Engraftment Day
The sores came, the hair has been lost. Days 6-10 were awful. On more than one occasion, Tiffany suggested that there is no way she would do this again. To which we both noted, we won't have to. This will work. It has to. And it feels like it will. Just a peace. And really, a similar peace we have had for a long time, so I can 't really say it is different, just that either we will get what we want or something better.
Starting on day 3 after the transplant she started to feel pretty blah. She has a hard time describing it, but it was just a feeling of blah. And then shortly after that the mouth sores came. For as long as she could, she tried to eat, but eventually she went to an intravenous food having a hard time eating or swallowing.
Somewhere around day 8-9 was the worst. She felt awful, and those were the emotional hard days when she suggested she couldn't handle this ever again. But throughout the process, she pushed herself hard to get up out of bed, got on the stationary bike, and went for walks through the BMT floor. Nurses were always surprised that she was up during some of those days and so was I. There were times where she just sat down, but even then she sat up much of the time rather than laid down.
On day 11 we saw the first uptick in her ANC (Absolute Nutrifil Count - infection fighting white cells). It came in at about 120. And she started to feel better. Day 12 and counts went up to 370 and she was feeling so much better. Day 13 and today her counts came in at 707 - well above the 500 needed to be considered engrafted. So today is now considered Engraftment Day! She needs to stay above the 500 ANC over the next couple of days to be considered fully engrafted (and based on how she is doing, doctors and nurses don't expect any trouble). She is eating better and although appetite isn't the best nor can she taste everything the same, she is starting to eat and she is slowly getting off all the IV drugs she was receiving. She has not had any complications and Dr. Boyer suggested yesterday that she could be ready to go home by Friday - Day 15! That is amazing! We were told to be ready to be in the hospital for 4-5 weeks. Day 15 will be 1 day past 3 weeks. So we are coming home a full week earlier than we were expecting.
But therein proves to be a small problem.
I won't go into detail now, but our home won't be ready for her to come home (Tiffany reads this, and there is a big surprise waiting for her - so details can't come yet - but rest assured - it will). Suffice it to say that there has been a neighborhood project going on, and they are hoping to be finished by Saturday, allowing her to come home to a clean home.
We shall see what happens, but we are so excited that she has come back so fast!
A big thanks to family. Tiffany's family have been helping me keep her company, helping her in the hospital (and trust me, it's not a vacation - thank you). Also a big thanks to my parents who have come out to stay with our children. Not an easy thing to do for 3 weeks, especially with school having just started, kids crazy schedules, and a TON of things going on at the house, they have truly been troopers through the process.
Also, thanks for all the prayers - they are indeed the reason for such a quick recovery.
Cheers,
Nathan
Starting on day 3 after the transplant she started to feel pretty blah. She has a hard time describing it, but it was just a feeling of blah. And then shortly after that the mouth sores came. For as long as she could, she tried to eat, but eventually she went to an intravenous food having a hard time eating or swallowing.
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| Sunday's Turkey Dinner, with cranberry sauce, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes and turkey gravy. On Monday it was a hamburger and fries. Tuesday morning, this was her biscuits and gravy! |
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| Tiffany's IV pole. And this was a good day! ;) |
Somewhere around day 8-9 was the worst. She felt awful, and those were the emotional hard days when she suggested she couldn't handle this ever again. But throughout the process, she pushed herself hard to get up out of bed, got on the stationary bike, and went for walks through the BMT floor. Nurses were always surprised that she was up during some of those days and so was I. There were times where she just sat down, but even then she sat up much of the time rather than laid down.
On day 11 we saw the first uptick in her ANC (Absolute Nutrifil Count - infection fighting white cells). It came in at about 120. And she started to feel better. Day 12 and counts went up to 370 and she was feeling so much better. Day 13 and today her counts came in at 707 - well above the 500 needed to be considered engrafted. So today is now considered Engraftment Day! She needs to stay above the 500 ANC over the next couple of days to be considered fully engrafted (and based on how she is doing, doctors and nurses don't expect any trouble). She is eating better and although appetite isn't the best nor can she taste everything the same, she is starting to eat and she is slowly getting off all the IV drugs she was receiving. She has not had any complications and Dr. Boyer suggested yesterday that she could be ready to go home by Friday - Day 15! That is amazing! We were told to be ready to be in the hospital for 4-5 weeks. Day 15 will be 1 day past 3 weeks. So we are coming home a full week earlier than we were expecting.
But therein proves to be a small problem.
I won't go into detail now, but our home won't be ready for her to come home (Tiffany reads this, and there is a big surprise waiting for her - so details can't come yet - but rest assured - it will). Suffice it to say that there has been a neighborhood project going on, and they are hoping to be finished by Saturday, allowing her to come home to a clean home.
We shall see what happens, but we are so excited that she has come back so fast!
A big thanks to family. Tiffany's family have been helping me keep her company, helping her in the hospital (and trust me, it's not a vacation - thank you). Also a big thanks to my parents who have come out to stay with our children. Not an easy thing to do for 3 weeks, especially with school having just started, kids crazy schedules, and a TON of things going on at the house, they have truly been troopers through the process.
Also, thanks for all the prayers - they are indeed the reason for such a quick recovery.
Cheers,
Nathan
WONDERFUL news!!!! So grateful everything is going so well! Let us know if we can help with anything. :)
ReplyDeleteI am so extremely THRILLED for you guys!! What a huge blessing & a wonderful miracle! Glad things are going so well!!! My heart is rejoicing in your awesome news! YIPPY!!
ReplyDeleteThat's AMAZING! Bless you both, and we pray Tiffany continues to recover as expected.
ReplyDeleteYay, yay, yay, yay, yay! The news is awesome. I'm so thankful for the inspiration your family is. You have our prayers for a continuing quick recovery. Libby
ReplyDeleteYay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope things continue to go well.
ReplyDeleteThis is such wonderful news! We are so happy for all of you. God is good. Miracles are real. There is a lot of life to be lived before you!
ReplyDelete