Battle Hymns of a Hot Mess Mom

Not In-N-Out, but in and out of consciousness… My gastrointestinal issues began before my transplant and persist. On Day 1, I required a blood transfusion, a normal part of supporting me during engraftment when my old blood makes way for the new. It’s a critical moment. Day 2 brought the need for platelets. Frequent bathroom visits and medication left me semi-conscious. Starting at an 8 platelet count yesterday, today it’s at 3. At 6:30 AM, I began premeds (Tylenol, 50mg of Benadryl, and Hydrocortisone), rendering me semi-unconscious due to past platelet reactions. The infusion is slow. It’s still not fully done at 9:00 AM, but I’m out of the Benadryl fog.

When will I go home?
It’s interesting because I didn’t receive an organ, but the hospital’s healing process is necessary. I received blood and stem cells, which come with their own healing requirements. I’ll be monitored around the clock for a few weeks until engraftment and checked for rejection, infection, fevers, and other side effects. Around the 2-3 week mark, I should reach “Nader,” accepting the host’s blood and stem cells, leaving my faulty DNA behind. I hope to be home by Thanksgiving. I miss the kids immensely. Unlike last time, when they could visit with special permissions, this time, it’s not allowed due to the transplant and infection risks.

I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about my donor, how I imagine him to be. All I know is that he is 58 years old, has done extensive on traveling (I had to sign a Zika release form because he traveled there within the last 6 months) and likely to be from Europe. Queue my over active imagination.

I feel like I don’t have a solid feel on his name – but it’s not like a Simon or anything. Maybe Pierre; Why Pierre? Because I think I had some strange obsession in the 80s with Pierre Carden. So Pierre is an introvert with a love of reading and poetry. He is also a forager, and he gets up in the morning to handpick micro greens with his border collie, a black-and-white named Rex. Pierre forages for mushrooms to make breakfast for his wife. They have no children. More on him and his back story later

It’s 7:10am – and I’ve already had another platelet transfusion. My stomach, ears and fingers are itching. No welts though. All last night the GI and I fought; I lost. It’s been a rough start to the morning of Day 4.