D+4 -- An Interrupted Nap

I had a great night of sleep. 9:30 to 7:30, with the least possible number of interruptions. Even my self-scheduled bathroom trips ended up coinciding with visits for vitals or medicine. Very efficient.

I was still tired when I woke up. I've been tired all day. Not a sick tired or a sore tired, just curl up in bed and close the eyes tired. This is normal a few days after transplant, exacerbated this morning by Benadryl as premedication for another platelet transfusion. The whole day has been more or less one long nap with occasional breaks for each end of the digestive tract. (Is there a limit to how long you can sleep and still call it a nap?)

Jan and Jake visited in the morning before heading back to Champaign after a good long weekend here.

I told the doctors about what great sleep I got the night before. On the way out, the fellow said he would try to arrange vital checks every two hours. It took me a moment to realize he was joking.

I had been observing to staff that I was running low on toilet paper, and the matter had been referred to housekeeping, but housekeeping did not have the same urgency about the matter as my bowels did. I didn't quite run out, but I could see the future and it wasn't pretty. When I later went out on the corridor, I asked a nurse for help, and he raided an empty patient room for me. Nurses are great.

= = =

Not a banner day for food service. This morning, after the call-taker expressed mild delight at my plan to put cut peaches instead of sugar on my oatmeal -- "that sounds really good. I'll have to try that" -- the tray arrives without peaches. Or silverware. I call. "We'll get that up as soon as possible." 45 minutes later, silverware, and peaches for my cold oatmeal. In the meantime, I eat my egg and sausage, and slice up a mango. (Thanks, Adrian.)

Lunch is great -- leftover curry over noodles, from last night.

Snack -- fried mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce and a mango smoothie. 45 minutes later, the snack arrives. The cheese sticks are pretty good. For some reason, I receive a single ounce of mango smoothie. Which, 45 minutes after it is poured into an uninsulated plastic cup, no longer qualifies as a smoothie. It is now a chug of warm mango syrup, which I can't bring myself to try. I know there are restrictions on what we can eat based on our condition, but I cannot imagine what would make one ounce of mango smoothie acceptable but a full cup a danger to my health.