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Hi again, great to hear that progress has been made and you are ready for the next stage.

I had both my Allo SCTs across the Clyde at the Beatson but it will be the same team as was in The Beatson and they were amazing.

There are a number who have been at QEUH so lets look for them to pick up on your post.

I did not have BEAM but did have the M Melphalan in BEAM so do have a look at THIS thread about this specific drug .

Also check this link below as there is some useful info that can help you over the next weeks getting ready for going into the unit and during your stay.

Checklist for SCT Unit

Always around to help and as always you can click on our names and see our stories. You will see from my story that my two Allo SCTs were completely different but the main thing is it worked.

Hi, I’m glad you’ve been able to get as fit as possible as that will help you. 
BEAM is tough but do-able, a bit like a short sharp shock to the system, keep your mouth care up to scratch.....and from what I’ve heard the Glasgow team is a good one. Melphalan (the ‘M’ drug) is the toughest and sucking ice/poles/lollies is a good plan, before, during the half hour infusion and for as long as you can stand it after, up to half an hour. That should help prevent your mouth tissues taking up too much of the drug so lessen the chances of mouth ulcers. That’s what the thread Mike has tagged will tell you, really. 
try to keep as active within your room as you can feel like, getting showered and changed each day is sometimes as much as you can cope with and that’s fine. If you want home comforts like pillow and duvet ensure you’ve plenty of change of covers and a system for getting them and your clothing laundered, especially underwear (it might be needed!) 

No question too daft, wishing you a fab result!

hugs cxx

Thanks both :) 

And, thanks for the tips about Melphalan...Ice it is!!!!

I met the team yesterday, and they all seemed lovely…put me right at ease! How did you find sickness Mike, how was your daughter on this front Moomy? All very scary, but hopefully the last hurdle - I need to get back to living life.

L

Great that you found this helpful.

I was never sick during my first Allo SCT but was very badly sick the day after the ‘M’ and after I had got my Brothers Stem Cells.

You can hit my Community name to see the full story but I developed heart problems because of being so sick and this also resulted in me developing "The most impressive Hiatus Hernia" and eating was a mission. I lived on good homemade soups, scrambled eggs, cheese mash, lots of custard and protein drinks for 3/4 months but never sick just felt sick when taking the bucket full of meds every day.

I am now coming up to 5 years on and the memories are all getting g fuzzy at the edges.

We often say hard work but do-able.

Hi again,

glad you’re finding this helpful, daughter never admitted to feeling nauseous till partway through her auto, in fact after all the chemo was over, but just the daily round of meds. She said that she had the belief that chemo always meant nausea and she would just cope with it. Once she admitted, I zoomed out to see the staff nurse and together we got it sorted! And she was nowhere near as bad ever again as she then admitted to feeling bad! She was once sick when she had her donor cells, But part of that was the nervous energy and worry. In fact as they were short staffed, she opted for a syringe driver for nausea and pain relief for the throat pain after her allo (no ulcers in her mouth, just extremely sore throat, I suspect that’s where it was ulcerated) 

once counts come up almost all recovers really quickly, it’s then just stamina to build up. And walking can help lots with that, round the house to start with, then including garden, then circular walks as if tired, it’s easy to cut back. I did just that when getting through my mastectomy (it had to be repeated 30 hours later due to bleeding so knocked me back a bit) to get fit again. 

That's a relief - I hate being sick and throwing up constantly would maybe be one of the worst things ever...

Interestingly, I have found chemo that wee bit easier as it got more powerful - I don't know if your body just gets used to it.

I suppose you are a bit glad the memories are getting fuzzy at the edges, Highlander. P.s. love the name - since I got ill the beauty of the Scottish Landscape has provided me with deep comfort at challenging times. 

Thanks for the tips about getting my stamina up to speed - once upon a time before all this I was as fit as a fiddle and it will be a welcome return when I make it back there! 

I suppose afterwards, the unknown is the most worrying - with all the talk about risks of second cancers and leukaemia etc...

L x

It is important not to focus on the 'what if's', stick to one day at a time as all the worry in the world will make no diffrence to how the medical stuff will go, but will make a big difference to how you deal with the journey.

I had a look at your great blog page, where are you based as you talk about Forth Valley Hospital?.....and I do like your tag "Some day it will all be over"..... I do like the Lighthouse Family 

Yes the Highland Landscape is rather amazing, last week Fiona and I had a 7 mile walk up near Grave in an area used for filming Outlander - so peaceful.

Gosh, Mike, so lovely, I bet you didn’t see a single soul? Whenever I walk (just home from 3 1/2 miles) I meet folk all the time, we do keep apart but aerosols.....

yes, keeping as fit as possible is important, it stands you in good stead.

hugs xxx

Hardly a soul moomy, it’s only in the last year that I would say that I have been able to do this length of walk again and when you have this 10-15 mins drive away - perfect.

This was from this past weekend walking the Caledonian Canal to Loch Ness

Stunning! 
makes my view look tame....

but we do have a bit longer daylight length this time of year....! (You get your own back in the summer!) 

Hugs xxx