Day 1
About 4 AM on Wednesday morning, several hours into his transplant, John's heart rate jumped to about 200. Apparently, "these things can happen" in a bone marrow transplant, and he settled back before any intervention was needed. It did confuse and scare him a bit, though.
We had gone back to the house to rest by then, and when I called in the morning, the staff refused to tell me anything. Apparently, in the handoff from clinic to hospital, my power of attorney was not discussed. We've dealt with at least that for now. I plan to check a few more things wiith them first thing tomorrow.
John has stopped eating and is headed "down" as his body deals with the effects of the chemo. Interestingly, they are still giving him doses of a mild chemotherapy drug to make sure the stem cells do not graft before they become accustomed to their new host. I am told that this helps avoid some of the acute graft vs host disease (GVHD - remember that term).
It was in the 80s here today in Seattle and the hospital had trouble with its air conditioning in the cancer wing. The heat added to John's discomfort. By around 6 PM, he was miserable and too confused to know to ask for help. The staff wasn't as observant as it should have been, perhaps due to the shift change taking place. I think I was able to deal with that lapse as well. They seem to have grasped the need, and he is sleeping much better for now, even if it is still too warm.
I think he may need 24/7 attention soon, as he deals with the chemo and to watch for GVHD symptons. This is a very good hospital, and usually has one nurse for everry two patients, but my confidence needs reassuring this evening.
We received a huge set of balloons today from the folks at Cox. It was a nice surprise and John laughed, which was a good reaction, particularly the way he feels.
We had gone back to the house to rest by then, and when I called in the morning, the staff refused to tell me anything. Apparently, in the handoff from clinic to hospital, my power of attorney was not discussed. We've dealt with at least that for now. I plan to check a few more things wiith them first thing tomorrow.
John has stopped eating and is headed "down" as his body deals with the effects of the chemo. Interestingly, they are still giving him doses of a mild chemotherapy drug to make sure the stem cells do not graft before they become accustomed to their new host. I am told that this helps avoid some of the acute graft vs host disease (GVHD - remember that term).
It was in the 80s here today in Seattle and the hospital had trouble with its air conditioning in the cancer wing. The heat added to John's discomfort. By around 6 PM, he was miserable and too confused to know to ask for help. The staff wasn't as observant as it should have been, perhaps due to the shift change taking place. I think I was able to deal with that lapse as well. They seem to have grasped the need, and he is sleeping much better for now, even if it is still too warm.
I think he may need 24/7 attention soon, as he deals with the chemo and to watch for GVHD symptons. This is a very good hospital, and usually has one nurse for everry two patients, but my confidence needs reassuring this evening.
We received a huge set of balloons today from the folks at Cox. It was a nice surprise and John laughed, which was a good reaction, particularly the way he feels.
