Day +1

Date: 9.14.18
Time: 7:50pm

HGB: 10.1
PLT: 116
WBC: 2.8
ANC: 2.24

Well I made it through the cell infusion.  It took place at around 8pm last night, and was fairly anti-climatic.  It was one small bag of cells that looked like tomato soup, that took about forty minutes to infuse. 

"Cellfie"

The nurse had to sit with me the entire time to make sure that I didn't have an allergic reaction, and took my blood pressure and temperature every 15 minutes.  After it was over the night-shift nurses came into my room singing "Happy Birthday" with a piece of cake and a candle.  That was sweet.

So today is my day +1.  I've had my new cells for almost twenty four hours and I feel strong.  The insides of my cheeks are "softening" a little, but I don't have any mouth sores yet, and I still have my hair.  Keith gave it a hearty tug this morning, and it's not budging yet.  One of my nurses told me that it will most likely hang tight until my WBC gets closer to zero.  I've also been told that I'll feel like I have the flu, and will be extremely vulnerable to infection.  So far, I'm hanging tough.  Tonight I will have my first dose of methotrexate - which I've heard described as "chemo-light".  I'll receive doses on Day +1, +3, +6, and +11.  The reason behind this is because I have had a matched unrelated allogeneic transplant, I am at risk for something called GVHD - which stands for graft vs. host disease.  The Leukemia and Lymphoma society explains GVHD:

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a potentially serious complication of allogeneic stem cell transplantation. During allogeneic stem cell transplantation, a patient receives stem cells from a donor or donated umbilical cord blood. The donated stem cells contain T-cells, which are a type of white blood cell that help protect the body by recognizing foreign invaders (like infections and bacteria) and destroying them. T-cells also attack cancer cells, which is how allogeneic stem cell transplantation works to treat cancer. However, donor cells (“the graft”) may also attack the patient’s healthy tissues and organs (“the host”), which can impair the tissue or organ’s function or may cause it to fail altogether. This condition is called “graft-versus host disease” or GVHD.

So basically they're trying to make sure that my new cells don't attack my organs.  I'm kinda sick of chemo, but I'm all for that.

I want to say thank you to each of you that have reached out to me in one way or another, and somewhat apologize for my haphazard and stilted responses.  What I'm doing is hard.  But I can do it.  Its like I'm living in a nice upscale prison.  I'm a prisoner, but I have certain liberties.  I get to go out and walk in the yard (the halls), I get to order my meals from a menu, I have cable television, a patient assigned Ipad, and my room has a very decent view.

RR UCLA View from 6East

But I also have to do a lot of things that I'm not thrilled with.  I have zero privacy.  My bowel movements are a topic of conversation each day.  I get woken up in the middle of the night numerous times for meds and vital signs, and with beeping iv pumps.  I am constantly attached to an IV pole that I have to take with me everywhere - even when I bathe.  I am taking probably 20+ pills per day, and receiving numerous other treatments that make me not feel particularly good.  I can't leave this ward, and smells gross me out.  I'm sick of the menu, and I would kill for some lettuce on my sandwich or any fresh fruit or vegetable at all.  But I'm making it.  It's hard for me sometimes though, to talk about it with people.  I'm trying to keep myself in a good mental space, and it's sometimes hard to do if I have to re-hash all of the indignities that I'm constantly subjected to.  I appreciate ALL of the well wishes and ALL of the love that I feel from ALL of you.  Please try to understand that I don't really feel like talking about the battle, while I'm still in the middle of the war.  (I so tried not to use a "war" analogy, because I don't identify as a "warrior".  I'm more like the person that didn't make an appointment and has to wait in line that the DMV.  Its uncomfortable and frustrating, but I'm gonna get my business taken care of eventually.  It's just gonna take some time.  A lot of time.)

That said, so far so good.  I'm making it through.  Inch by inch.