There will be ups and downs on this journey!

Long before any patient reaches the point of having a transplant there are many consultations with  doctors, nurses, coordinators, specialists etc. and etc.  Every consultation with a doctor includes a detailed explanation of what this process entails and includes the words there will be ups and there will be downs.  Late Saturday afternoon Kevin said to me, "I will make it through this."  He wasn't feeling one bit better.  We put our hopes into Sunday morning.  This morning at 7:00 Kevin said I feel a little better and I know I need to eat something today.  So we started with some anti-nausea medication, gave that 30 minutes, then went to chicken broth and so far so good.  I left for church and left Tiff in charge of making sure all 15 pills got in Kevin and I warned him that if he threw up the pills he would be going to the hospital.  She was up for the job!  About 10 minutes into church, my phone vibrates and Megan has sent me a message that he threw them all up and it was bad.  When I arrive home he is not happy.  I told him I was calling the Bone Marrow Clinic and he said "no" just get me some meds and we'll be ok.  The longer I thought about it, that didn't work for me.  So I told him I was overruling him and I called the hospital.  Rachael was on staff and she was well of aware of Kevin's condition because she was the nurse that gave him the stem cells on Friday.  I explained the situation and she expressed her concerns to me and said we needed to come into the hospital.  I told her she needed to be the one to explain that to Kevin and in such a nice way she convinced him.  At the hospital they gave him fluids and took blood to check all his medicine levels.   This battle going on inside Kevin between his cells and the new donor cells requires a perfect balance of the medication needed to assure that Kevin accepts the new stem cells.  The transplant team consists of 6 doctors and one of them are on the 8th floor of the hospital at all times.  Dr. Hoda explained to Kevin that it's really important at this critical stage that they get him feeling better and stronger and in a condition that he can take the needed medications.  So he admitted him to the hospital for a couple of days to do just that.  For me this is a good thing.  Kevin couldn't continue to fight that sick battle on his own.  At the hospital all the meds are given through his central line, along with fluids and anti-nausea medicine and everything he needs to get over the effects of that horrible chemo drug.  So I write from the hospital where Kevin is resting so comfortably.  It is good to see him resting and where they can help him better than I can.  He didn't want to come, but he sure has slept well since being here and that's a good sign for me. 

On a lighter note Tiff wants to add the Katy Perry song "Firework" to this posting of the blog because she said that explains perfectly what happened with those 15 pills she worked so hard to get in him and she has permanently resigned as the step-in at-home nurse, so Megan watch out you are next in line.