[JohnoParticipant]

Hi Greeners
Please read the posts above for other people’s ideas. I still stick to my regime which, although not perfect, seems to work. I have prunes and other fruits with fruit and fibre for breakfast. Followed by movicol with orange juice and then a large glass of prune juice. The prune juice is what does the trick. No prune juice, no go! I’m in Spain at the moment and can’t find any in the super markets, starting to panic! Please try prune juice! John

[JohnoParticipant]

I have suffered really badly in the past with constipation but I have found the best is Sunsweet Californian prune juice, available in Tescos. As a matter of fact I’m drinking a glass now, it really does work. You need a decent glass of juice first thing in the morning, if that doesn’t work after a couple of hours try another glass but don’t overdo it.
I actually have a glass of orange juice with Laxido and a glass of prune juice, works wonders.
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi
I had the first Hickman line fitted which quickly became infected and was removed. The site cleared up quickly with no problems. I had a second line fitted in the same place and this worked perfectly all the way through my last chemo session and stem cell harvesting and stem cell replacement. It was removed on the ward by a junior doctor and to be honest it was a bit of a mess, blood everywhere the site looked very scarred, this quickly became infected and full of ‘puss’ this was 11 weeks ago and has not responded to various antibiotics. Tomorrow I am having a midi pic line fitted and another course of antibiotics.

John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi
It’s now 10.00 Tuesday 8th April. I have had diarrhoea, not too bad, and a sore throat / gullet. Maybe it’s early days! But I will give another update in a couple of days.
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Lying in my hospital bed right now! Saturday at nine in the evening. I didn’t have any side effects from the Melphalan. Nor the Velcade the next day. No sickness, no sore mouth, didn’t need ice cubes or lollies. As a matter of fact I needed plenty of prune juice as I was constipated!
Hopefully everything else goes this easy.

John

[JohnoParticipant]

I’m marking the days off on a board, trying to get home for the 19th, our anniversary. Apparently my white blood cells and platelets are dropping and that’s why I’m fatigued. Still eating ok at the moment though.
Thank you all for your replies and support.
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi Keith
I’m in Southampton General, I wasn’t given the option of staying at home. Apart from feeling really tired and pain from the neuropathy I’m not too bad. The doctors said I can expect diareah but I am still suffering from my constipation! Let’s see how it goes over the next few days.
Best of luck
John

[JohnoParticipant]

My wife and I both have iPads so we are using FaceTime, works brilliant and it’s free!
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi
Had the stem cells yesterday, it’s now Thursday 3rd April, it took 7 bags! Very interesting to watch, the bags get wheeled in in a big flask with liquid nitrogen, they then take them one bag at a time and put them in a small ‘bain Marie’ from there allow them to gravity feed into my Hickman line.
Took a while because of the number of bags, about 2 – 3 hours. Feel good today, no sickness or nausea, still got the pain in my back and legs of course. Everyone tells me that when my ‘counts drop’ I will feel rubbish.
I will report back as we go.
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi
It’s Tuesday evening, I’ve had the Melphalan yesterday, seem OK today eating OK. Had a drip all day and Velcade injected into the line about midday. The drip has stopped so I am now free to hobble around the room.
Tomorrow about mid-morning I get the stem cells back. I will let you know how it goes!
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi
It’s Monday now, admitted to Southampton General Sunday as promised. Had a saline drip all night and til 11am today then given the Melphalan, now I feel really rough, stomach pains, generally rough. My peripheral neuropathy is really bad. Tomorrow it’s Velcade and Wednesday stem cells. I’m being hydrated with saline and potassium.
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi Again

Just phoned the hospital, as instructed, it appears a room is ready and I spoke to the Doctor who told me she has prescribed the drugs ready. I am to phone the ward at 11 am on Sunday just as a final check but it looks all set.
We already keep a bag ready for admissions but we will spend tomorrow checking and getting ready. Judith and I both have iPads so we can use FaceTime which is the same as Skype really but I find easier. By the way we had a take away curry last night and will probably have a Chinese tonight!
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Hi Rebecca and Carol

Hi
Our local specialist unit is in the Fernhurst Unit at St Richards Hospital which is in Chichester where we live, 5 minutes drive away. Southampton General where the SCT is taking place is 1 to 2 hours away depending on the traffic, so a long drive each way for my wife Judith.
We are talking about her visiting every other day, but we will play it by ear!
Judith has seen me very Ill with this disease before as my myeloma has been quite aggressive and I was treated with very powerful chemo at St Richards a number of times and the side effects were not good. Hopefully the side effects of the coming treatment are no worse! However I didn’t have an sickness and diareah before and from what I have read it is pretty gaurenteed this time. As I’ve said it will be a question of playing it by ear.
We have both read your replies intently and thank all of you for your input and time. If you think of any other advise please don’t hesitate to reply again.
Thanks John

[JohnoParticipant]

Thanks Sal
We must have both been typing at the same time!
John

[JohnoParticipant]

Just a bit more to add the above. I asked about the pain in my legs and feet and the tingling and numbness in my hands and the feeling of cold in my hands and feet. He told me this this was due to the Velcade given to me weeks ago. Apparently the effects of the Velcade ‘kicks in’ after a couple of weeks and that’s what I’m experiencing now.
He also told me he was going to give me Velcade with the Melphane.
John

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