At the Intensive Care

Mom came a day earlier and together with Marlon, they sat with me in the ICU until 03:00 in the morning.

On the ICU, they performed a swab test on the Hickman line (intravenous line), and it showed the presence of a Staphylococcus bacterium. This was most likely the cause of the fever and the continuously rising inflammation markers in my blood.

During the evening, I started feeling slightly better, but I was still very weak. Due to the OptiFlow (oxygen), my throat became irritated, and I initially lost my voice.

Marlon went back home on Monday, and Mom took over the care again.

Thankfully, the next morning, I was able to be taken off the oxygen, and I started feeling much better. The Hickman line was surgically removed the next morning. Under local anesthesia, a small incision was made to remove the sponge attached to the skin where the Hickman line was placed. I received an IV in my neck, not ideal but a temporary solution.

After the Hickman line was removed, the fever subsided, and the inflammation markers decreased. I was given eye drops for my eyes, and fortunately, it improved.

I had to stay for an additional night for precautionary measures, and then I would be able to return to the Prinses Maxima Centrum.

The next day, I was able to return to my room at the Prinses Maxima Centrum and I felt quite good. The nerve pain I had experienced was attributed by the doctors to the new medication I received to prevent Graft-VS-Host (transplantation disease). There was a very small chance of developing nerve pain as a side effect of this medication, Sirolimus, and of course, I happened to have that side effect. They changed the medication to one that does not have the side effect of nerve pain while still protecting me against transplantation disease. Now, let's hope that the pain truly stays away.

A few days after the ICU, I'm feeling pretty good, except for the pain when passing the blood clots...ouch!

To address this, the fluid through the IV has been increased to make me urinate more frequently, and I've received a platelet infusion to hopefully reduce the blood clots. I'm still quite tired, so I take occasional power naps.

 The opioids have been mostly tapered off, and they are working towards discharge.
Yesss, I'm almost going home again!

We'll find out tomorrow when... I'll keep you updated!