I am excited in a way to do this stem cell replacement treatment.  All the doctors and nurses have been touting the benefits of this treatment for multiple myeloma.  The research that I have found on the internet says the same thing, mind you, pretty much all of the internet content is mainstream, universities and hospitals that are paid to go along with the government narratives.  (My opinion).

The week before being admitted, I went for bloodwork and a pre-evaluation to make sure that I still qualified and that my numbers (whatever they might be) were all in line with what they wanted to see.  I never got a report on this bloodwork. 

I explained to the admitting nurse that ever since May I have been experiencing extreme ups and downs with my bowels.  I either have diarrhea or constipation.  My bowels feel irritated and bloated.  Not good.  She told me point blank, “Don’t worry about your bowels, we are going to give you more diarrhea and more constipation and you will be going home with it”.  I didn’t expect that, however, I was told that everything would be okay and I would probably breeze through it all because I was generally healthy and fit.  I had to wait in the hospital for my bloodwork to come back from the lab and then I was excused to go home.

The following week I arrived at the hospital.  I was admitted and put in a shared room with another woman.  This was a good sign, as many of my hospital roommates over the months have been men.  Men and women should not be cohabitating in hospital rooms for many reasons.  This arrangement lasted but one day as the woman could not handle my wheelchair and how I had to manoeuvre in the washroom.  I was then moved to another room with a very nice older woman who also had multiple myeloma and was in for her third stem cell treatment.  She told me this would be her last as the other two did not take.  She had come to term with death and we had wonderful conversations about death and dying during our stay together. 

On day two, I was escorted down the hall to the room with the stem cell collection equipment where my stem cells that had come back from storage in Ottawa, would be placed back into my body.  The team was very pleasant and explained everything every step of the way.  It was a totally painless operation.  Because my stem cells were stored in liquid nitrogen, they felt slightly cold going into my body, but quickly warmed up once in my veins.

Each day that I was in the hospital, I was given an injection of “Grastofil” which was to help my stem cells multiply once they were back in my body.  I asked again about my hair falling out and the reply that I got was; “not everybody loses their hair”.  That was reassuring!

On day four, I was given a small bag of “Melfalin” which is a high dose chemotherapy drug used for blood/bone cancers such as multiple myeloma.  Day four and five, I had no reaction, but then on day six it kicked in, my neutrophils started to decline and I was moved into isolation for the remainder of my stay in the hospital.

Two days after receiving the Melfalin, my hair all fell out.  Not happy!

My neutrophils continued to decline until they bottomed out at 0.00 which meant that I no longer had an immune system.  The nausea quickly set in and I became terribly weak, unable to get out of bed to go to the toilet.  I was back on the bedpan and curled up in the fatal position in bed for the remainder of my stay.  Food became tasteless and it was difficult to swallow, not that my throat was thick, but the taste and smell of food was repugnant.  Dry heaves were common.  Eventually I could not swallow oral medication and they put me on IV fluids and IV medication.  This was ideal for me as I just laid in bed and slept the days and nights away.

I ended up staying longer than my 30 day time limit and they wanted me to start eating solid foods, but that was just not possible.  They finally gave me an ultimatum to eat or they would put a tube up my nose, which they even tried, but I had to push them away.  I finally consented to eating something, anything, and the next day I was discharged.  I was discharged with my neutrophils just above 0.00.  I did not feel good about this.  II was also very disappointed that not one of my oncologist or the stem cell team came to see me during my stay.  I only saw the doctor on call for the floor and that was for less than 2 minutes a visit to just say hi, hello, how are you, good-bye.

Needless to say, this was not a good experience and I went home feeling totally unsupported and not knowing where my cancer was, let alone my overall health and immune system.  I would not recommend this treatment to anyone unless you have thought long and hard.  In the end I felt like I was sold a vacuum cleaner that I didn’t need from a pushy salesperson.

Kathryn