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My Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT/SCT) story: Will you share yours?
Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) & CAR-T Cell Therapy | Last Active: 18 hours ago | Replies (581)Comment receiving replies
Lori the first three days were half hour infusions so I just stayed with him. He lets me help with his NY Times puzzles.
Yesterday was longer about four hours so I went out briefly to walk and get warm (the AC gets to me after sitting still for awhile). I don’t like to leave it makes me uneasy. Although the team is great. We have had two primary nurses but a different “practitioner” (PA or NP) every day. All seem very intelligent and competent and friendly. David is lovely with all the staff. I get a bit anxious because his condition is so complex how can they be aware of all the things? So I ask a lot of questions. The responses have all been helpful.
Transplant day Thursday. Keep us in the light.
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Good morning! Ooo today’s the big day…that proverbial first day of the rest of David’s second chance at life! Ok, I modified the phrase to make it work. ☺️
I’ll be thinking of you both today. I know this day has been a long time coming and now it’s here. I hope you’ll be less nervous once this day is past.
What a lovely photo of you and your husband! I love putting faces with the people I speak with so often!
At some point, it would be fun if you and your husband put a new photo in this discussion I started a few years ago of moments captured with a photo that wouldn’t exist if not for the gift of transplant.
Snapshots of Hope: Life on the other side of transplant!
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/snapshots-of-hope-life-on-the-other-side-of-transplant/
Sending an air-hug and positive vibes for a successful, uneventful day. ☺️
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Hi Dorothy! Two more days to go until the big day, huh? I know I’ve mentioned it before…all this hoopla leading up to the transplant itself and then when the moment comes, it’s basically another 20 minute infusion! Very anticlimactic! But what a gift in that little bag of cells…a 2nd chance at life!
There will be two nurses in the room at that point. They will give David some pre-transplant meds and then check and verify that all the numbers on his wrist band and the infusion bag of cells match. They’ll be with him for about an hour or so? At least that’s how it was when I received my cells. Then I promptly dozed off! LOL My husband and daughter had gone back to the hotel and missed the big moment because my cells got delayed with the flight. So the cells arrived later in the evening and my re-birth moment was at 11:30 at night.
If David is lovely with the staff, he’ll be a favorite patient! I’m sure all the patients are treated the same but I always felt like I got spoiled a bit with extra pudding or whatever because I really was an easy patient. 😅 I heard someone in another room being an absolute pill and upsetting the staff multiple times. I vowed that would never be me. A little niceness goes a long way, especially to people who are trying to save our lives.
It’s not unusual to have different PAs/NPs daily on the floor. They do rotate so you may see them again. And the oncologists take their weekend rotations as well. So you may or may not see Davids Transplant doctor pop in. But believe me, whomever you have, they are all aware of the complexity of his condition. And quite frankly they’ve seen it all up on that floor! I’ve never met a more competent or completely trustworthy medical staff than at Mayo. Not kidding, I never lost one moment of sleep there worrying about anything. I knew these people had my back. I’m happy to hear nothing has changed and they’re still attentive and take time to answer questions.
I’ll for sure be thinking of you and David! I’m here anytime if you need a shoulder or an ear. Hugs!