Transplant Thursday
Jan 19th 2006PeterHospital Stay
Today started badly! Although the pneumatic drills and trucks were silent, and I had a good nights sleep (aided by a half bottle of wine that last night’s visitor, Melinda brought in!) I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that 0845 and all external access from my phone has been blocked. At the moment I am writing this offline in expectation that something can be resolved, otherwise it will be back to posting via the mobile.
But back to the daily stuff. My day of freedom from drips yesterday wasn’t totally true. The saline stopped at abut 4, but before that, I had started on another drug, cyclosporin. This is an immunosuppressant, and I will be on some form of the drug, either IV or tablet, for the next 2 or 3 months to control graft vs host disease.
That finished in the late afternoon, just after Katie arrived or her visit. She had a day off today and did some sightseeing – including the Sherlock Holmes museum in Baker Street. She goes home today – I’ll miss her visits.
Just after Katie left, Melinda arrived bearing the already mentioned bottle of wine! Very nice too. Melinda is an old friend from post University days, and we had a natter for an hour or so catching up.
I also had a visit from my haemotology nursing specialist, Viki. Viki has been incredibly supportive through the last few months in the build up to today. We had a chat about the final details of the transplant, which will take place this afternoon. Technically it is very simple. The cells that were harvested from the anonymous donor yesterday afternoon are just transfused into me via the Hickman line. I will probably have an intravenous anti-histamine (Piriton) first which makes me sleepy, but the process takes less than an hour. Psychologically though this is a bit different from the self donated cells. The fact that these are different, and contain different DNA, which will become part of me, is a very strange concept. I cannot find adequate words to express my gratitude to the donor , but still, the concept IS strange! I know that it is possible to change blood groups after a transplant, although “my” donor has the same blood group as me. Oh yes, a cameraman from “City Hospital” will be on hand to film it for the next series!
Meanwhile the minutiae of the morning has continued. Bloods have been taken, and breakfast will arrive in a moment, then I can see about getting the phone line restored – which at the time of posting – isn’t.