Transplant +13
Day 76
Transplant +13
ICU day 8
Tate made some improvement today! Her ANC hit 200 overnight and she made it another night without needing a platelet or blood transfusion. Her BMT Dr. Said today that he is “fairly certain “ that the growing cells are donor cells and not her own coming back. This is what we want! We were told that once cells started coming back, the mucositis would rapidly get better. We are already seeing huge improvements in her mouth and even in her esophagus as she’s now able to drink some water without it burning as much. Her stomach and intestines are still giving her trouble, but we know that should also improve in the next couple days.
The mucositis is caused by the chemo killing the cells that make up the lining throughout her intestinal tract. This causes them to ulcerate and bleed, causing lots of pain. Pretty much all BMT kiddos who get this end up on narcotic pumps. It also causes them to die off. The body has to get rid of that lining, and there’s only two ways out. It’s a little disconcerting to see “lining” expelled even though we were told ahead of time this was part of the process. Vomiting increased again today as well as part of her body doing its job.
We continue to slowly decrease the precedex sedation med. Hallucinations both visual and auditory continued today although there was definitely an improvement in lucid moments. There seems to be a correlation, but with so much poly pharmacy, it’s difficult to know which end is up.
We are praying for sleep tonight after another sleeplittle night last night. My biggest request was NO lasix at bedtime. Tates pain has increased as we turn down the precedex but she’s managing in the gritty way she does. She has Tik Tok plans with her nurses Kelly and Amy tomorrow. They are literally the dream team down here. We them and are so grateful for the care and friendship and fun they provide. I haven’t seen much of our bubbly Tate of late, so looking forward to a good day tomorrow. If things continue to improve, we’re hoping to be back in the BMT unit sometime Thursday.