Jim's Journey - Day 30 post transplant March 30

Jim is not feeling well this morning. Not really nauseated, but queasy. He asks for Compazine instead of Zofran. He states that his stools have become less formed, a little looser. This is a concern to us, as this is how he started feeling before he was admitted to the hospital. He has dry heaves.

I contact the hospital and leave a message. Jim speaks to the Triage nurse, who seems a little stand-offish. He just wants to make sure he doesn't wait too long before asking for help. They tell us to come in for a "stool kit" and to have his bp taken.

Jim's bp is a little low, but goes up when he stands. This is unusual as it normally goes down. We talk with the nurse about what he has/has not eaten. She wants us to make sure to medicate a couple hours before he eats. Nothing sounds good to him.

We take a couple classes today. The first is about Chemo and Cognitive Memory loss aka Chemobrain. A good class that explains some of the problems with chemotherapy and memory and how to overcome them. It offers an insight to some of the problems Jim has been dealing with. The second class is on Long Term Follow-up and what to expect once we leave the SCCA. Jim will be followed by Dr. Bronstien of Providence St. Mary's Regional Cancer Center in Walla Walla and Dr. Aaron Vawter of the St. Mary's Physicians Group.

Jim has to be very careful for the next 6 months. No hand-shaking, no hugs, no spectator events. No horseback riding (no hay), no gardening, including lawn-mowing. He can go back to work, but should have limited contact with his customers. Of course, we still need to talk with his doctors to get his specific cans and cannots. He must get vaccinations for all the childhood diseases, but it will be a year before he can do this. If we want to do any traveling we are advised to contact the Center for Disease Control to find out what, if any, problems/diseases are current to the area we want to go. With Jim's pledge to do something each weekend, we will have the CDC number memorized.

We return to the motel and take a short nap, watch a show on television, then go get groceries for dinner.

Deb