Back in the Hospital

I don't think we realize all that our immune system does for us on a day-to-day basis. It's been an eye-opening experience watching Rob's dad go through his stem cell transplant. Before the transplant, they killed off all of his white blood cells, leaving him with no immune system. His stem cells are now engrafting and starting to produce their own white blood cells. These new cells take over, and will kill any other white blood cells they find. Rob's dad had be admitted to the hospital on Sunday because he was running a fever- an indication that he's got some sort of infection. He also got a terrible rash covering most of his body (graft vs. host disease). His mouth and throat were so sore that he couldn't eat. He didn't even have the energy to get up, or to even talk, only grunt. The nurse said that was ok, because she speaks grunt. Rob's sister said that he was pretty much in and out of consciousness for a while. The doctors say that this is all normal, and expected. If he didn't experience these things, it would mean that the transplant hadn't worked. They started pumping him with extra antibiotics, feeding him through an IV, giving him a steroid for the rash, and anti-fungal mouth rinse for the fungus making his throat and mouth so sore. Yikes! Like I said, we just don't realize what our immune system does for us!
He's been doing better the last two days. Rob's been able to visit a few times this week, and his dad had enough energy to talk on the phone a tonight. He's eaten on his own some, and can get up for short periods. His mom is hanging in there. I just can't imagine watching your spouse go through all that he's been through. They are so tough!
My brother Jim asked an interesting question the other day- since his immune system was killed off, will he have to be re-vaccinated for everything? Rob asked the doctor yesterday, and Jim, the answer is yes. After a year he will receive new vaccinations.