Day + 11, Saturday

The picture is grainy because the TV in my room is grainy – but I wouldn’t trade this photo of the day for anything! I was THRILLED to hear the election news mid-morning from Kurt, and then I nearly cried – but didn’t because of the pain from my Mucositis. And that’s another interesting part of getting a bone marrow transplant: my world becomes a hospital room, connection with others occurring through my Team and nurses. The rest of the world marches on; I do too, though, in my own way as it relates to transplant. If I want a distraction from my Stem Cell Transplant world, I simply switch on the news. If I’m tired of news, I read or find something transplant-related. It’s quite convenient, actually.

In other news, I’m still pushing the liquids and managing between 1600-1800 kcal per day on it:

That being said, it takes nearly 45 minutes to drink an ensure and eat a cup of calorie-enriched soup or a yogurt. Nope, not pretty, but I’m determined and stubborn. Still taking all my pills as well:

Later, my nurse Lamin was helping to flush my PCA box (pain med box) while someone else was getting my I&O, or rather, my Input & Output. I keep track of how much I drink and coincidentally, keep track of how much I pee. Everything is in mL, if you’re curious. The nurses jot these number down, and into my chart they go. This is important to make sure I’m not getting a major imbalance one way or another. You may recall that I’m not a fan of cankles and I’m terrible at math.

If I don’t pee enough per my intake, I’m given a shot of lasix, or a diuretic. Trust me, it works and is motivation to check my math skilz.

Other news? I’ve spiked my biggest fever to date: 38.6 C, which is roughly 101.4 F. Not fun. But my body is going through a lot, between the Mucositis and the BK Virus in my bladder being the biggies, and some other discomforts – hemorrhoids, the skin around my groin feeling super sensitive as a result of the chemo, and minor right ear pain. The doc came to see me and ordered labs (standard for anything over 38 C), and another urine sample. I’ve given many urine samples, but today’s color reached an all new horror factor for me:

When I requested more Panty Liners/Maxi Pads from my male nurse, he reported that their stock room was out. Usually I’ll let stuff go and figure something out on my own….nope! This was not the time for that. I insisted that he find another stock room to raid until more pads could be sent up. At this point, I’m going through 3-4 pads per day just for my bladder. And I’m trying to keep everything as hygienic as possible, so that includes showers in the morning and full wet wipe baths in the evening. And clean pads whenever possible.

Thankfully Amazon will be here on Monday with my own special delivery of pads and liners. Maybe one works better than the other? Regardless, I won’t be out anytime soon and that is what matters most.