Hi Tom – I am pretty pleased with my brand new Phil, very similar to the old one which is just the way I like it!

Hi Vicki and Colin – 16 bags!!!! Wow, Phil struggled a bit with just two. It was a bit freaky the way the side effects appeared so suddenly, having to do that 16 times would have stretched Phil's patience and my nerves! Phil did…[Read more]

[u]Day Five (Day One)[/u] The Day the Sleeping Begins

There is not a lot to report today. Phil slept much better last night and for quite a while this afternoon. Phil is still eating but not enjoying it as much, he still feels a bit queasy but no signs of any sickness and no dashes to the loo (yet).:-D

The noisy roommate was discharged…[Read more]

Hello Tina,

I am so glad to hear you are feeling better, best wishes for a great Christmas.

Megan

[u]Day Four (Day Zero)[/u] The day Phil's stem cells were returned.

Phil is still feeling fine but a little bit queasy and quite tired. The tiredness is probably a side effect from all the drugs but it is not helped by the man in the corner of his room who talks loudly to himself day and night!

3:45pm Pre meds were given to Phil through his…[Read more]

[u]Day Three[/u] The Day Of Rest

We had the counting system explained to us today so we are now up to speed!! Tomorrow will be day Zero when Phil gets his cells back. Today is called the day of rest as it is the time to recover from the Melphalan. The 22 hour flush has turned into a 26 hour flush due to the delays in changing the bags but…[Read more]

Hooray!!! Well done Frank:-D

You can now both enjoy a lovely Christmas.

Megan

That is great news Helen 🙂 Thank you for sharing, I love hearing the good news, it give me hope for a healthy 2013 for my husband Phil.

Fingers crossed the cough goes away soon!

Megan

Hi Ann and Pete,

I think different hospitals do have different protocols, at Bart's in London they like to have 4 million for a transplant but I think it also depends on your size/weight. I am afraid I may have posted about Phil's number, he got 7.75 million, I was worried as it was not 8 million but reading about other people's experience I…[Read more]

Hi Helen – Sadly as you can see from my Day Two post the private room did not last. You only get that if you are sick and need to be kept away from other patients!!

Hello Chris – I don't think Bart's has a counting system, if they do I have never heard about it. We were asked twice by nurses today what treatment we were expecting!! I am sure…[Read more]

[u]Day Two[/u]

Midnight Phil is given his 9pm meds

8:15am Phil is asked to fill in an Admittance form that should be filled in within one hour of admittance 🙂

11am Phil is moved from his private room (we knew it was too good to be true!!) to a room with three other men

11:30am More blood is taken for tests

1:15pm We are sent…[Read more]

Thanks Jo,

We may look into the electric pulse thing if it doesn't get any better. Phil is hoping he will be able to block it out more when he is feeling better and gets busy doing things again. Phil finds it most noticeable when he is sitting or lying and doing nothing so hopefully once he is moving more it will fade from his mind a…[Read more]

Hi Peggy,

I hope you start to feel better soon and that the rest of your stay in hospital goes smoothly.

Megan

Hi Andy,

Phil and I are relatively new members and we have found the forum very useful, it is so nice to know you are not alone and most things we have experienced some one else has been through before. It is also nice to read the good news because as newbies it can all seem a bit overwhelming at the start of the journey.

I hope the RCD…[Read more]

Ann and Pete,

Good luck for tomorrow, hopefully the cells will behave themselves and you will get enough. I'm glad it went well today.

Megan

Hi Christine,

I will hopefully be starting a new post tonight about Phil's auto stem cell transplant but I don't want to jinx things by posting it too early! We are going to St. Bart's this afternoon and provided they can find a bed for Phil he will be in for his transplant. If no bed is available we will come home and try again tomorrow.…[Read more]

Hi Christine and Chris,

I am afraid we have not found a magic wand yet but just wanted to offer Chris my sympathy as I know how annoying it can be. My husband Phil had six cycles of Velcade sub-cutaneously and during the second cycle his fingers tingled a bit but that went away. At the start of the sixth cycle Phil's feet became very numb and…[Read more]

Hi Jean,

Phil was not told to avoid people but we have found the advice and details a bit non existent since he finished his induction treatment! Most of what we knew about the harvest phase came from this forum 🙂

While Phil was doing the daily injections he actually did not end up going out much as they had to done at 4pm everday but…[Read more]

Hi Tom,

Phil has managed to keep his hair so far, it did thin out a bit during the first four cycles but since then it has stopped falling out and it was never noticeable that it was being lost unless you looked at his pillow!!

Work wise I can't really help. Phil volunteered for redundancy in January, we had sold the house and were moving…[Read more]

Hi Jean and Frank,

Phil and I found things a bit confusing as well, we sometimes get the feeling that all the doctors and nurses assume the other doctors and nurses have told us things so it ends up that nobody tells us anything!!! Phil was just given his injections to take home and we worked out from the instruction booklet enclosed with them…[Read more]