Day Zero

Since today is "Day Zero" – AKA Transplant Day, I’m going to try a modified approach to a "live blog." Since I’m still having connection problems, I’m going to "live blog" in WordPerfect, then at the end copy & paste the whole thing into a blog entry. We’ll see how it goes.

6:30 a.m. – Greg didn’t get much sleep last night until he buzzed for some Ativan (sleep aid) at about midnight. I think he’s a little nervous about the transplant. Who wouldn’t be. However, he just woke me up, saying he thinks we should get up and get ready. "Why?" I ask? "I don’t know." So, I humor him & get up. It’s a hike to get to the bathroom (down at the end of the hallway), and on my way there, I don’t see a soul in the hallway. Even the nurses aren’t running around yet. Oh, and the bathroom is completely out of TP. I found that out after it was too late.

6:45 – I decide to shower, to beat the rush. Greg, who was shagging me out of bed earlier, has gone back to sleep. I think he has an Ativan hangover.

7:15 – Again, because we’re anticipating a lot of activity this morning, we order breakfast early.

8:30 – Breakfast arrives, followed by the nurse, Dave. He gives Greg his morning Lassex. Goes great with breakfast.

9:00 – Good thing we hurried (insert sarcasm). The transplant is set for about 2 p.m. Sigh. Found out the cells are frozen, still don’t know why. Dave says the only real disadvantage to having frozen cells is that they have the preservative in them. People can have a reaction to it, and it stinks – for days. Its kind of like garlic in that it will come out of his pores & breath. So he’s got that going for him. However, we don’t anticipate any adverse reactions, as he’s had it twice before with no problems, plus they pre medicate him with Benadryl just to be sure.

12:00 – Greg’s FREE! (Well, for an hour, anyway). The second 20-hour infusion is finished, so he gets a whole hour off of the IV pump. Found out why the anti-rejection drug has its own special tubing and why it takes so long. Seems its only compatible in a dextrose suspension. Kind of like getting pancake syrup through an IV. Its so thick it can’t go in any faster. (Oh, and on a personal note, the bathroom is still out of TP.)

1:00 – Greg’s all cleaned up and ready to go. Shirley the cleaning lady came in so we went for a walk. Shirley is a trip. She’s a 65 year old African American lady, and while ordinarily that would be irrelevant, you have to know that in order to get the full mental image of her in her platinum blonde wig. We’ve been seeing her up here since 2004. She comes in banging her mops & supplies, talking to you, the staff, herself – no one in particular and everyone in general. You could be fast asleep and she’ll still talk. Nonstop. About nothing. I think she talks when there’s no one in the room. She does manage to get the room kind of clean. Greg’s trying to get his hands on a DSM-IV to see if he can find an Axis I diagnosis on her. (For those of you at my office: I think she's from 10-E).

1:50 – They’re gearing up. Bringing all the equipment into the room. Some of you may remember last year’s transplant. Some of you are new. This is basically treated like a standard blood transfusion. They’ve brought in this hot water bath machine-thingy that thaws out the cells. Greg was disappointed. It looks like a big cheese-melting vat. He was hoping for nachos.

2:00 – They’re here – the cells, I mean. They’re in a giant Thermos packed with dry ice. Dave and another nurse are checking the numbers just to make sure they’re HIS cells. Always a good idea. All three bags appear to have the right numbers on them.

2:23 – Bag one of three is on its way in. We just found out that the reason his cells were frozen was simply a scheduling issue with the donor. They tell us its no big deal and doesn’t diminish the quality or effectiveness of the transplant. (Then why were they making such a big deal about it?)

2:40 – Bag one is done, vital signs look good & bag two is on the way in.

3:00 – Bag two is done & three is up & running. Greg’s feeling OK, but his legs are throbbing. Can’t figure out why, but the nurse doesn’t seem too concerned. Its really starting to smell like the preservative agent in here. Smells like a can of creamed corn, only stronger. I told Greg he doesn’t get another kiss from me for a few days. It’ll take that long for the preservative to work its way out of his system.

3:20 – We’re done!

OK everyone, thanks for all that great Karma. I think it worked! Greg’s pretty tired, and they gave him a sedative, so I think he’s going to take a nap now & let all those cells go to work & start grafting. I think I’ll take a nap now, too. All in all, it was pretty uneventful. And that’s a good thing. I’ll update again tomorrow & let you know how he’s doing.

Love,

Greg & Ann