Posted by Becky
Leif's blood counts have continued come up nicely; his neutrophils today are 1490. They expect that to drop somewhat Friday, since Leif did not get a Neupogen shot Thursday. His hemoglobin is holding steady at 7.6, and his platelets shot up from 32 to 50 between Wednesday and Thursday. He's still on track for discharge from the hospital on Friday (today, technically, since I am posting this after midnight Eastern time). He has not had any headaches for a couple of days, and they are gradually reducing his pain medication with no ill effects so far. On Thursday he switched to a liquid version of ciclosporin, the medication that was making him so nauseated, and he's able to get that down and keep it down. It tastes awful, but he can't smell it, which seems to help.
It's a little daunting to go from 24-hour medical monitoring to being on our own just like that. But we have a lot of information about what to watch for, what precautions to take, etc., and Leif will be seeing someone from the transplant team weekly for the next few months.
Leif doesn't have any more hospital stays planned. It is relatively common for transplant patients to need to be readmitted to the hospital to be treated for infections or GVHD; if he does need to be readmitted, it will be to the transplant unit here at DHMC. We'll be staying at our Vermont apartment for at least 84 more days (until 100 days post-transplant) to be nearby for the weekly clinic visits.
My parents, aunt, and landladies helped out with some housecleaning assistance, and the apartment is super clean and dust-free, to reduce Leif's chance of contracting any infections. He won't be able to go out in public for a while or have many visitors - I'm not sure for how long, but like nearly everything else, I'm guessing it depends. I'll keep everybody updated as his restrictions ease. At first, he'll probably be too tired to get up to many shenanigans anyway. He's been sleeping about 20 hours per day here in the hospital.
Leif's blood counts have continued come up nicely; his neutrophils today are 1490. They expect that to drop somewhat Friday, since Leif did not get a Neupogen shot Thursday. His hemoglobin is holding steady at 7.6, and his platelets shot up from 32 to 50 between Wednesday and Thursday. He's still on track for discharge from the hospital on Friday (today, technically, since I am posting this after midnight Eastern time). He has not had any headaches for a couple of days, and they are gradually reducing his pain medication with no ill effects so far. On Thursday he switched to a liquid version of ciclosporin, the medication that was making him so nauseated, and he's able to get that down and keep it down. It tastes awful, but he can't smell it, which seems to help.
It's a little daunting to go from 24-hour medical monitoring to being on our own just like that. But we have a lot of information about what to watch for, what precautions to take, etc., and Leif will be seeing someone from the transplant team weekly for the next few months.
Leif doesn't have any more hospital stays planned. It is relatively common for transplant patients to need to be readmitted to the hospital to be treated for infections or GVHD; if he does need to be readmitted, it will be to the transplant unit here at DHMC. We'll be staying at our Vermont apartment for at least 84 more days (until 100 days post-transplant) to be nearby for the weekly clinic visits.
My parents, aunt, and landladies helped out with some housecleaning assistance, and the apartment is super clean and dust-free, to reduce Leif's chance of contracting any infections. He won't be able to go out in public for a while or have many visitors - I'm not sure for how long, but like nearly everything else, I'm guessing it depends. I'll keep everybody updated as his restrictions ease. At first, he'll probably be too tired to get up to many shenanigans anyway. He's been sleeping about 20 hours per day here in the hospital.
Hooray! AWESOME news! I know it's pretty scary going on your own, but you guys are getting good at this, so....I think you'll be ok. Hope life at the Vermont Apartment is pleasant, peaceful, and maybe Leif, too can see a fisher and a fox on the same day.
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