April 30th

I saw Denise this evening and all is well. The Roids were giving her a bit of a buzz and she was Feelin Alright. Which leads me to what she calls, a weird experience, from the night before - having a conversation with someone who wasn't there. Bloody hell, there is nothing weird about that; I do it all the time. D wasn't sure whether she dreamed it or whether it was a side effect of the drugs. My advice: Just enjoy it.

Denise asked me to post a big THANK-YOU to all of you who have supported and encouraged her through this whole myeloma thing. She couldn't have got to where she is now, without your friendship. I add my THANKS to y'all, to that!

At this point she is on Filgrastim Valaciclovir and Itraconazole. Click on each of them to see what they are used for.

April 29th 2016 Transplant Day

Robyn's stem cells were thawed and introduced to their new host at 16:30 today and are running wild and free.  This is one of the very few syngeneic transplants for multiple myeloma that has been performed in Australia. Denise is tired but well. She had some chest pain after the procedure and an ECG was run just to be sure to be sure. The ECG showed that there are no problems with her heart and the pain was put down to reflux. There is an upside to this: she is being given Endone to ease any pain that occurs and to relax her; it did both and is continuing to do so. Dexamethasone and Endone - there are people out there who would cut off an arm to get that combination into their systems.

Here is a picture of the transplant happening:

April 28th 2016 Transplant Day-1

Denise had a rest day today. She was feeling pretty good and on an upper because of the Roids. We had coffee at Lifehouse across the road from the RPA. D was having no ill effects from the Melphalan and was approaching the transplant procedure with her usual grace and courage.

April 27th 2016 Transplant Day-2

A fairly easy day for Denise today. She started pre-hydration. Guess what that is - fluid intake. Y'all know how much water she drinks during a normal day so this woman is well hydrated every day. No problems coping with that.

Melphalan was given by IV in the morning. This is chemotherapy's hunter-seeker that does a final sweep and takes out any residual bad guys that Velcade might have missed.

Look out, here come the Roids! Yep, Dexamethasone is back in the building - think pure caffeine on speed. The dosage is lower than previously but Denise on it, is only a breath away from bursting into a rendition of My Generation.

Denise has requested no flowers.

This transplant process has some pretty horrendous side effects and you know what a private person Denise is so I will let y'all know when she is ready to receive visitors.

April 26th 2016 Transplant Day-3

It all began with blood collection in the RPA haematology clinic at 08:30.  Up to ward 7 West 1 and  a piripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) was put in. This procedure put a catheter into a vein in Denise's left arm and the line runs from there to just above her heart. It was done under local anaesthic with the insertion monitored using ultrasound  - no pain and very little discomfort. A gated heart scan was performed after that. The scan was performed in the RPA's nuclear medicine facility.  See this link for details on what this scan is used for: gated blood pool scan
Admission to the ward followed and I legged it for home. Tomorrow is a rest day for Denise and I will post another update then.