Day +4

Just when we thought the headaches were over . . .

Doctors are still not worried, and are giving him painkillers to alleviate his discomfort. And the aches are not as bad as they were previously. Jason is able to move without vomiting, and he can listen to quiet television. Fortunately, his Tacrolimus level (the amount of a specific drug that was in his body) has decreased so we should be seeing a decrease in headaches.

Now the doctors have a new concern – Jason’s platelets. Jason has lived with low platelets off and on throughout the years. As long as he is careful they usually do not cause too many problems but without them he is at a higher risk of bleeding. The year before last he had an eight month nosebleed. Swallowing the blood led to serious stomach discomfort, and the taste of the blood often destroyed his appetite. It obviously limited his social time as well since he was embarrassed by the constant sniffling and possible blood drips.

Currently, Jason is not bleeding anywhere and we would like to keep it that way. Normally a patient undergoing a bone marrow transplant should be walking frequently. In Jason’s case, he is confined to his bed for the most part, to prevent the possibility of falling and bleeding. Without platelets he would not be able to heal the bleeding.

Although he is getting platelet transfusions, Jason’s body does not usually respond to them. Let us hope that, with the help of a bone marrow transplant, his body will be able to produce (and not destroy) platelets. Amazing how one tiny thing that you never see or give any attention can seriously impair your quality of life.

Day Counting information: As you have probably noticed, some of the posts are titled "Day -1 (negative one), Day 0 (zero), or Day +4 (plus four). Negative numbers represent the days before your bone marrow transplant. These numbers count down to Day Zero, which is Transplant Day. Any day after that is a positively numbered day. So, if today is Day +4 then this is the fourth day since his transplant.