So far..so good

On Saturday I was given my stem cells through an IV. It took the nurses 4 goes before they finally found a vein which would take the needle. The fluids was hooked up and the nurse injected the stemcells into the bag commenting that it was a lot of cells. It was twice the amount I would normally have. The Iv itself only takes 15 minutes, after an hour or so my right shoulder started to ache, then my hand and i was getting tired. I decided to lay down and watch a movie, after a while I felt really cold, by body ached all over, it was painful to even move my fingers. I put on a jacket, Gaye put a blanket over me and we turned off the airconditioning as I was shivering and sweating. About an hour and a half later I woke and was very hot, my temperature was 101, we called the nurse and she gave me 1 panadol, which wasn't going to go far. It hurt to move so I asked Gaye to roll me onto my side and I could feel the pressure of the bed on my hip. Tears came to my eyes as my body was shivering, I continued to remind myself why I was here and what I want to achieve....a better quality of life. All the positive words that have been shared with me came to mind and it was comforting.
After some time my temp came down to 100 and stayed there into the evening. I felt so weak and drained, my head hurt. I finally went to sleep by 9pm and slept through until 7am Sunday morning. This is a normal reaction with the IV so there was no need for concern I just had to ride through it. The nurse came early to see me and my temp was normal again 97. We took the morning very slowly and by lunch time we decided to get a taxi to City Walk, its an airconditioned shopping mall to have lunch and it was a lovely change. There is no physiotherapy on Sundays which I'm very grateful to have the break and allow my body to rest.
Monday morning I woke feeling pretty good. In fact I did the best physio session I've done since being here, some little changes in my right shoulder and right leg. I'm using the Tens machine on my feet and hands, today we noticed that my right foot is 'firing' up better, its only minimal but its something. Its all these little changes that keep me focused, its when nothing changes its harder to stay positive. So its all worth it.
After physio yesterday when i went into the injection room one of the nurses told me to go back to my room as Dr Ashish would come and give me injections in my face...oooooh..alright then! Now I know the muscles in my face are making changes and I mentioned to Dr Sudeep that I was happy about this but how many more wrinkles are we going to give me because I cant afford botox now!! He just shook his head at me :-) Dr Ashish came to see me in my room and said he'd decided not to do the injections in my face but would give it a few more days then reassess it.
Gaye made an executive decision yesterday and went on the hunt for a toasted sandwich maker. Much to her delight she found one and today for lunch we had toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, it was as if we needed a moment of silence to show respect for the sandwich which was a bit of comfort from home. I know it sounds weird but the change was heavenly.
The sandwich maker will come in handy tomorrow
(Wednesday) along with the kettle, plates cups etc because I am going back to the other hospital for a three day epidural procedure. We have to pack everything to take with us. I've not had a 3 day procedure before. The epidural catheter is left in and taped up at the shoulder so more stemcells can be injected over the 3 days. Occasionally I will sit up but same rules apply to laying on my back for 4 hours with feet up. This time they will focus lower down my back. The one bonus is that 2 other patients will be going to the other hospital for procedures so there partners/parent who are with them will be good company for Gaye. There is no Internet connection at the other hospital so I'll be out of touch until Friday....soooo until then :-)