Today is a very good
day! At 11:10am I had my central line removed. That's right, for the first time
in nearly 6.5 months, I don't have tubes/lines hanging out of my chest!!! I am
beyond thrilled to have the "Hickman trifusion tunneled catheter"
out. The radiologist who pulled it out this morning is actually the same guy
who put it in before my transplant...so it went full circle which was kind of
cool. He was awesome and even showed me the line after he pulled it out (I
specifically asked to see it). As elated as I was to have it out of my chest,
as I looked down at it I realized that this device played a huge part in my
transplant. It was through this "do-hickey" that I received my
chemotherapy that wiped out my previous immune system so I could
"reboot" and build a new one. I think the biggest thing that hit me
was the fact that the life saving cells I received from Kyle were injected
through that central line. At one point (about a week post transplant) I was
receiving all of my meds and blood products all through this little device.
That line has been a major part of my life for the past 6 months. I certainly
won't miss having to take care of it (cleaning with special solution, flushing
and heprinizing (sp?) all three lines everyday)! And it feels so liberating to
not have to worry about it anymore. I feel like I have my body back! :)
Aside from the big news that I mentioned above, not much else is going on.
Right now I am hanging out in the hospital just passing time until my clinic
appointment later this afternoon. Bloodwork continues to good and my next big
excitement will be around Day 150 when I get to lower my dose of my
immunosuppressant medication again. When that happens we will monitor
everything closely for any signs of GVHD which might decide to pop up. Dr. Nash
said that if they pop up then I will have to go back up on my dose and possibly
start some new meds, but I am optimistic that I will continue to be his
"model transplant patient" (hahaha) and that I will continue on
without any complications!
We will be celebrating my central line removal tonight with pizza and Broncos
football! I have been looking forward to fall & football since I was
diagnosed way back in February and it seems like a very fitting way to
celebrate! :)
Go Broncos!
-Chellie
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