Disclaimer: I don't own Third Watch, or the characters thereof. This is just for fun.
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Chapter Eight
By the fourth day of the conditioning regimen, Maritza could barely lift her head off the pillow long enough to throw up her meagre stomach contents.
With the bone marrow transplant scheduled for two days' time, Dr Martinelli stopped by the isolation room to check in on his patient.
"How are you feeling today, Maritza?" Dr Martinelli asked kindly as he sat down beside Maritza's hospital bed.
"I'm good, considering," Maritza replied, her breath fogging up the oxygen mask over her face.
"Alright then. I'll get straight to it then; the nurses have alerted me to that fact that you haven't been eating much at all. I know that the food isn't great here, but you need to keep your strength up."
"I'm not hungry," Maritza replied. "And everything tastes metallic."
"Both are unfortunately side effects of your treatment, but regardless, you need nutrition. I can't allow you to lose any more weight. So, if you can't manage adequate oral intake, then we will have to consider other options."
"Like what?"
"A nasogastric feeding tube could be used to temporarily provide you with the necessary nutrition. And before you refuse, please realise that in order for your bone marrow transplant to proceed you need be getting adequate nutrition, otherwise your body will struggle far more to recover after the transplant. So, do you agree to having a temporary feeding tube placed?"
"Doesn't sound like I have much of a choice, does it?"
As the nursing staff had become accustomed to Maritza's strong-willed behaviour, as soon as Dr Martinelli had written the order for a feeding tube, they took an already prepared trolley of supplies into her room.
The nurses didn't miss the look of disgust that crossed Maritza's face as she saw the tube that would be placed down her nose.
More treatments for the side effects of other treatments.
The two nurses were polite, but efficient as they prepared to put the NG tube in.
Once they were ready, one of the nurses handed Maritza a cup of water with a straw in it, explaining, "When we say, you need to sip the water. It makes it easier."
Maritza watched as the second nurse coated the end of the feeding tube in lubricant jelly, and then it began.
Maritza found herself gagging and struggling to maintain control of herself as the nurses inserted the NG tube. It felt slimy and indescribably uncomfortable as it went through her nose, then one of the nurses told her that she needed to start drinking the water provided. With each swallow, the nurses carefully pushed the feeding tube further towards Maritza's stomach.
In truth it probably only took a couple of minutes, but to Maritza it felt a lot longer before the nurses taped the feeding tube to her nose with a large piece of brown tape, and told her that it was done.
Apparently, a dietitian would come in later to determine her feeding regimen.
When Manny came by later on his way to work, he was surprised by the sight of his sergeant with yet another piece of medical equipment - the feeding tube - entering her body. But any plan to discuss the latest development was quickly shot down when Maritza tersely said, "Don't even think about it."
Manny held his hands up in surrender, "Sorry, Serge. It's just..."
"Apparently, I'm losing too much weight. So, they put this damn thing in." Maritza paused, switching the subject, "You're going to be late for work."
"Don't go worrying about me, Serge. I just wanted to make sure that you're doing okay. Do you need anything? I could go down to the shop if you need-"
"I'm good. Feeling like crap, but I doubt there's anything in that shop that can fix that."
"Yeah, probably not," Manny agreed. Maritza was in a particularly bad mood that day, and he knew better than to aggravate her. "I'd better get going. I'll try to stop by tomorrow morning, alright?"
Later at the precinct, Manny was typing up a small mountain of paperwork, when Monroe came by the anti-crime office. She made her way over to Manny's desk. "Hey. Sorry to interrupt, but I was just wondering how Cruz is doing?"
"Not good," Manny replied simply, before elaborating, "This transplant has to work. If it doesn't, well, um..."
"It's that bad?"
"I've never seen someone so sick. If I didn't know better, I'd say that this conditioning regimen is killing her."
"Well, I've been doing my injections every day, and I go in tomorrow for the collection procedure. I know that Cruz doesn't really want to see me, but let her know that I'm really hoping that this is going to work for her."
Manny smiled tiredly, "Will do. Take care of yourself, Sasha. And good luck for tomorrow."
It was late the following afternoon when Maritza was greeted by her oncologist and two nurses. One of the nurses carried a bag that contained the precious bone marrow cells that would be transfused into Maritza's body.
They went through the process of checking Maritza's medical wristband and then confirming her name with her; it would be disastrous if the cells were given to the wrong patient.
Once the checks were completed, the nurses began to set up the transfusion, while Dr Martinelli turned his attention to Maritza. "Are you ready to get started, Maritza?"
"Definitely."
"That's good. Now, I understand that you have a complicated relationship with your donor, but I just wanted to let you know that everything went very well for her. She's recovering in the day surgery unit, and should be able to go home soon."
Maritza was grateful to Monroe, but as the doctor had said, their relationship was complicated. "Please thank her for me."
By then, the nurses had finished preparing the transfusion, and they let her know that the transfusion was about to be started, and told the various side effects and reactions that they would be monitoring for.
"I will. I'll have to go now," Dr Martinelli said quietly, giving Maritza a gentle pat on the shoulder. "All the best. I'll come check in again tomorrow."
After the transfusion of donor cells had finished, one of the nurses, Marie, went to a small whiteboard on the far side of the room, and as she wrote on the board, she explained, "We will note your blood counts here every day from here on out, hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will start to see signs that the donor cells are starting to work. That said, everyone responds differently to bone marrow transplants."
"And when can I get out of this room?"
"You should make yourself comfortable. Until the donor cells have engrafted you will be extremely vulnerable to infections."
TBC...
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