Stem Cell Transplant No. 2 – Transplant Preparation

Hello my healing team,

I hope this update finds you well!!

Firstly, thanks for all of the wonderful support that you have shown to Sarah and I over the past few days! All of your messages have put a smile on my (somewhat bald) dial!!

All kicked off yesterday with the insertion of a Hickman line. This is a couple of tubes that get installed into my chest and connect to my jugular vein for quick blood access. The installation is a surgical procedure that is meant to take an hour. However, I got Dr Quick Fingers who was super fast and knocked it over in 15 minutes. I think he had another nine holes of golf that he had to get to. It is normal for the patient to be comfortably sedated during the procedure, but Dr Quick Fingers forgot to administer until half way through so it didn’t really kick in until I got back to the recovery ward. It did make recovery more interesting, especially the process of going to the toilet!! I’ve never had to concentrate so hard 🙄.

For me, the Hickman line has its pro’s and con’s. Up side is that there will be no more needle jabs for the next 3-4 months. Down side is that I have these horrible tubes hanging out of my chest. I have to be careful not to get them too wet so no swimming. I must not damage them or pull on them so no wrestling with the kids (or Sarah 😻) and it is infuriatingly itchy as the holes in my chest heal. On top of that, I need to go into the hospital weekly to get the dressing changed so I am tied to this crappy place. Bloody annoying. I have watched a few episodes of ER in my time so I felt quite comfortable to redo the dressings weekly myself but ‘apparently’ given the device goes straight to my heart, they don’t want to risk infection!! Blah.

High dose chemo today (Wednesday).

So they start by sticking in anti nausea, anti bacteria, anti viral, anti fun, a dose of pain management and loads of saline. Then they give me some steroids to pep me up and keep me awake. I was also given a diuretic so that I can quickly pass the toxic drugs out of my system, then drugs to stablise my kidneys to protect them from the harsh effects of the chemo and the dying cells in my body. That’s the first 10 minutes done.

Next they introduce the Melphelan which is high dose chemo. Melphelan was developed in 1980. They first designed it to sterilize dogs and cats. It also got picked up by PinoClean as a hospital grade toilet cleaner. Winning!! (Please know that I rarely let truth get in the way of an entertaining story). So they run the Melphelan through me for roughly one hour, and as it passes through me, it indiscriminately kills all the fast replicating cells in my body including hair follicles, cells in my gastrointestinal tract, my mouth lining, my bone marrow and hopefully the cancer. Some of the side effects include ulcer damaged mouth and “back passage”. Recent medical advances has found that if the patient sucks ice, it helps with the mouth ulcers as the cold stops blood (and Melphelan) flow to the mouth lining. I asked the nurses what I could do to protect my back passage and they gave me a Zooper Dooper 😳.

So I have been asked many times over the past week how I feel. When I pull away the facade, I just feel pissed off!! I won’t explain why. It’s pretty self explanatory. Sarah says she is pissed off too 😡!!

As you reflect on this update, know that I am sitting in the day oncology ward at Alfred hospital (one of 20-ish hospitals) that treats up to 20 patients at any one time. The seats are full from 9am to 5pm with patients typically staying for an hour…… that’s a lot of Zooper Doopers!!

Have a great day.

Take care.

Geoff

Author: Geoff Nyssen

As a cancer fighter, I inspire others towards empowerment, wellness and deliberate living. View all posts by Geoff Nyssen