Day 76--No Quick Fix

Another day, another visit to the Bone Marrow Infusion Clinic. We go in to the BIC every other day, and they typically draw three vials of blood so we can monitor all of Torger's levels...red and white cell counts, platelets, neutrophils, potassium, magnesium, and a lot of things I'd never heard of before he got sick, like bilirubin. (I found this definition of bilirubin on Wikipedia: "Bilirubin, formerly referred to as hematoidin, is the yellow breakdown product of normal heme catabolism. Heme is formed from hemoglobin, a principle component of red blood cells. Bilirubin is excreted in bile, and its levels are elevated in certain diseases.It is responsible for the yellow colour of bruises and the yellow discolouration in jaundice." This is pretty much how Dr. Tse described it to us. It's a waste product, essentially, and we have to watch it carefully because it's an indication of how well Torger's liver is functioning.) After they draw the blood, we wait in the BIC for at least an hour until the first set of results come back, just in case he needs an infusion or something is really off. During our BIC visits, the lab checks whether Torger's Tacrolimus (immunosuppressant level) is elevated...which it was for several days last week, although by Saturday it was back in the normal range. The BIC nurses also change the dressing on the catheter in Torger's chest once a week and make sure we have the magnesium supplies and equipment to do his infusions at the hotel. Often, like today, we go in for our regular BIC appointment and the nurses pass on orders for other tests Torger needs that day (today it was a chest X-ray). So really, the BIC is kind of the center of our post-transplant care, even though we have our regular Wednesday visits with Dr. Tse in the Cancer Center. The BIC nurses see Torger a lot more often, and they seem to keep a pretty close eye on their patients. On Tuesdays, the entire BMT team--doctors, nurses, social workers, administrators--meet to discuss every current patient. So when we run into staff members we haven't seen in awhile, they always know exactly what's going on with Torger...which never fails to surprise us. While our weekly appointment schedule often seems chaotic to us, it's clear that the entire operation is really a pretty well-oiled machine.