Day +1: Hanging Out

So it's most of the way through Day +1, and I'm doing okay. I've actually had a relatively good day today, and managed to finally channel some of my restlessness (imagine a combination of restlessness and fatigue, if you will) into a decently active day. I've read two magazine articles, caught up with a week of the NY Times Dining section (yes, I'm still reading about good food, despite my inability to eat!), emailed and chatted a lot, entertained a few visitors, and now even gotten to this blog post. That is a lot for me in a day, these days.

I've had a lot of pats-on-the-back for having gotten this far, and through the transplant. And indeed, what a huge deal it is. As my mom pointed out yesterday, this has been an enormous thing that we've been hoping for for months, and now it's actually happened.

I'm quite sober, however, about the fact that the hardest part is still ahead. Right now, my most bothersome problems are fatigue, mouth pain, and nausea. As I had mentioned, I haven't really eaten any solid food since last Tuesday (and I've lost about 18 lbs.--I'm already slated to start Total Parenteral Nutrition, i.e. nutrition via I.V., tomorrow) But the truth is, it's going to get a lot worse and riskier before it gets better. I'm told that the real pain starts in a couple of days, and +5 and onward is really not a picnic. You have to remember, that my immune system is now completely gone, and the side effects of the chemo and radiation are just now setting in. It'll be two weeks before the new stem cells engraft themselves, so it's gonna be a long couple of weeks!

One good thing to be hopeful about is that I was transfused eight million stem cells, the maximal number allowed at MSKCC, thanks to Normy's generous and successful donation (he was able to pump out even more than that!) Theoretically, the more cells transfused, the more successful and sooner the engraftment.

I didn't think I had a blog post of this length in me (you've seen how the last few have been pretty terse and factual) but the fact that I did goes to what I was saying in the first paragraphs above.

So I'm happy I'm having a good day today, and hoping that I have more of these and less of the nasty ones, in the inevitable forthcoming fortnight.

Comments

[Paul]

Step by step. Day by Day Amigo. Say you... Say me. Ebony and...okay you are not ebony and I am not exactly Ivory. But you get the idea. Baby steps on the path to recovery.

[Normy]

Perhaps my stem cells' eagerness to be produced and harvested is indicative of their desire to engraft quickly and strongly! I have good faith in my strength on a micro level.