24 Dec 2011

I was welcomed by pretty nurses inside the BMT wing with beautiful smiles..

The whole place was spic and span and looked great. 

I changed into the clothes given by the nurses in the changing room before I was shown my room.

Passed by the nursing station before I entered my room . All the patient rooms were around the nursing station.

The room was bright and spacious with a huge window , a TV screen on the wall in front of the bed ,  a chair ,a side table, and other paraphernalia required for a patient. The room had an attached washroom.

After all the formalities , I settled down and  wondered how I would spend  the next 15 days in this room. Long way to go. I spent the day watching my favorite channels on TV.

I had no clue as to what was in store for me the next couple of weeks. Just went with the flow.

Had good food and slept well.

25 Dec 2011

After breakfast and a nice bath, I was given a medication through IV. I didn’t question what was being given, but my oncologist had told me that this medication would destroy all the bad cells in my blood. I had some vague idea about the process of a stem cell transplant as informed by my oncologist.  I didn’t want to read anything on the Internet when I was advised to do a BMT.

Realized it was Christmas when the duty nurses came and wished me. I returned their greetings . All the nurses had  celebrated by cutting a cake, and one of the nurses gave me a piece of cake, but I was afraid to eat it as I was worried about any kind of contamination.

Every year since my BMT , I recall that day on Christmas.

While chatting with the nurses, I soon learned that almost all the nurses are from kerala.  They all missed their families on Christmas.

By EOD ,I was bored and requested the nurse to stay with me and sleep in the room. We chatted for a while about our families and slept.

I understood how the duty doctors take turns to be with the patients. There was one other patient in another room. The BMT wing had a capacity to handle 8 patients.

I quickly learned that there are 6 nurses in all, and 2 nurses are on an 8-hour shift daily.

It has been just 2 days since I was in the BMT ward. Long way to go, and I already started the countdown.

My Oncologist assured me that I would be home for Sankranti, which is on 13 Jan.

That’s all folks!!

Take care and stay safe.