Part three of the Stem Cell Transplant is the actual Transplant! Day 0 (Your transplant birthday) and that day was August 23rd for me. What lied ahead from this day was not fun, but I made it through with lots of love and support.
Part Four is Recovery. This lasts for quite a while but the first 100 days are the most critical.
The Instagram posts below document the first 11 days of recovery, while I was still in the hospital. Reading back through these posts was a bit surreal as I honestly have very little memory of that last week. Mostly because I was in such a fog and on so many meds for pain, nausea and a million other side effects that were happening inside my body. Partially from my mind doing a good job of just blocking that week out.
This week was my week alone (not counting the many nurses, doctors, and other staff that seemed to always be in my room). And although, I vaguely remember this - I was sent "Love bombs" all week which were video clips of love and support from friends and colleagues. Including friends from all over the country. So much love! Since then, I have watched them many times, tearing up from your kind words. Thanks Mel - for putting that together -- #grateful #blessed
Day (0)/Day 7. Stem Cell Transplant done ✅.
Posting for Jenith: Three bags of frozen stem cells delivered in a cooler and popped back into Jen’s system. She is doing great but a little worn down. The next week will be spent in “recovery” while her body continues to process the chemo drugs and the stem cells do their important work of growing new cells and rebuilding her immune system.
Today is also is considered her transplant birthday. If you know Jenith, that means from now on June and August will
both be big celebration months. 😉#stemcelltransplant #livelifedetour#nonhodgkinslymphoma#onlywayoutisthrough #warrior#thankssisterforbeinghere
August 24
Recovery: Day +1/Hospital stay Day 8. Today was a rough day. They pumped me with steroids yesterday which my body hates so I wasn’t able to sleep last night. Although, the worst side effects are yet to come, the mental challenge of being in this hospital and this room is not for the weak. I am working so hard to find the joy in each day and feel so lucky to have had the ability to have this transplant but some days, hours and minutes are harder than others. I am so grateful to my visitors even on the days I want to tell them not to come. Hoping to break free in 13 more days (yes I am counting) and I wish I could just enjoy this time without any of life’s responsibilities but I just do not operate like that. #justkeepingitreal#thehardpart #onlywayoutisthrough#daybyday #findthejoy thanks @76mmp for being here today - you were definitely the joy in today ❤️❤️❤️
August 25
Recovery: Day +2/Hospital stay day 8. Today was better than yesterday for the simple reason that they did not give me more steroids. The fascinating thing about what is happening inside my body right now is that, I am actually cancer free, but all the chemo still hasn’t even done its work and we are waiting for those stem cells to engraft and do their job. In the meantime, my blood counts are tanking (as expected) which is causing fatigue, nausea, and chemo side effects are starting to appear. I will spare the details there but you can imagine. Today, I am trying movement and positivity to get me through plus a long visit with a friend. 2 more days of visitors and then I have a week of isolation due to incredibly low immune system. I am putting it out there. I want to be home in 10 days! 10 more sleeps. September 4th is the earliest I can go home if all the cells do their jobs. So that is my focus!! Do your job!! Plus as you know, I will completely take all the mojo, positive vibes, unicorns, puppies and prayers you are will to send my way!! Thanks @martikafelix for the long day with me and letting me pretend we were back in the dorms talking about boys. 🥰😍😘#onlywayoutisthrough#warrior #positivity#doyourjobstemcells #grateful#10moresleeps
Recovery: Day +2/Hospital stay day 8. Today was better than yesterday for the simple reason that they did not give me more steroids. The fascinating thing about what is happening inside my body right now is that, I am actually cancer free, but all the chemo still hasn’t even done its work and we are waiting for those stem cells to engraft and do their job. In the meantime, my blood counts are tanking (as expected) which is causing fatigue, nausea, and chemo side effects are starting to appear. I will spare the details there but you can imagine. Today, I am trying movement and positivity to get me through plus a long visit with a friend. 2 more days of visitors and then I have a week of isolation due to incredibly low immune system. I am putting it out there. I want to be home in 10 days! 10 more sleeps. September 4th is the earliest I can go home if all the cells do their jobs. So that is my focus!! Do your job!! Plus as you know, I will completely take all the mojo, positive vibes, unicorns, puppies and prayers you are will to send my way!! Thanks @martikafelix for the long day with me and letting me pretend we were back in the dorms talking about boys. 🥰😍😘#onlywayoutisthrough#warrior #positivity#doyourjobstemcells #grateful#10moresleeps
August 26 - 27
Recovery: Days +3 and +4/Hospital stay days 9 and 10.
