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Day 39 – Graft Vs. Host Disease

Hi everyone, most of you are probably away from your computer for the day by now, I wish I could have sent you a message prior to now but it wasn’t in the cards.

My title for today is Graft Versus Host Disease (GvHD) which I may have mentioned before, but maybe not. It is the disease that most every Transplant recipient contracts as it results from the bodies, my bodies, fight to accept, or potentially reject, the donor’s marrow, my Dad’s marrow. This disease, which can be fatal and is in 5-8% of Transplant patients, is a true necessary evil as it brings with it many potential health problems but it is also a good sign as it means my body/immune system is beginning to work. (There is a high Transplant failure rate among patients who never contract GvHD.) There are several stages of GvHD some of which I will try to help you to understand, for now I will stay away from too much medical stuff. For now know that I am at an early stage and I started a steroid called prednisone yesterday, which many of you may be familiar with, and this drug is designed to help me handle the disease.

My First Clinic Visit: My visit to clinic was fine, a long day, as I was warned, up at 8:00 and home around 4:00. My blood levels are fine, with the exception of my Magnesium; thus I received a Magnesium transfusion in the afternoon. It took around 2 hours plus 45 minutes of waiting and from that 2 hours I get a burning sensation in my hands and feet and get “a little red under the collar”, just in appearance and on the skin. It would definitely warm you up on a cold day. I also had an abdominal ultrasound done and my liver and spleen are enlarged, which is fairly common after Transplant and chemo. But no worries as my liver function tests are fine, just a little less room in my stomach these days. Saw the Doctor for a while, Dr. Messner, who I believe is the most senior Doctor on the Transplant team. We talked briefly about my length of stay and he seemed to think that we’ll see how things are going in around 6-7 weeks, which is a little beyond my timeline at present. So I have been forced to ask myself, is this another timeline challenge? I’ll approach it as such and see what happens, I would like to be home by mid-June, that’s my timeline, time will tell how compatible Dr. Messner and I are, at least with regards to time, he is a very nice man.

Yesterday’s Hospital Visit: Yesterday I was due to have a clinic visit but it was cancelled as I was due in hospital for a lung test called a bronchoscopy. The test was to see if I have a blood virus named CMV acting in my lungs, nothing major as it is quite common among Transplant patients. If I do then I’ll be on more drugs, some antibiotics and if not then I had a tube shoved down my throat for nothing. Better safe than sorry. To substitute for no clinic visit I saw my “floor” Doctor from the Transplant unit, Dr. Tejpar (Teshpar) and she decided that I should start prednisone as my rash has spread consistently across my upper body and my biopsy results were consistent with GVHD. While GVHD is a necessary evil, it is not necessary to have an extremely violent case nor is it preferred to have an extremely mild case or none at all. So I will be looking to be challenged but not blown away by my symptoms, but as I often say time will tell. My past month and a half have gone very well considering and I fully expect to be able to tell you all the same in 45 days.

As for me, I’m doing well, beginning to miss home. My time in hospital wasn’t too bad in that department as in my previous hospital stays I went into self-induced isolation, thus there were not TOO many differences between my first hospital stay, which lasted 38 days and this past one, which was 35 days, at least not in this regard. Being in a different environment does bring new challenges but my mind set and strategy had me prepared for what I encountered and I am glad to say that I handled it well. I do miss many of things I have written about in the past. As the year progresses and I move towards the 7th month of my Series there are new things that I miss and look forward to doing, especially when I hear how nice the weather is at home. My mind is moving to a summer setting quite easily, but I am under strict instructions, no sun for the next year and after that it is in my best interests, as it is in yours, to stay away from the sun or at least protect yourself. To all you Newfies that will be home for the summer, it’s going to be a hot one I’m sure considering the fact that I must play in the shade.

Everything else is well, I am continuing to focus on my goal and with that in mind, I want to thank those who offered to visit me while I’m in TO but for now I have decided not to see anyone as I am saving my energy for bigger things right now. I will definitely be in touch as things progress and thanks again for offering, I do look forward to seeing you when my physical and mental condition permits.

I haven’t said this in a while but if you forward my messages to anyone and would like me to add them to the list just drop me a line or pass along my address to the person/persons and tell them to get in touch with me. If someone writes and asks to be added it takes me about 3 seconds to do so, it’s no trouble. (offer never expires)

That’s all for now, I may write again before tomorrow, if not I’m in clinic again soon so most definitely after that visit.
Hope you are great,

Geoff
#4

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