Debbie Updates

April 29:
Day 13 since the transplant. This morning was pretty good, but at lunch time the nausea returned. We just have to take moment by moment. It is a good sign that the nausea and stomach pain are not constant, so far. They are watching closely for graft verses host disease (GVHD), infections, side effects from the medications and chemo. Preston's cell counts are up a little, today. That is good and indicates that engrafment is starting. This has to be a tough thing for a body to go through, when the new stem cells are fighting and destroying his cells to make new ones. Until next time.
May 2:
Preston's blood counts started coming up a couple days ago and are improving every day. He is able to eat despite the nausea. It will take at least a year, sometimes longer for his immune system to recover. So we have to be very careful to avoid infections. We are excited to get out of the hospital.
May 5:
Preston got to leave the hospital for several hours a day over the weekend and things went well. He still has nausea and generalized fatigue. He spent a lot of the time sleeping, but at least it was ininterrupted sleep. Which he doesn't get much of at the hospital. He gets to go outpatient today. Yahoo!!! This is a big mile stone, and we are glad to have made it to this step. He will have to return to the clinic for check-ups several times a week, depending on how he is doing. We have finally got to the biggest chapter in our transplant binder. There are a lot of rules regarding activity and food. He will be at increased risk for infection for months to come. I will try to bring the lap top with us to appoinments, so that I can keep everyone posted. Have a good day.