Saturday 16 February 2013

What is spending a long time in hospital like?

Most of the time, my inpatient treatment has only involved spending three to five days at a time in hospital, but the real exceptions, other than a couple of week or so stays to aid recovering from infections, have been the stem cell transplants. The whole process for a stem cell transplant tends to take about three to four weeks on average - Most of which you're in isolation/not allowed out of your room.

As you might imagine, being isolated in one room for three to four weeks can give you a bit of cabin-fever, and I have to admit that, unlike on all other occasions, I have really been itching to get out by the time my treatment was complete. As you'll know from reading my blog, I'm currently having an Allogeneic (from a donor) Stem Cell Transplant, for which I've now been in hospital for twenty-three days. Just in case you're curious, my world currently doesn't extend outside of these photos:

Room Corner - Exit

Room Corner - Fridge
Room - Ensuite
Room Corner - Wardrobe

Room Corner - Window

The current thinking is that I'll likely get to go home early next week, as long as: I'm still feeling fine, my blood counts are okay, and I'm managing to take all of my tablets. I have to admit, whilst early next week may not sound that far away to you, it seems like a long time to me, so I'm holding out hope of an earlier escape; If it wasn't for my bag being too heavy, I could imagine the hospital's security cameras catching me crawling along the floor (to mission impossible music) as I sneak by the nurses' station.