Today was another day that I did not feel well. We were at UAMS from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and during most of that time I was running a fever and late in the afternoon it went up to 102. The doctor thought the fever could be from the stem cells ingrafting. They were wanting to put me in the hospital but I talked them out of doing that.
I received one bag of platelets today and a unit of blood. My white count today was 0.71.

I felt better today for most of the day. We were at UAMS from 9 a.m. until about 4:30 today. I received the IVIG treatment with no problems and that took between 4 and 5 hours. My white count yesterday was 0.21 and rose today to 0.43. I expect it to be making some large gains in the next day or so. The nurse said the growth factor shot that I get each day is causing the stem cells to produce white blood cells instead of producing platelets. That will continue as long as I am on the growth factor shots which should stop when I've had two days higher than 2.0 on my white count. I look forward to when my platelets start to increase on their own. After I got the second bag of platelets last night, my count was 22 and today when they were checked, when I first got there, my platelet count was 11. I received another infusion of platelets today and the count went to 29.
Let me explain why I went on this new and stronger antibiotic that I have to get two infusions each day. I was running a slight fever at times and they didn't want to take any chances on me picking up something else so they started me on this more powerful antibiotic. It was done more as a preventative than it was a solution to an existing problem. As far as I know, I will only be on this antibiotic for six more days/twice a day.
Thank you all for your wonderful and caring support. It is much appreciated.

Today has been a trying day. We arrived at infusion 4 at UAMS at 9 a.m. and we're still here tonight not having left today and it is now 7:25. There is some possibility that I will have to spend the night in the hospital because of a platelet transfusion I got earlier. It did not raise my platelets and my platelets are at a critical level. I have just received another bag of platelets and waiting now for the lab results. People here in the infusion area had to stay over since the infusion area closes at 7 p.m. If this new bag of platelets does not bring my level over 10, I will have to stay in the hospital tonight so they can give me more platelets.
My white count did rise a little today and is 0.21. I think that means that it is on a steady increase now.
I will try to post another note later to let you know if I did have to stay in the hospital tonight.
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This posting did not go out when I intended. For some reason, when I am at UAMS my email does not go out and I have to send it another way. I am updating this now at 9:33pm and the good news is my platelet count went to 22 after the last infusion of platelets. That means we did not have to spend the night in the hospital and all is okay. I am feeling better tonight than I have the past several days. I hope this continues.
I received two bags of platelets and one unit of blood today.
I will have a similar schedule tomorrow at UAMS. I have to be there at 9 and then again at 5 but they tell me that I will have to have something called IVIG and that takes quite a few hours in addition to the other things I will have to get. The IVIG is an immunity building infusion. I don't know much more about it than that. It may end up being another all-day event.

I had another bad feeling day today. My white count did rise to 0.17. My platelets was 6 before the infusion of platelets. I got one bag of platelets today and one unit of blood. I don't know if the small rise in my white count means that it is turning around or not. I will know in the next day or so. The worst part of these bad feeling days are the issues I have with my digestive tract.
The APN put me on a different antibiotic today. It will require me getting two treatments each day. That means we will be going to UAMS in the morning at 9 a.m. and in the afternoon at 5 pm. This should continue for about eight days.

Today was another day of not feeling well. The nurse assured me that I was right on target for how I should be feeling now. The APN threatened me if I did not start eating that she would have me admitted to the hospital and fed through a tube. I think that has convinced me.
My white count today was 0.08. My platelet count was 12. I received a unit of blood today. My blood counts will not recover until the stem cells have found a place to live in my bone marrow and are producing as bone marrow. No one knows when this will be.

Today has not been a day that I felt good. I have run a slight fever today and generally not felt well at all. My white count was 0.10 and my platelets were 7. I did receive a bag of platelets. I got the high powered chemo, melphalan, one week ago today.

I continue to feel better today than I did two days ago. The nurses tell me that I will get to feeling worse so I will see how that goes but for now I feel good. My white count came up a bit today but they said it was because I started on the growth factor shot yesterday and it will come down to where I have almost no white count at all. I will continue on the growth factor shots until my levels are back to normal. My white count was 1.46 today my platelet level was 13. I will have to get platelets tomorrow and possibly another unit of blood. They are trying to keep my hemoglobin level above 8.5.
Getting my blood samples drawn here at the apartment worked out really well. When we got to UAMS they already had the samples tested and I received the results. I really liked that.
I hate to complain but can't they find some nurses another job to do other than nursing? A male nurse was changing the bandage on my neck, which covers the CVL line entry into my neck. He was taking the bandage off and pulled a big hunk of skin off of my neck and it did not feel good and still does not. He was simply going too fast and too rough to make it come off correctly. Pulling hair out with tape does not feel good but that is no comparison to pulling your skin off with tape.
I will stop complaining and let you go on enjoy your day or your evening. Thanks for following along with us and caring.