Last night Jody talked me into spending the night. I slept in a recliner next to her bed. Jody completed her last infusion around 10:30 pm and was tired. We watched the news, both of us dozed off and on and then turned the TV off after watching the first two guest on Jay Leno.
Around 2:30 am I heard Jody groaning, her breathing was labored, and she felt clammy. She woke up about 3:00 am and told me she was freezing. I pulled her blanket up around her, when she told me she needed to use the bathroom. She raced off to the bathroom and became sick. I notified the nurse, who came immediately and calmed our fears. She (the nurse) explained the ATG drug was accumulating in her system. Even though Jody did not react with her first dose the drug can effect her as it builds up in her system. Jody was running a temperature of 103, so they packed ice bags around her and gave her some steroids and Tylenol. She eventually fell back asleep exhausted.
We woke around 6:00 am totally wiped out. The nurse told us Jody will begin taking Tacrolimus (TAC). The drug we have been taking for the last two days is called ATG. ATG is a serum made from rabbits and distracts her "T" cells when the donor cells are infused. It will help Jody to accept the donors stem cells. TAC is put into her system to tell the donors stem cells to remain dormant when they arrive. Jody will begin to be infused with TAC at 8:00 am this morning and it will be given to her continuously, 24-7 over the next three weeks. The TAC will then be backed off slowly to bring the donor stem cells to life. Then we will be watching for the "graft vs host" (known around here as GVH) disease to appear. In addition to TAC, Jody will get another (her last) 6-hour infusion of ATG at 4:00 pm this afternoon, along with several other cocktails of drugs to prevent side effects and nausea. So much for a day of rest. The good thing is we are done with the chemo.
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| Jody and Ross |
This is a picture of Ross and Jody. He is one of her favorite Tech's he discovered a way to make Jody's bed, they way she liked it.... sheets tucked in on all four corners, nice and tight.
Around noon I seized my opportunity to go home. Jody was taking a nap... I went home showered, shaved, talked to some of you on the phone and returned to Jody around 4:00 pm, just as the ATG arrived. We eat dinner together, she had chicken fingers and mac-n-cheese (eat a couple of bites) and I had a burger. Jody's appetite was tempered by her fear of being sick again.
"You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering."Henri-Frederic Amiel
(1821 – 1881)
a Swiss philosopher
a Swiss philosopher
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