In the Hospital: Days 0 through 7

As I write this it is DAY 0, the day of my Stem Cell Transplant. There are four transplants taking place today and the Cybopreservation crew is scurrying around getting everybody’s frozen cells ready for transplant.

My day started with a ½ hour of infusion the anti-nausea drug Zofran. This means I’m a slave to my IV pole for the next 5 hours or so. Then I get two hours of hydration with a saline/dextrose type solution.

Premeds for the transplant will include:

1. Tylenol


2. Benadryl


3. Atavin


4. Hydro-cortisone

I have also been given an anti-fungal medication called Fluconazole. I’m told I will be taking this drug for about a month.

Tomorrow (DAY +1) I will start taking the following medications:

• Acyclovir an Anti-Viral


• Levofloxacin an Anti-Bacterial

Lexofloxacin with a brand name of Levaquin is controversial in some quarters. If I have this right, Levofloxacin is part of a category of broad spectrum synthetically created antibiotics called Quinolones. Cipro, one of this class of drug, received great attention during the Anthrax scare of 2001.

A colleague of mine who worked at NBC during the post 9/11 Anthrax incidents took Cipro a number of times and experienced some pretty nasty side effects that lasted a very long time and he has warned me away from any Quinolone. It’s not hard to find many web sites warning of the dangers of Quinolenes.

I’ve taken Levaquin twice in the last year, once as part of this Lymphoma treatment and once for another procedure. I may have suffered some insomnia but no other dramatic ill effects. In the context of this Lymphoma and its treatment, I’m going to take the Levaquin without worrying about its potential ill effects.

The Stem Cell Transplant was itself pretty anti-climactic. The premeds for the transplant left me feeling pretty woozy.

DAY +1 thru +7

I was hoping to keep a contemporaneous diary of these days bet felt so lousy that I didn’t. Suffice it say there was plenty of nausea and other gastro-intestinal upset left me feeling like I did not want to do anything. My blood counts decreased to the point where I needed a platelet transfusion and red blood transfusion. To boost my white counts I’ve had daily shots of Neupogen the last few days.

All of these things are, I think, within the range of normal for this treatment and I was well warned in advance to expect to feel this lousy. While it’s nice to be forewarned, the experience always seems be an order of magnitude greater.