything as the stem cells are transplanted |
9 Months of build up to today and it is over. I thought it would be different somehow but I suppose this is because Jimmy doesn't feel any different yet. Of course I do know that we are far from it being over and there is quite a road ahead of us over the next few weeks but this too shall pass.
And the Zebra did come back to visit after I left the hospital yesterday afternoon.
1 comment:
YAY!!!! for Zebras, your SCT and your new "birthday" Jimmy! Mine is July 5, 2010! We'll have to celebrate when you feel well! As for the "garlic" or funny smell, I never got that, but my family did say they smelled it when they walked down the hall to my room, from other areas. I was wondering why Jimmy is "showing off" with no shirt on? They must keep his room warm? I brought my cute horsey PJ's and always tried to have most of my skin covered. I always wore "flip flops" (not sure what they are called in SA), as I never wanted to contact the floor directly. Best of luck Jimmy and take it easy now, and just know the crash will come, but it may not be to "yucky" for you :) Love your updates Viv! xoxo
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