Hi! I was asked in another thread what chemo is like during a stem cell transplant. Answering here in case others come looking for the same information (easier reference):
Chemo. Hmm.. was it rough? *giggle* Ya. It was, but manageable. For my transplant, there were two different sessions of chemo. The first one was just for one day. They gave medication prior to the I.V. drip that kept me from feeling queasy. When the drip stopped, I thought "hmm I feel nothing. this is weird". And for a few days, I appeared fine. The third day after the treatment though.. WOAH. Weakness. I crawled to bed and stayed there. It felt like when you are sick.. just really exhausted and tired. My limbs felt weak. I felt like someone had tied sand bags to my arms and legs. Holding my head up felt like a chore. Food started tasting a bit funny. I spent a lot of time in bed... resting. I was miles from home and the transplant procedure requires that you stay in town.. so I just lounged around in the hotel room until time for the belly shots to stimulate the stem cell growth for the extraction.
The second round.. that was a little more rough. I think the chemo was given over five days.. then you just kind of wait for the immune system to fall to zero. In the hospital, i was on the chemo floor with other baldies. (By that point I was bald from the first round). The nurses were really skilled at taking care of people going through chemo. My needs were met and my questions were answered. That helped to keep the anxiety levels down. The hardest part was just the waiting. Days upon days of just sitting in the hospital room. You get this kind of foggy brain.. they call it chemo brain. All sounds and movement annoyed me. It was like my brain couldn't process them. So T.V. watching to pass the time didn't work out very well. I got pukey at times.. and well.. the other way was kind of bad too. eeeee. But none of the bad stuff was non-stop. Small sessions here and there where something would be wrong and we'd work to fix it. Like at one point, I couldn't stop making too much spit.. so I was spitting for hours. And for being queasy.. there were three meds on hand that the nurses could administer. So if one didn't work, they'd just give me different one. I had a picc line so no needle sticks. Love love love the picc line.
I know that the chemo sounds scary (and I was terrified) BUT! I'd do it again tomorrow.. I'd do it once every three months if that would continue to keep the M.S. attacks away. Don't get me wrong, the stem cell part of the transplant is great... but the chemo.. that's what stops the attacks. I was being slammed with attack after attack. None of the DMDs were helping. My last MRI prior to transplant showed 5 new lesions, 4 enhanced, including a sizable black hole. I was tanking fast. BUT! The chemo gave me a fighting chance.
Chemo. Hmm.. was it rough? *giggle* Ya. It was, but manageable. For my transplant, there were two different sessions of chemo. The first one was just for one day. They gave medication prior to the I.V. drip that kept me from feeling queasy. When the drip stopped, I thought "hmm I feel nothing. this is weird". And for a few days, I appeared fine. The third day after the treatment though.. WOAH. Weakness. I crawled to bed and stayed there. It felt like when you are sick.. just really exhausted and tired. My limbs felt weak. I felt like someone had tied sand bags to my arms and legs. Holding my head up felt like a chore. Food started tasting a bit funny. I spent a lot of time in bed... resting. I was miles from home and the transplant procedure requires that you stay in town.. so I just lounged around in the hotel room until time for the belly shots to stimulate the stem cell growth for the extraction.
The second round.. that was a little more rough. I think the chemo was given over five days.. then you just kind of wait for the immune system to fall to zero. In the hospital, i was on the chemo floor with other baldies. (By that point I was bald from the first round). The nurses were really skilled at taking care of people going through chemo. My needs were met and my questions were answered. That helped to keep the anxiety levels down. The hardest part was just the waiting. Days upon days of just sitting in the hospital room. You get this kind of foggy brain.. they call it chemo brain. All sounds and movement annoyed me. It was like my brain couldn't process them. So T.V. watching to pass the time didn't work out very well. I got pukey at times.. and well.. the other way was kind of bad too. eeeee. But none of the bad stuff was non-stop. Small sessions here and there where something would be wrong and we'd work to fix it. Like at one point, I couldn't stop making too much spit.. so I was spitting for hours. And for being queasy.. there were three meds on hand that the nurses could administer. So if one didn't work, they'd just give me different one. I had a picc line so no needle sticks. Love love love the picc line.
I know that the chemo sounds scary (and I was terrified) BUT! I'd do it again tomorrow.. I'd do it once every three months if that would continue to keep the M.S. attacks away. Don't get me wrong, the stem cell part of the transplant is great... but the chemo.. that's what stops the attacks. I was being slammed with attack after attack. None of the DMDs were helping. My last MRI prior to transplant showed 5 new lesions, 4 enhanced, including a sizable black hole. I was tanking fast. BUT! The chemo gave me a fighting chance.
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