One Day and Counting

My first round of Melphalan yesterday afternoon went well and I'm receiving the second round as I type this post. So far, mild nausea is all I can report which is great news! I've received several pre-meds to prevent nausea and they seem to be doing a great job. Apparently the Melphalan can kick in days later and I could experience flu like symptoms, changes to my taste buds, mouth sores and other side effects. Also, the bottoming out of my immune system is expected in the next 10 days just as I experienced after the Cytoxan a few weeks ago.

Tomorrow is the big day! I will be getting my stem cells transplanted/re-infused tomorrow around 8:30 am. For this entire Autologous Stem Cell Process which takes months to prepare for and months to recover from, it is actually the 15-minute re-infusion of the cells which is considered the main event. Seems a bit anti-climactic, doesn't it?

Re-infusion day is considered Day "0" and each day thereafter is Day+1, Day+2, Day+3 etc. Some people consider it a new birthday of sorts. Unless the new birthday comes with very expensive jewelry from my dear husband, I think it will simply remain Re-Infusion Day on our calendar. Although Dave just reminded me that today is Fat Tuesday, so perhaps a trip to New Orleans would be a great way to celebrate Re-Infusion Day next year.

Thanks for your comments. I was happy to see several new people joining the blog including a few of my fellow "Myelomians."