Posting for Jenith:
Today we hit some bumps in the road of the #livelifedetour. As expected, with all the changes to her body, Jen spiked a fever. Within minutes of taking her vitals, nurses jumped into action, drawing blood from her PICC line and other arm, taking chest x-rays and administering antibiotics and a hydration drip. After a few hours, her fever was gone, but she is feeling the impact of her low blood counts and chemo drugs. Since her immune system is basically nonexistent now, she will not be permitted to have visitors until next Friday. Hopefully, she will get some pain relief and healing. Thanks to all for the love, support and prayers. #warrior #growstemcellsgrow#grateful
Recovery: Days +3 and +4/Hospital stay days 9 and 10.
Posting for Jenith:
Today we hit some bumps in the road of the #livelifedetour. As expected, with all the changes to her body, Jen spiked a fever. Within minutes of taking her vitals, nurses jumped into action, drawing blood from her PICC line and other arm, taking chest x-rays and administering antibiotics and a hydration drip. After a few hours, her fever was gone, but she is feeling the impact of her low blood counts and chemo drugs. Since her immune system is basically nonexistent now, she will not be permitted to have visitors until next Friday. Hopefully, she will get some pain relief and healing. Thanks to all for the love, support and prayers. #warrior #growstemcellsgrow#grateful
Recovery: Day +5/ Hospital stay day 12. After the rough day that was yesterday with fevers, daggers in my stomach and nausea….they put me on constant hydration, tramadol for the pain, antibiotics for the prevention of infection and I actually managed to sleep most of the night and day. Eating is really not a thing right now, but they are ok with that. Today, my counts dropped even lower and they gave me a platelet infusion. I am holding steady and while tomorrow may not be my best day, I think we have figured out how to manage what is. That smile on my face is actually a real one today. Thanks for ALL the continued love and support. #onlywayoutisthrough#weareinthethickofit#angelswatchingoverme#amazingnursestoo #dayonenovisitors#stemcellsdoyourjob#nonhodgkinslymphoma
August 29
Recovery: Day +6/ Hospital stay day 13. Last night went on with more blood and urine cultures as they found staph infection in my urine. They needed to confirm it was not in my blood too. They drew vials of blood and then administered two antibiotics. They also started the Zarzio shots again to help build white blood cells which are basically at a <0.03. Hemoglobin dropped to the magic number 7.0 that requires a blood transfusion. I am just over here checking off all the bucket list items. platelet infusion ✅, Blood transfusion ✅. Today was exhausting and I slept through most of it. Tomorrow, they will run an echocardiogram just to check that no infections have reached my heart. Tomorrow is also a WEEK since my stem cell transplant. amazing.
I will meet with my doctor and the team tomorrow and get a better idea of what to expect. blood counts typically jump up on Day +10 which puts us at Thursday. 🙏🤞🙏🤞#scheduleddischargedayisaweekfromMonday #maygetoutasearlyasSaturday#stemcellsdoyourjob
#onlywayoutisthrough#weareinthethickofit#angelswatchingoverme#novisitorsallowed #neutropenic#nonhodgkinslymphoma
#hairstartedfallingouttoday#thatmightbeacrackercrumbonmychest
Recovery: Day +6/ Hospital stay day 13. Last night went on with more blood and urine cultures as they found staph infection in my urine. They needed to confirm it was not in my blood too. They drew vials of blood and then administered two antibiotics. They also started the Zarzio shots again to help build white blood cells which are basically at a <0.03. Hemoglobin dropped to the magic number 7.0 that requires a blood transfusion. I am just over here checking off all the bucket list items. platelet infusion ✅, Blood transfusion ✅. Today was exhausting and I slept through most of it. Tomorrow, they will run an echocardiogram just to check that no infections have reached my heart. Tomorrow is also a WEEK since my stem cell transplant. amazing.
