Ups and downs
Most of the news for Mom has been good - there have been no signs of the leukemia returning, her sister is a perfect match for transplant, etc. The one piece of not-so-good news has disrupted the doctor's original plans, however.
In most cases, the patient's body is expected to start making more and more of its own blood within a few days after the chemotherapy knocks out the leukemia. When this happens, the hospital can stop giving the patient constant doses of antiobiotics and frequent blood transfusions, and the patient can go home for a couple of weeks. This isn't enough, however, because a person's own bone marrow probably still has a few pockets of leukemia hiding here and there, and it will probably come back. That's why the patient returns for the actual bone marrow transplant, which will introduce someone else's bone marrow (most often a close family member, especially a sibling). It's not actually an operation - certain types of cells are taken out of the donor's blood, and put into the patient's blood. They will then make their own way to the inside of the bones, and start multiplying into bone marrow cells. The patient's own bone marrow (the healthy tissue and the few remaining pieces of cancerous tissue) is still weakened from the chemotherapy earlier, and will hopefully be squeezed out by the new bone marrow from the donor.
The problem that they are having with Mom is that she didn't start to make her own blood again. This happens sometimes, but it means that the patient has to stay in the hospital and receive constant infusions of antibiotics because she essentially has no immune system of her own. She also needs frequent red blood cell and platelet transfusions. Finally, almost 2 weeks late, there are some small signs that her system seems to be starting to produce its own healthy white blood cells again. Hopefully her own blood production will increase and she will no longer need constant transfusions. She might still be able to come home for a few days at least before she goes back to get the transplant.
Unfortunately, until her own bone marrow is really functioning again, she relies entirely on antiobiotics given intraveneously to protect her from sickness. These aren't as effective as a full immune system, so she has been periodically getting fevers and vomiting from random infections. She was getting her IV medicine through what they call a Hickman device, a 2-tubed thing that is implanted in the chest and allows multiple drugs and fluids to be delivered simultaneously right into some of the largest blood vessels in the body. Unfortunately, that device got infected, so they had to remove that and replace it with 2 conventional IV needles in her right arm, which are less effective and less convenient and more difficult to move around in.
Every day has been different and unpredictable. Some days she is feeling reasonably well, while on others she is quite sick. Unfortunately, she was feeling very badly, with a 102 degree fever and vomiting, when my father, my aunt, my uncle, and I visited her on her birthday on the 15th. The next day, she had only a very slight fever and no nausea. She was doing reasonably well yesterday afternoon as well, but she had had a rough morning. Her appetite is generally low - between various bouts of sickness and side effects from some of the medicines that she gets, her digestive system is generally tender and raw and can't handle too much at any one time.
Yesterday was the 4-week anniversary of when she went into the hospital. Not surprisingly, she wants to be able to come home VERY badly. Hopefully her system will continue to recover and she will be able to come home in the near future.
In most cases, the patient's body is expected to start making more and more of its own blood within a few days after the chemotherapy knocks out the leukemia. When this happens, the hospital can stop giving the patient constant doses of antiobiotics and frequent blood transfusions, and the patient can go home for a couple of weeks. This isn't enough, however, because a person's own bone marrow probably still has a few pockets of leukemia hiding here and there, and it will probably come back. That's why the patient returns for the actual bone marrow transplant, which will introduce someone else's bone marrow (most often a close family member, especially a sibling). It's not actually an operation - certain types of cells are taken out of the donor's blood, and put into the patient's blood. They will then make their own way to the inside of the bones, and start multiplying into bone marrow cells. The patient's own bone marrow (the healthy tissue and the few remaining pieces of cancerous tissue) is still weakened from the chemotherapy earlier, and will hopefully be squeezed out by the new bone marrow from the donor.
The problem that they are having with Mom is that she didn't start to make her own blood again. This happens sometimes, but it means that the patient has to stay in the hospital and receive constant infusions of antibiotics because she essentially has no immune system of her own. She also needs frequent red blood cell and platelet transfusions. Finally, almost 2 weeks late, there are some small signs that her system seems to be starting to produce its own healthy white blood cells again. Hopefully her own blood production will increase and she will no longer need constant transfusions. She might still be able to come home for a few days at least before she goes back to get the transplant.
Unfortunately, until her own bone marrow is really functioning again, she relies entirely on antiobiotics given intraveneously to protect her from sickness. These aren't as effective as a full immune system, so she has been periodically getting fevers and vomiting from random infections. She was getting her IV medicine through what they call a Hickman device, a 2-tubed thing that is implanted in the chest and allows multiple drugs and fluids to be delivered simultaneously right into some of the largest blood vessels in the body. Unfortunately, that device got infected, so they had to remove that and replace it with 2 conventional IV needles in her right arm, which are less effective and less convenient and more difficult to move around in.
Every day has been different and unpredictable. Some days she is feeling reasonably well, while on others she is quite sick. Unfortunately, she was feeling very badly, with a 102 degree fever and vomiting, when my father, my aunt, my uncle, and I visited her on her birthday on the 15th. The next day, she had only a very slight fever and no nausea. She was doing reasonably well yesterday afternoon as well, but she had had a rough morning. Her appetite is generally low - between various bouts of sickness and side effects from some of the medicines that she gets, her digestive system is generally tender and raw and can't handle too much at any one time.
Yesterday was the 4-week anniversary of when she went into the hospital. Not surprisingly, she wants to be able to come home VERY badly. Hopefully her system will continue to recover and she will be able to come home in the near future.