Day 15

It's day 15 and things are more familiar now.
Each day is pretty much the same.

She gives blood in the morning...
then goes to a number of appointments.
You never know how many or where they will be.

They give you a schedule that you have to follow.
They change it sometimes daily.
Everything is dependent on the last blood count
and the last test you had.
So you really can't plan ahead
because you never know if they are going
to change it...which they usually do.

You really aren't in control...they are.
At least that's how you feel if you are a patient.
So when we have a free afternoon
we go for a walk...check out as many
areas as we can.
Our exploration area gets bigger and bigger.
We keep walking a little farther.

I'm learning the lingo...
Infusion, (getting blood)
Conditioning, (that's chemo and irradiation you get
before your stem cell transplant),
Engraftment (this is after the transplant,
still not really sure what it is...I think it's
when your new stem cells begin to take hold).

We have to take classes...
food handling class, which is how to
clean foods, counters, etc.
Nutrition class, so we know what
she can eat and what she can't eat,
Managing Care at Home class, this is
what she can do and what she can't do,
where she can go and where she can't go.
We have to learn how to flush her lines
and how to run the little pump that will
give her fluids so she doesn't dehydrate.
Apparently you can dehydrate even if you
are drinking enough water.

All in all it is quite a different life altogether.
A life that you aren't in charge of...
A life where you don't feel in control...
yet, you are there because you want to be.
The SCCA is crowded with people
that one hundred years ago would
not have had a chance at life.
But now, their chances are very good!