Transplant B, Day +2: Maniac Nurse

Everything seems to be happening more rapidly this time.

I'm feeling pretty good. I had one bout of GI issues the night before last, and I was seriously regretting my decision to get the "volcano sauce" at the Whole Hog BBQ, but old habits die hard, I suppose. Anyhow, two Immodium later and I've been okay since...keeping my fingers crossed.

I went to the 7th floor yesterday and in contrast to previous days, it was a long, drawn-out experience. The floor was full. Evidently there had been a transplant yesterday with some complications and that threw everything off. But eventually, I was called in for vitals, which checked out. No nausea, the one bout of GI problems, otherwise doing well. So far, so good.

THANKFULLY, my body has started relinquishing the fluid that it's been hoarding for a week. I'm down six pounds from yesterday. Hopefully that trend will continue. I have been eating like a horse (this is advised to keep up one's strength during the transplant process, so I've been bowing to my appetite). Most of the weight I have gained, though, should be coming off.

Things were moving along fine until the nurse tried to draw blood from my lines. Bone dry. This happens once in a while, and they tell me to breathe deeply and that usually starts the stuff flowing. No dice this time. They generally use Heparin to make sure nothing in the line clots, and putting a bit more heparin in the lines has done the trick before. The assigned nursed tried a different tack, though. She thought it would be a good idea to suddenly jam about 50ccs of saline in rapid succession into the three lines, slamming on the plungers like she was administering an adrenaline shot through the breastbone. I started getting lightheaded. She started cackling knowingly.

I kept getting more lightheaded...I heard "hyuk hyuk hyuk...you feelin' like yur gonna pass out on me??? hyuk hyuk hyuk" as my field of vision blurred. She ran my blood pressure. It had been 135 over 80 but was now 80 over 50. I've always wanted slightly lower blood pressure but anytime I see 80/50 on a TV show it is usually followed by something dire. I laid down on a chair and after a minute or two (during which time the nurse showed my blood pressure numbers in a conspiratorial fashion to the APN/nurse in charge, which rubbed me the wrong way) I started feeling better.

With that scare out of the way, we waited on labs while the nurse tried to explain that the light-headedness sometimes happens and I wondered if the light-headedness happens without the nurse acting like she's abruptly trying to release the Hoover Dam into my chest. The labs themselves were good: white blood count at 1.0, platelets at 97, hemoglobin holding at 11, CRP at 5.8 and Potassium at a healthy 4.4, meaning for once no more infusers were needed. I'd had TWO huge baked potatoes the previous day, and wasn't keen on having another, so I was pleased I didn't need it.

The rest of the day was uneventful, although it took us a good 90 minutes to get them to prepare the broad-spectrum antibiotic that they want me to have on hand in the event of a fever over the weekend, and to get the first of 6-10 dreaded growth factor shots.

Since Neutropenia has happened a couple of days faster post-transplant than the last time, I wonder if my recovery will take the same amount of time, or shorter, or longer. Hopefully it will be 7-8 days of Neutropenia just as last time, which will mean I'll be on the other side of this transplant sooner rather than later.

I got a good night's sleep last night, and my stomach has settled, so right now I'm just fighting the tiredness that comes from being wiped out...and that's pretty manageable so far. Will post an update after labs today.