Stem Cell Transplant Journal Day 12 – 12 December 2015 (Cancer and Me 53)

I lose track of days, but it must be Saturday today. Heidi came to see me this evening rather than during the day, because of all the kids stuff on (and bits of Christmas shopping still left to do). And she’s staying overnight in the relatives’ room so that she doesn’t have to travel back too late while she’s tired.

I felt pretty rough today. I woke with a headache, and my tummy has felt bad all day. My mouth also feels sore, but strangely hasn’t got any ulcers. And I am generally just washed out. I haven’t eaten at all, because I literally cannot face any food. The thought of it even makes me feel sick!

Because of that the nurses and doctors are encouraging me to have nutritional milkshakes, which I can stomach fortunately. If I didn’t manage to take in any calories they’d give me an NG (nasogastric) tube to get food directly into my stomach. I’ve had an NG tube before (during my 2010 hospital stay) and I would not want to go through that again! So I am motivated to try and eat, or at least have milkshakes, so that I can avoid that!

When people said to me that at this stage all I would feel like doing is lying around doing nothing, they were not far from the truth. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing – lying around and listening to music.

Of course, I’ve managed to write this blog entry. And I have done a little reading as well, but after a while I lose concentration and have to give up and have a rest. I’ve also watched a film today and watched the X-Factor Final with Heidi.

Today’s blood counts are:

• WCC 0.2 (yesterday 1.2)
• Neut 0.2 (yesterday 1.1)
• Hb 136 (yesterday 131)
• Plt 46 (yesterday 64)

The significance of platelets being below 50 is that I now don’t have to have an anti-coagulant injection in the evening!

But with WCC hitting almost zero I think it’s clear that I’m entering the tough part.

I feel like my hair is going to fall out soon too. Hard to say how I know, but something about it makes me feel like it’s only got a matter of a few days. I’ll keep you posted on that.