Woot! You guys are nevah going to believe what arrived in the post today! My Barenaked Ladies Bootleg CD! And I'm not kidding! Very exciting. I've only had the chance to listen to like two songs on it, though. It came while I was at Dad's BMT meeting (more on that later) and when I got home, we rushed out to dinner and shopping. You know, after all this time and hassle, I was ALMOST no longer excited about the cd. I'm so thrilled it arrived today, though! Something went right today!
Oh, this morning I got a big fat negative and I started spotting tonight. So much for another June baby. Like I told my friends, maybe the sixth time is the charm? I figured it would take us a few months to conceive this time, but I never imagined it would take six or more months.
OK, so the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) meeting went well, for the most part. We met the inpatient and outpatient clinicians who Dad and the family would be dealing with mostly. Here's the basic lowdown:
Tentative dates, but Dad goes into the hospital October 11 (which is Thanksgiving Day in Canada). He'll get 4 days of chemo to destroy his bad bone marrow and make room for the good stuff that's coming from my uncle. The actual transplant is tentatively scheduled for October 18. He'll be in the hospital for 3-4 weeks. They said the biggest part of his care will be when he comes home. For about the first two weeks after he gets home, someone needs to be with him at all times, making sure he gets the right meds at the right times (he may be on up to 14 meds!), making sure he eats, drinks, gets exercise.
A company called Home Infusion will provide home care for any kind of IV therapy - blood draws, antibiotics, etc. Dad will have a long-term IV catheter in his chest for any infusions or treatments.
Many transplant patients are re-admitted one or more times after the transplant for "tune ups." It could actually happen several times in the first year. It's usually due to infection or graft vs. host disease (GvHD; when the newly transplanted cells reject Dad's body...the nurse said that some GvHD is good and normal, but too much is bad).
For the first couple of months that he is home, Dad will be back to the Cancer Center 3-5 times a week for check ups. Then he'll be in the office weekly for the remainder of the first year. The anemia associated with his treatment causes a lack of concentration, so someone will need to be at appointments with him to serve as a second set of ears.
It will be about a year before Dad really starts to feel better, and he can experience depression during that year. There will be chemical imbalances going on in his body on top of the fact that his whole life has basically been turned upside down. There are support group meetings available and there's a psychiatric nurse in the BMT group.
That's about the extent of my notes. During the meeting, Dad was going on and on about how fortunate he is to have the support of his family and about how we help him to think positively. It really touched me and I almost cried during the meeting. So, but, if he really feels that way, he totally does not show it any other time. As soon as we were out of the room, he was barking orders and yelling at us all for doing the wrong thing (moving too slowly, standing in the wrong area, really stupid stuff). I feel like the "I love my family" speech was for the benefit of the staff at the meeting. As soon as they're out of earshot, he treats us all like crap. I know, I probably sound horrible, but it really pisses me off that he's hot and cold like that. I mean, he's disgustingly nasty to my mom. Anyway...
I think I'll postpone the Funny Word for this week until tomorrow. Not feeling so funny after that last paragraph!
See you tomorrow.
Oh, this morning I got a big fat negative and I started spotting tonight. So much for another June baby. Like I told my friends, maybe the sixth time is the charm? I figured it would take us a few months to conceive this time, but I never imagined it would take six or more months.
OK, so the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) meeting went well, for the most part. We met the inpatient and outpatient clinicians who Dad and the family would be dealing with mostly. Here's the basic lowdown:
Tentative dates, but Dad goes into the hospital October 11 (which is Thanksgiving Day in Canada). He'll get 4 days of chemo to destroy his bad bone marrow and make room for the good stuff that's coming from my uncle. The actual transplant is tentatively scheduled for October 18. He'll be in the hospital for 3-4 weeks. They said the biggest part of his care will be when he comes home. For about the first two weeks after he gets home, someone needs to be with him at all times, making sure he gets the right meds at the right times (he may be on up to 14 meds!), making sure he eats, drinks, gets exercise.
A company called Home Infusion will provide home care for any kind of IV therapy - blood draws, antibiotics, etc. Dad will have a long-term IV catheter in his chest for any infusions or treatments.
Many transplant patients are re-admitted one or more times after the transplant for "tune ups." It could actually happen several times in the first year. It's usually due to infection or graft vs. host disease (GvHD; when the newly transplanted cells reject Dad's body...the nurse said that some GvHD is good and normal, but too much is bad).
For the first couple of months that he is home, Dad will be back to the Cancer Center 3-5 times a week for check ups. Then he'll be in the office weekly for the remainder of the first year. The anemia associated with his treatment causes a lack of concentration, so someone will need to be at appointments with him to serve as a second set of ears.
It will be about a year before Dad really starts to feel better, and he can experience depression during that year. There will be chemical imbalances going on in his body on top of the fact that his whole life has basically been turned upside down. There are support group meetings available and there's a psychiatric nurse in the BMT group.
That's about the extent of my notes. During the meeting, Dad was going on and on about how fortunate he is to have the support of his family and about how we help him to think positively. It really touched me and I almost cried during the meeting. So, but, if he really feels that way, he totally does not show it any other time. As soon as we were out of the room, he was barking orders and yelling at us all for doing the wrong thing (moving too slowly, standing in the wrong area, really stupid stuff). I feel like the "I love my family" speech was for the benefit of the staff at the meeting. As soon as they're out of earshot, he treats us all like crap. I know, I probably sound horrible, but it really pisses me off that he's hot and cold like that. I mean, he's disgustingly nasty to my mom. Anyway...
I think I'll postpone the Funny Word for this week until tomorrow. Not feeling so funny after that last paragraph!
See you tomorrow.
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