Hospital Admission for Transplant

Alyssa-Marie was admitted for her bone marrow transplant on January 19th 2023. Prior to the actual transplant taking place, Alyssa-Marie had to undergo preparatory treatment to get her body ready to receive her donor’s stem cells. The first part of prep was to have central line surgically placed in her chest. The central line makes it much easier to give fluids and medicine or to retrieve blood for lab work. 

We made ourselves at home and decorated our room. We created a motivation wall with inspirational photos of things to come and scriptures on healing.   

 The next step was to receive an immunosuppressant drug known as ATG. This drug helps prevent white blood cells from attacking a transplanted organ. On day one of ATG, Alyssa-Marie had a strong allergic reaction that resulted in difficulty breathing. She was put on oxygen and transferred to the PICU. That experience was scary to say the least. Thankfully she only stayed there for a day. After two more days of the ATG treatment (without further issue) she started her chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was administered over 6 days.  

Chemotherapy was difficult. Alyssa-Marie was on nausea and pain medication around the clock. We also discovered during that time that she had pneumonia in both lungs and appendicitis. We had to strongly rely on our faith and the expertise of the doctors during this time. When she was done with chemo, the last step was radiation.  

The harsh treatments definitely took a toll on her body. She was extremely fatigued and endured a lot of pain. Her appetite diminished, so they had to insert a feeding tube. Alyssa-Marie was discouraged at times, but she pushed herself to endure. She was surrounded daily with love from family, care from the amazing BMT team, and the thoughts and prayers of Team Alyssa-Marie. Thank you!