I last spoke with Jamie this morning and she sounded well. They gave her the first post transplant chemo dose last night at 12:15am EST. Apparently they had to wait a full 24 hours after the transplant before giving it to her. She also said they had a little trouble getting blood from her hickman, which can happen at times. To remedy, they elevated her lower body to ensure blood to the hickman area. I find that kind of strange considering her hickman attaches directly to a main artery. Anyway, she said having to be elevated while chewing on ice chips (more on that in a moment) was extremely uncomfortable and made for an interesting night.
As I mentioned earlier, they started her on the methotrexate chemo last night which is known for causing nasty mouse sores. To help combat this side effect, they’re having her chew on ice chips for 30 minutes before and after the treatments. I guess they’ve found that keeping your mouth cold during treatment helps lessen the mouth sore effect. I wish we would of had this information oh….. 3 MONTHS AGO!!!
The chemo was administered quickly in shot form as opposed to a slow drip bag. This makes it sound like it’s a much smaller dose of methotrexate than what she received during the aggressive treatment back in August. Hopefully as a result her side effects will be much less this time around.
Her body is feeling a bit sore all over, kind of black and blue, but that’s another expected side effect of the transplant. I guess it was worse before and is getting better, so that’s good. Her white blood cell counts are actively heading south, which is good. She will eventually reach ZERO, which means she will have absolutely no self-defense against infections. Please pray for her protection during this critical time in her recovery.
That’s basically it for today. Thankfully there’s nothing scheduled on her calendar for today, so she’s pretty happy to have the day of rest.
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Our church prayed for Jamie, You and the boys last night during our prayer meeting. We also received the wrist bands today and the kids are proud to wear them. I will post a picture for you later. Thank you!
Sounds like a trooper… Get it done and over with…. {{{good vibes}}}
Thank you for the update Joel! We are thinking and praying for you guys daily. Your card is on our fridge! Very cute I might add. Love you all!
thanks for the heads up on the methatrexate ice trick!and manny's power port never draws blood right either!
My prayers are with you guys.
Saying our prayers for you guys!!