How to post a comment

I have been told by several people that they have tried to post a comment but had no success in doing so. So I thought I would write some instructions on how to post a comment. I love to get comments.

Starting from an e-mail update
If you receive updates through e-mail start here, if you go directly to the blog through your web browser start with the Adding a comment section.

From your e-mail click the "The MM Journey..." title (see below). This will automatically start your web browser and display the blog.

Adding a comment
This section will describe how to add a comment. From the blog posting click the comments link (see below).

Once the comment link is pressed a new screen will be displayed allowing the comment to be entered (see below).

But wait there is one more step before your comment is published. You must enter the validation text and press the post comment button one more time.

Once the comment has been posted the verification screen will be displayed.

That's it, the comment was posted.

August 2011 - Day +36

Another week of recovery and all is going good. This week I really had a lot more energy than the last few weeks, napping is becoming less of a requirement. I have progressed to walking a mile a day again and wanting to extend that even further soon.

Back at the doctor yesterday for my weekly visit. My blood counts continue to recover, though the white blood cells dropped a little, possibly due to the new medications I started last weekend. The doctors will continue to monitor the white blood cells next week and change medications if necessary. The doctor said I can start to extend my walking and do some more activities such as bike riding, just don't over do it.

I can also go to public places without wearing a mask, but I still need to be very cautious of any who seems to be sick. Though this is good, it still makes Jane and I very nervous. Case in point we went to Alli's tennis match last night and two chairs over is a girl coughing and wiping her nose. We had no choice but to move further away and eventually I went and watched from the car. Any type of cold or flu could be a set back, we can't be too cautious.

I plan to return back to work part time on Sept 12th and then work into full-time a week or two after that.

August 2011 - Day +29

Back at the clinic yesterday for my weekly follow-up. Yesterday was a busy day, I didn't even get my afternoon nap, which made me more tired today. The doctors visit went well and blood counts are continuing to recover. I start a new medication this weekend (another horse pill) to prevent pneumonia. This medication has a weird dosing, I take this medication on Saturday and Sunday only. This medication can lower blood counts in some people so they will monitor my counts and switch medications if this occurs.

Overall I am doing pretty good, at times I want to do more than I am supposed to. I really want to wash my car, asked the doctor about this yesterday and she frowned upon this and said not yet, you are only 28 days out of transplant. I look out and the yard and want to get out the weed trimmer and do some trimming, but again that is a big no no, no mowing or digging. I go for a walk everyday, working back up to a mile, currently walking about three quarters of a mile a day. I want to walk more, but my body reminds me the next day I should not do that.

Back to the clinic next week for another follow-up. Next week they will do some additional blood tests to check the preliminary status of the disease. At day +60 I will have all the same tests done before I had the stem cell transplant (bone marrow biopsy, skeletal scan...) so the doctors can restage the disease.

One question that Jane and I had is how did I loose my immunity to all previous vaccinations and cold and flu strains since my own stem cells were used. From what I understand (Sadie and Jonathan please comment on this if you have additional info) is my stem cells were the baby cells and the baby cells learn the vaccinations and previous colds and flus from the mature cells. So since the mature cells were wiped out, the baby cells could not do any learning, hence I have to be revaccinated. The more I learn, the more I understand how amazing the human body is.

August 2011 - Day +21

Back to the clinic today for another blood draw and to meet with the doctor. It was kind of a roller coaster week. On Tuesday and Wednesday I actually went for a mile walk and made dinner Tuesday night, I might have over done it since I was extremely fatigued Wednesday afternoon and slept all afternoon. The doctor agrees, that might have been too much. The doctor suggests I should only walk a half mile a day and slowly start increasing my distance.

The doctor stated my blood counts are recovering nicely and that I do not need to return to the clinic for a week, unless of course I start running a fever or have other signs of illness. This was a surprise since I originally thought I would be coming to the clinic twice a week for three to four weeks.

August 2011 - Day +19

Back to the clinic yesterday as an outpatient. Appointment was at 2:00 pm, had to arrive 90 minutes early for vitals and blood draw. It was a long day, we left our house at 11:30 and did not return until 6:30. Needless to say, even though my appointment was at 2:00 we did not see the doctor until 3:30 and by the time we left the city at 4:30 it started to rain, making the drive home a two hour drive, in good weather and traffic we can make it home in 45 minutes.

The doctor visit went well, the doctor stated how well I did in the hospital. The doctor said some people have to stay 3-4 weeks. My blood counts are recovering nicely. The doctor also stated that any colds, flus or even the chicken pox my body no longer remembers any of these I had in the past. So when I catch a cold or flu it will knock me to my knees and take longer to recover.

The doctor also wants me to drink two litters of water a day. I used to drink three liters of water a day, but since the high dose Chemo, I cannot even drink one bottle of water. Hopefully this will change soon. Water just tastes terrible.

I will be revaccinated in about 6 months same as a new born baby, with a vaccine schedule going out two years.

I have to be extremely cautious around anyone who receives a live vaccine, for example the nasal route flu vaccine. If anyone has this type of vaccine they cannot come in my house for 14 days. Likewise I cannot have any contact with someone who has had this vaccine for the same period of time.

I have been doing okay except for fatigue, I tire fairly easy. My muscles are kind of weak, I used to move up the stairs fairly quickly, skipping every other stair. I unconsciously did this last night, but was unable do so. Doctor said this is normal and will get better with time.

Back to the clinic on Thursday for another blood test and visit with the doctor.

August 2011 - Day +16

Being back home I did not think I would be this tired. In the hospital the last couple days I was feeling pretty good with lots of energy. Now that I am back home I am pretty tired, yesterday and today I am feeling tired and lazy, but it is great to be back home.

Jane was pretty worn out too, she drove into the hospital everyday and would stay till about 7:00, now that I am home she will be able to catch up on some needed rest also.

Thanks to everyone who helped with keeping the girls busy, this helped so much. I think the girls were busier than they could have imagined, it made the two weeks go quickly for them.

What's next for me? I will have clinic visits on Mondays and Thursdays for the next couple weeks, then the visits will be reduced to once a week, baring no complications.

My immune system could be compared to a new born baby. If I go into a public place I will need to wear a mask, for the next 100 days. No yard work or cleaning for the next 100 days either, though I can go for walks outside. Hand washing and sanitizing is of up most importance along with not being around anyone who is sick.

August 2011 - Day +15

Well I am back home!

Left the hospital about 11:00 am. The central line did not come out easy, had to have surgery this morning to have it removed.

Time to rest for a while.

August 2011 - Day +14 - Update

Plans are in motion to get me out of here tomorrow (Friday). Things will start at 5:00 am with a platelet transfusion. The surgeon wanted my platelets a little higher before pulling the central line. At 7:30 am the surgeon will try and pull the central line bedside, if it cannot be pulled then I will have to go to a surgery room to have a small incision to have the line removed.

All in all I should be released and on the road home by noon.

August 2011 - Day +14

Looks like I will be coming home tomorrow (Friday), baring no unexpected complications. My body is producing white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets; though the platelets are coming back slowly.

Yesterday was a good day, though I have to say I getting a little stir crazy knowing that I am so close to being released. It is getting easier to eat and had little nausea yesterday.

WBC - 5.12
ANC - 2.91
Hemoglobin - 10.9
Platelets - 25

August 2011 - Day +13

We have lift off, numbers took a jump from yesterday's counts. I felt really good yesterday and had little nausea. I am down to one anti-nausea drug. I was able to eat all my meals, which is good since the "food police" come in after every meal to see what I have eaten.

WBC - 1.33
ANC - .42
Hemoglobin - 10.4
Platelets - 22

August 2011 - Day +12

Last night reminded me of when my daughter was younger and had a sleep over. I awoke about 1:30 am to talking and laughing. My nurse came in about 2:00 am to draw blood and I told her I thought the nurses were quite loud for the middle of the night. She stated she would talk to the nurses. But just like any good sleep over that only lasted about 30 minutes before the talking and laughing seemed to continue through the night.

I was quite fatigued yesterday and did a lot of sleeping. Since my hemoglobin was low the doctor decided to give me a blood transfusion yesterday afternoon. By about 6:00 last night I was feeling pretty good.

I was unhooked from the IV yesterday, it is nice to be able to move around without dragging a pole with me.

Still did not get a big bump on my blood counts.

WBC - .42
ANC - .02
Hemoglobin - 9.8 (Due to blood transfusion)
Platelets - 19 (Due to platelet transfusion)

August 2011 - Day +11

White blood cells are slowly creeping up, not at a rate I was hoping for, but up is better than down.

Platelets dropped to 7 overnight and received my first platelet transfusion. This process took about an hour as the platelets were pumped into my body.

Hemoglobin levels continue to drop, down to 8.4, I am assuming I will receive a blood transfusion tomorrow, I expect these values to continue to fall below 8 sometime today.

WBC - .27
Hemoglobin - 8.4
ANC - 0
Platelets - 7