Day +16//Post Transplant Meds

Today I had a meeting with an allergist to discuss my options for the post transplant medication recommendations. Each place that does HSCT has their own protocol for post transplant recovery and Mexico recommends Acylovir for 6 months to protect from getting Shingles, as well as Bactrim to protect from PCP, which is a form of pneumonia that can be very deadly to post transplant patients. I am allergic to Sulfa, which is in Bactrim and there are a couple of other medications that could be used in its place, but Bactrim is the best. During my meeting with the allergist today, we made the plan for me to come back this Thursday to undergo desensitization to Bactrim to hopefully slowly introduce the medicine into my body in a way that will make it so I don’t have a reaction like I did when I was an infant. It has been so long since I’ve had any sulfa medication that I might not even be allergic anymore, but we are going to play it safe and go through desensitization so that way a doctor can keep an eye on me as we gradually introduce the drug into my body.

I’m also working on getting a doctor who specializes in transplants like the one I had so that way I have someone on my side in case something goes wrong during my recovery over this next year and to monitor me. I have a neurologist on board but she is 3 hours away and it is important that I have someone nearby who is familiar with how people rebound after a stem cell transplant. It is normal for my blood counts to be all over the place for the first few months so it is good to have someone who knows how the body reacts to the treatment I went through because some doctors would probably be pretty alarmed to see my levels if they aren’t familiar with the rollercoaster that my blood levels will go through.

That’s all for now! I’m going to take advantage of this next hour I have  before my daughter and husband get home from school and work and I’m going to sneak a little nap in.