How is Tami Feeling

Today we learned some news regarding Tami and her potential donor. We've received word that the potential donor has been undergoing his pre-transplant health evaluation since the beginning of June. Her doctors have not received word yet if he has passed or if the testing is ongoing. Hopefully we will find out one way or the other soon. 

Assuming the donor is healthy enough to make the donation, Tami will receive her Hickman Catheter on Monday with her chemotherapy to begin on Tuesday and the transplant to follow a week later on Tuesday, June 30th. A Hickman Catheter is a type of central line that is defined as follows:

Getting a central line

You will get many drugs before and after your transplant. To make it easier to get drugs into your bloodstream, doctors use a central line. A central line is a tube that is surgically inserted into a large vein in the chest, just above the heart. There are many types of central lines and they may be referred to by different names. These include central venous catheter, Hickman catheter, Broviac catheter and others.

You will have your central line put in before you start your pre-transplant treatment (preparative regimen). You may have it put in when you enter the hospital or a few days or weeks before then.

The outside end of the central line may have two or three ports. IV tubes can be connected to these ports so that bags of drugs or blood products can be infused into a vein. With a central line you will not need to have a needle stick each time you get IV drugs. When you receive your transplant of bone marrow or cord blood cells, they will be infused through your central line as well. The central line may also be used to draw blood from the vein for blood tests.

Your medical team will use the central line often while you are in the hospital. You will probably still have the central line for a time after you leave the hospital. In the hospital, your medical team will keep the central line clean to try to prevent infections. You or your caregiver will continue to clean the central line if you still have it when you return home.

We will continue to update Tami's progress as well as that of her potential donor. It seems that everything is on the right track for now!! We hope things continue to go so smoothly.

Posted by Wendy. Learn more about her in this blog post