[Lisa V]

Bill, there seem to be differing opinions about how long to be kept in the hospital for ATG. I didn't think anything of it since they let him out the next day after his first treatment as well, but I've heard from others that their doctors held them for observation for a couple of weeks!

He didn't have any issues with his first round, so maybe that's why. In fact his doctor was so confident he'd sail through the second round without issue that he even suggested the possibility of doing it on an outpatient basis! That struck me as a really bad idea. As much as he would have liked to have been able to sleep in his own bed, I didn't want to be responsible if anything went wrong or he had a delayed reaction that I couldn't handle. He spent so much of the time hooked up to the IV, including during the night, that I can't see how it would have worked anyhow.

As it was, he developed a nasty C. dificile infection that had him puking and spewing out both ends for a couple of days, so I was kind of glad he was in the hospital for that, even though it was their own fault for giving him a broad spectrum antibiotic when he didn't need one. Arguably this wouldn't have happened under my care, but it's still not something you want to do outpatient. If you're not showing any signs of serum sickness, however, I don't see why they'd have to keep you more than a day or so once the infusions are finished. Again, how you did on your first one should influence that decision.