On the third day of spring …

On the third day of spring my true love gave to me...
Three teams of doctors
Two more new drugs
And a crabby nurse with a needle and IV

Since my last blog entry, we have had some interesting times. My light headedness and lack of balance got the best of me and for a moment I blacked out and fell. I landed on my back and hit my head against the wall. No damage that I could tell. My oncology team (bone marrow transplant) wanted me to get a CT scan of my head at our local hospital to make sure I did not have a concussion. While having the CT scan the Cardiology Team requested that I be transported via ambulance to the UW Hospital. I was admitted into the hospital and stayed for a week. A variety of tests were run on me to determine why I have this issue with balance. At this point, a team of neurologists (third team of doctors) became involved thinking that possibly the Amyloid may have damaged part of my nervous system. One of the doctors seemed pleased that I was in the hospital because they never see this disease and were looking forward (my words) for “a good lab rat for research.” During my days in the hospital they scheduled an EMG (mild shocks to muscles) to determine the extent of my nerve damage in my feet and legs. I thought I was in Dr. Frankenstein’s lab with all these electrical instruments. Their conclusion was that I am suffering some neuropathy from my knees down. I also had an MRI of my spine. Both cardiology and neurology believe the neuropathy in my legs and the light headedness is something caused by a drug interaction. Adjustments were made to the drugs I am taking. Possibly more tests will reveal if Amyloid had affected my nervous system.

Two more new drugs … I had two new drugs this week. The first is to help my fluid levels to stay high as this will impact my blood pressure. When I stand up, my blood pressure usually drops. It was explained to me that with the implant of the new heart, all of the nerves that control the heart rate are now only controlled by hormones in the blood stream. Before my heart transplant, if my blood pressure dropped, my heart would start to beat faster because the nerves connected to the brain would tell it to do so. Those nerves were not reconnected with my donor’s heart. So I will likely need to be careful about getting up fast for as long as I live. So this new medication should help some to maintain a higher blood pressure. The second drug is actually a reduction in amount because one of the side affects is light headedness. So this should also help to prevent me from another fall.

And a crabby nurse with a needle and IV… It seems that hospitals are run by vampires. Over the past year the amount of blood I have given for laboratory analysis could easily be measured in gallons. The IV (intravenous) drugs are placed right into the blood stream with a needle in the arm or a catheter port. After a stay in the hospital, my arms are bruised from all the needles.

Sorry for this wordy posting. I am at home in Wenatchee now working on getting better.