My Bone Marrow Transplant: Day 2

LOCATION: Vanderbilt University Hospital - Stem Cell Unit
DATE: 8.16.12    DAY: 2
MOOD:  My humor has left me.
MENTAL STATE: I only think about what needs to be thought about at the moment.
PHYSICAL STATE:  Fighting headaches, nausea, and weakness from lack of food.

During the night I suffered from a severe migraine and was given oxycodone for relief.  I noticed my mouth had swollen and my gums were tingling and sensitive. I had also developed a white nasty coating in my mouth consisting of mucus and a thick white foam.  My tongue was covered in a white goo and no amount of brushing could clean it off.  The mucositis was in full force.

Breakfast and lunch consisted of me slowly attempting to eat a small serving of peaches and peach juice. Over a five hour period, I managed to keep down 3/4th's of the serving.  I was still extremely nauseated and eventually, in the early afternoon, emptied my stomach with violent vomiting.

I went to my bed feeling awful and slept for a few hours into the early evening.  I vomited a few more times and eventually felt better.  I was able to walk seven laps outside and that was a huge accomplishment for the day considering how awful I felt.

After the walk I snacked on a banana popsicle.  Because it tasted so good, before I realized it, I had eaten the entire thing in a few minutes.  That was a really bad decision on my part.  Up came the popsicle within the hour.  My stomach was adamant about not wanting a thing inside it.

Earlier in the day, the nurses and doctor decided to put me on TPN, which is the term used for intravenous food nutrition.  Having been weakened from lack of food for the past three days, I was glad to hear that I would finally be getting the necessary nutrition for my body to function properly.  I was told it would probably take three days to feel the full effect of the TPN, but anything was better than nothing at that point.

At 10:00p, the nurse came in with a very large IV bag full of TPN.  It looked like milk.  I was told it contained fatty lipids and that's why it was white.  I was to receive a 'white' bag twice a week, and an 'apple juice' colored bag the rest.

Headache free, but still nauseated, I was loaded on nausea medicine and had a pretty good night's sleep.