Post BMT Day + 130 + 5
Post BMT +130
Day 5
Blood cultures continue to grow bacteria. They are taking longer to grow which means the bacterial load is decreasing. It’s just taking longer than we’d hoped. In the meantime, Tate continues to feel pretty awful. Pain in her body and stomach and nausea with fatigue are companions all day long. We’re holding j tube feeds tonight to give her gut a break. She’s still not eating and only drinking a few sips each day. TPN still provides her with nutrition and fluids.
Im praying that tomorrow things flip around and she’ll feel well enough to go for a tiny walk or even sit in the chair. She worked so hard to gain her ability to walk again and be strong enough for stairs. Being in bed saps your muscle strength so quickly. We want to be able to have the option to bring her home soon after discharge but she has to be able to navigate stairs. Currently any movement at all brings waves of nausea and increased pain.
This re-admission, although not uncommon with BMT, is a little hard on the psyche. I really thought we’d be further along than we are at this point after transplant and am having to dig deep for patience-something that I usually have an abundance of. But, we are grateful for so many familiar faces and some of our very favorites on both the nursing and inpatient rounding teams. Genuinely kind and caring staff make all the difference.