Stem Cell Transplant, Day-0 (Both Days)

Jim here again for Denise. Denise received half of her stem cells yesterday about 11:00 a.m. and the other half today about the same time. Everything went very well yesterday until late afternoon when she had some nausea and her esophagus became very irritated as a delayed reaction to the chemo. She was up much of the night with the continuing diarrhea (which turns out to be a nasty gastrointestinal bug that is commonly picked up in hospitals of all places). And she ran a fever for several hours of up to 101.5. Then during the transplant this morning, she appeared to be having a reaction to the preservative for the stem cells, exhibiting some chest pain. They immediately ran an EKG and her heart looks OK but they're watching her closely. So they have her on some pretty strong pain meds and antibiotics, and by this evening she is resting more comfortably. The docs assure us that these are fairly normal responses to the stem cell transplant process but they'll stay on top of them. Meanwhile they will try to keep her as comfortable as possible. Nobody said this would be easy.