Day 5 at Duke, mid-day. Both "boys" sleeping comfortably as I type. Jerry is on his last day of super-charged chemo and Anthony is hooked up to the apheresis machine that is extracting stem cells from his blood. Today, I really do feel like I deserve being called mom. I have spent the day so far walking between Jerry in the hospital and Tony at the clinic. Campath gave Jerry a few more inconveniences to deal with, nonstop hiccups for instance and stomach woes. He regularly curses out the iv of drugs but appreciates all the nurses.
They are amazing here. What a place. The bone marrow stem cell unit is in a special wing. You need to get through three sets of double doors and a reception area where the protocol includes hand washing and mask-donning. The air in the rooms is continuously circulated too. Every once in a while, I get the urge to hug Jerry but I am afraid I am not up to the standards.
Transplant begins tomorrow. What would a Jerry with Tony cells be like, I wonder? Those of you who know both of them know why I'm chuckling at the thought...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment