Day +100 Hard Core

Well, I made it.  Today is day +100 and I didn't die, so, success!

Blood counts:
HGB: 12.0
PLT: 172
WBC: 3.79
ANC: 1.6

Bone marrow last week did not go well. The nurse practitioner had a really hard time getting through the bone, and then once she did, there was no fluid to pull out. Dry tap. So they got a different NP to give it a try. It was a struggle. At one point she was bracing her knee up on the table with me, and pushing as hard as she could, and still couldn't get through. She was finally able to get in, and pull one vial of aspirate, but then the well dried up, and they couldn't get any more. (They needed three.)  So they took the one aspirate, and a piece of the bone and ordered most of the tests to be performed on peripheral blood.  And its a good thing too.  When I went back this past week, none of the bone marrow samples had sufficient cells for testing.  So I have two holes in my hip bone, but nothing to show for it.  I asked the NP if the bone grows back, and she said, "I would hope so."  Love the honesty.  Yeah, I would hope so too.

I also had a dental crown fall off this week.  (Again.  The crown actually initially came off a couple of weeks ago, but my doctors told me that they would prefer that I not have any dental work done while I was still on steroids, so I put it back on with dent-u-temp and hoped for the best.)  I'd been super dreading going to the dentist to have it fixed.  I hate going to the dentist the most because I hate getting the lecture about how my bad my previous dental work is, and how this silver filling is cracking my teeth, and this crown fits poorly, and this tooth has a cavity.  I was hoping he would just glue the crown back on and I could be on my way, but that is never the case, and it turned into more than I had hoped for, when he found a cavity in the tooth in front of the crown, that could only be filled when the crown was removed, so I ended up in the chair for over two hours having a filling, and then a build-up, and then getting the crown re-cemented.  When the dentist asked me why I hadn't come back to complete the other things that I needed done, I told him, uh, yeah bro, in case you couldn't tell by my bald head, I've had some other more important health issues to worry about lately.  I hate the dentist, but I'm glad I sucked it up and acted like an adult and got it taken care of, so that I didn't have to worry about it falling off again over the holidays.

It feels like my whole life is sucking it up and having to act like an adult, doing things that I don't want to do, all of the time these days.  There is no putting things off, there is no procrastinating, all the time it's hard core adulting every day, all day.  Doctors appointments, scheduling appointments, at home nursing appointments, driving in traffic, medication refills, medical bills, dozens of pills multiple times a day, broken down cars, loose dental crowns, showering with a plastic bag on my arm, antifungal bath powder, constant hand washing/sanitizing ALL OF THE TIME.  I know that sometimes you gotta do things that you don't want to do, but do you have to do them EVERY DAY?  Cause I do.

Despite that, here I am 100 days post transplant, and according to the doctors I am doing well.  I am <97% donor, which means that the transplant worked, and that the donors blood making system has replaced my own.  I've had no GVHD, no significant infections, and I've made it to day +100 relatively unscathed.  They pulled out my PICC line on Thursday, and I couldn't be any happier about that, as the skin around it was beginning to get very irritated.

No more PICC

 I still need to be very careful about being getting sick, as I was told that any type of infection could activate GVHD - which I had no clue about.  I'm still sleeping about 12 hours a day/night most of the time, and really don't have very much energy.  I'm starting to get a little bit more fuzz on my head, and it's almost more unattractive than being completely bald.  I anticipate that in another 6 weeks I'll look like a Chia Pet.  Still not sure what color I'm going to get, right now there's a bit of variety, so we'll see which ends up dominating.

Kitten fur

Christmas this year will be quiet, which is my happy place anyway, as I've always been an introvert, and generally find holidays and occasions exhausting.  My next doctors appointment isn't until next year!!!  (Ok, it's on the 2nd, so barely next year, but it's nice to know that we don't have to make the drive in the midst of the crazy holiday traffic.)   Keith has been amazing through all of this.  Extremely protective of me, the voice of reason when I'm on the edge, he's taken on so many of the household tasks that I'm still unable to do, and kept us both sane during all of this crazy. 

Thank you.  You're the wind beneath my wings.