Transplant begins!!

Apparently it is now Thursday. I'll come back to that.

Had a nice weekend with the kiddies, and with my friends.
Friday evening Deri stayed with granny and I went to Jo's with a few other mums from the area for a rather nice gathering, lots of wine and scrummy nibbles! The mums from Deri's school clubbed together snd bought me a trollbead! Wow that was lovely. Jo then presented me with one I was saving for - a silver one called 3 siblings ... very sweet, nearly cried! Saturday, Deri started riding lessons. She has had sporadic sessions of horse riding, and been nagging me for them to be regular, and her friends aunt owns a stables, and I am friends with that aunts sister,,,, so we are paying but going in on her friends lesson which ususally is just them and their cousin :) Deri LOVES horses and will be a happy womble every fortnight now haha! Then we came home, ate chocolate and watched movies. Her big sisters babysat that night as I was invited to my friends for another Pre Admission Knees-Up, where we drank far too much vodka (or just the right amount, depending on one's viewpoint!) and pink bubbly haha! On both evenings I had SUCH a good laugh, and just soaked up all the love and support ready to take into hospital with me... just as I have soaked up the love and support I have from everyone, at home, on Macland, everywhere! On Sunday, I sat down with Deri and her calendar, explained how the doctor wanted me back in hospital, it would be for longer but then I wouldn't need to come in again (thats my plan anyway!) and we marked off the days and gave her a packet of stickers to stick on one night at a time. She said ''only 2 more days with you before you are away for a LONG time" ... big gulp, no tears, smile bravely and convince her it's all good! Which, it will be...

So, Monday is spent packing. And told to call at 9am Tuesday... which I did, and was told to come in for 3pm. Then called at 1 pm and said no bed free til 8pm, but I couldn't get a lift at 7pm (coz of kids) so I arrived at 3.30 and sat in the relatives room until 8.30pm, watching tv and reading and had my patient's dinner served in there too!! This seems to be a trend with me and my admissions haha!

Put on a 4 bed ward - 1 woman has HL and has a 12 day old baby born at 31 weeks via C-section in neonatal and she's in coz of temperature after chemo!! The other 2 women have leukemia. Next morning, HL lady can go home. I am given bloods etc but no treatment. Then last night about 11pm, an elderly lady was wheeled in. Quickly established she also has advanced dementia. They inserted a catheter and she dozed off.So did we. Then at 2.30am I was woken by her at the foot of my bed, the catheter trailing behind her. "Hello? Can you help me get this thing out, I don't know what it is?"
WHOA! 'Oh no', says I, 'we can't take it out, wait there and I'll get a nurse'...
Well this happened at various intervals during the night so not much sleep had by anyone, poor old dab, she's a real sweetie.

So then it's today and there are bloods being taken and charts drawn up and protocols to read and chemo days to absorb........and then taken to the transplant ward across the corridor and through big double doors into my single room. It has an ok view, it has a flat screen tv and remote, it has my laptop and DVDs and books etc.... and I can keep the door open as much as I want until stem cells go in and then it's door closed at all times. The food is better than at Nevill Hall so far, huzzah!

Today is day minus 7... 3 hours of fluids, 2 hours of chemo, now on 11 hours of potassium/saline. days -6 through to -3 I have a different chemo, then day -2 another one again, then -1 is a rest day with no chemo, and then day Zero is stem cell day.

I have managed to Skype my kiddies each evening :D Yay!

So, here we go, da da ddaaaaaaaaa.......................