Transplant Day -4

Today has been a much better day! I was able to sleep last night and felt pretty good when I woke up despite the many IV interruptions during the night. I was able to eat today and had no vomiting. Thank you, Lord! I did get a new medicine today called thymoglobulin. It apparently comes from a rabbit. It is used to wipe out the T cells. They are the white blood cells that attack viruses, cancers, etc. This medicine is given over 6 hours and I have to be hooked to a cardiac monitor and blood pressure machine. It can cause a rise in the heart rate, a low blood pressure and can affect your oxygen. Some people have a bad reaction to it and so I was premedicated for it. Since it is from a rabbit, sometimes people get a bad allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. That is another good reason for the premedication. Fortunately, I tolerated it well. That was another blessing for today. They say that if you tolerate it well the first time, there are usually no problems after that. I get a dose that is 2.5 times higher tomorrow and Monday.

After being unhooked from the monitoring equipment at about 4:30 I was able to walk today. I got in a total of 12 laps. That wasn't too bad for a short day. My temperature was also better today. It dropped to normal for part of the day and never went over 100.

My hemoglobin is down around 7 today so I will be getting a transfusion tonight. My platelets and white count are still OK.

I felt a lot better today and was able to do some work on the computer, watch the NCAA basketball games and the Cubs game! I am excited that baseball season will soon be upon us. Teresa was relegated to the computer and the DVD player during the games. She slept a little better last night but nothing is as good as home. I hope I do well enough that she can go home at least once a week till we go home for good. She is planning on picking up our mail and papers the girls have sent home from the office. We also want her to spend a little time with Michael. I know this is hard on him, but he has been great about everything.

We did find out yesterday that in order to go home from the hospital the first week after discharge, you need to be within 60 miles or one hour from the hospital, not the two hours we were previously told. That was a disappointment but we will deal with that.

Michael started at McDonald's this week and had to close last night. He got home about 2:30 AM. He was pretty tired and slept in today.

I will miss going to church this week but I take comfort in the knowledge that my church family(as well as all of you) will be thinking of me and praying for me. Till tomorrow, I pray that God blesses you as He blesses me!

Doc