I will meet with my doctor and the team tomorrow and get a better idea of what to expect. blood counts typically jump up on Day +10 which puts us at Thursday. 🙏🤞🙏🤞#scheduleddischargedayisaweekfromMonday #maygetoutasearlyasSaturday#stemcellsdoyourjob
#onlywayoutisthrough#weareinthethickofit#angelswatchingoverme#novisitorsallowed #neutropenic#nonhodgkinslymphoma
#hairstartedfallingouttoday#thatmightbeacrackercrumbonmychest
August 30 - September 2
Recovery Day+10, +9, +8 and +7/ Hospital stay day 17. UPDATE: what a rough week. They were not kidding when they said you would feel awful when your blood counts dropped to 0. I spent the week curled up in a ball of discomfort, nausea, knife daggers in stomach and overall fatigue. BUT here I am, almost on the other side… still feeling pretty crappy but my blood counts are rising! Day +10 in the transplant world is a day that this usually happens. my white blood counts have jumped from 0.19 (yesterday) to 0.61!! We are waiting to see what my absolute neutrophil counts are to determine whether I have engrafted yet!! that means… my stem cells have attached back to bone marrow and are doing their job!!!! This is ALL great news and while I still feel awful, inside I am smiling. This week, I also lost my hair again (not a surprise) but never fun. If all goes well, I may get an early release this weekend.
#inthethickofit #onlywayoutisthrough#stemcelltransplant #warrior#thanksforallthelovebombs #prayers#grateful
Recovery Day+10, +9, +8 and +7/ Hospital stay day 17. UPDATE: what a rough week. They were not kidding when they said you would feel awful when your blood counts dropped to 0. I spent the week curled up in a ball of discomfort, nausea, knife daggers in stomach and overall fatigue. BUT here I am, almost on the other side… still feeling pretty crappy but my blood counts are rising! Day +10 in the transplant world is a day that this usually happens. my white blood counts have jumped from 0.19 (yesterday) to 0.61!! We are waiting to see what my absolute neutrophil counts are to determine whether I have engrafted yet!! that means… my stem cells have attached back to bone marrow and are doing their job!!!! This is ALL great news and while I still feel awful, inside I am smiling. This week, I also lost my hair again (not a surprise) but never fun. If all goes well, I may get an early release this weekend.
Recovery: Day +11/Hospital stay day 18! my blood counts soared! I got early release for good behavior and ummm of course outstanding blood counts. My ANC (absolute neutrophil counts) were at 410 on Thursday and it had to get to a 500 for engraftment of stem cells on my bone marrow (doing their real job) and for them to let me go home….drum roll… they came back at 2,500!! #overachiever and they sprung me three days early!! I cannot tell you how good it feels to be out of the hospital. I came to my cousins for the first night to be pampered and sleep in the princess bed. This morning the sunshine on my face is the best medicine. Soon 🔜 I will be home with my pups and recovering in my home. #sograteful #earlyrelease#onlywayoutisthrough #wedidit!! #warrior#thanksforalltheloveandsupport❤️
September 4
At Home: Recovery Day +12
Yippee!! There’s no place like home - honestly. Jenith has been home for almost 3 hours and, as expected, she returned home in her usual rebellious mood. She is on a low microbial diet for the next two weeks, so our first order of business was to read “the rules” and send me out to forage for food. I left her alone with one instruction: sit on the couch and rest. She did NOT listen. I got back with groceries to find her organizing, cleaning ice cube trays and definitely NOT sitting in the couch. 😝
At Home: Recovery Day +12
Yippee!! There’s no place like home - honestly. Jenith has been home for almost 3 hours and, as expected, she returned home in her usual rebellious mood. She is on a low microbial diet for the next two weeks, so our first order of business was to read “the rules” and send me out to forage for food. I left her alone with one instruction: sit on the couch and rest. She did NOT listen. I got back with groceries to find her organizing, cleaning ice cube trays and definitely NOT sitting in the couch. 😝
Speaking of rules, many people have expressed the desire to visit or send food or flowers. She appreciates the offers, but because of her fragile immune system, she won’t be able to have visitors until her doctor gives her permission. Also, her diet is restricted and she cannot receive flowers.
In the meantime, she will be recovering from home and getting stronger each day. She can’t keep up with all of your texts, but she reads each one and they elevate her spirits.
