The ‘roids really kicked in on Sunday and I’ve been feeling pretty good (like good enough to break out a smile good). I’ve been keeping all of my food and fluids down too. Today, I just have a bit of heartburn which I heard is common from this kind of radiation.

Tomorrow, I start Fludarabin as an outpatient. Word on the street is that it’s a pretty well tolerated chemo. It’ll be a short break before what’s to come on Thursday. I’m getting admitted into the University of Washington transplant floor to start two days of Cytoxan. I’ve heard scary things about this one, but I guess if it can wreak havoc in my kidneys, mouth, liver, etc., it’ll be powerful enough to get rid of the cancer cells in my bone marrow once and for all and create a comfy space for my new stem cells to set up shop and flourish in.

On a side note my cord transplant doctor sent me a nice update, “Hi Michelle, Wanted to let you know that the stem cells are growing very well. We will be expanding them today - in other words, they will be put into 30 large flasks from 15 little ones. This is good and they are growing at a pace that I like!” Just what I wanted hear…grow baby grow!

Today, we had an appointment to learn about my inpatient stay. During the 2 Cytoxan days, the nurses will wake me up every 2 hours to pee so the toxic chemo won’t sit in my system. Whaaat?!? I thought I was going to get my beauty rest and sleep 20 hours a day. I was surprised to learn that transplant patients keep very busy. Aside from the doctors and nurses doing blood tests, checking vital signs, and poking and prodding me throughout the day, there are 3 things that I can control when I’m in the hospital: 1. Saline rinses every 1-2 hour to help alleviate the mucositis in my mouth, 2. Walking around the hospital floor to exercise my heart and muscles, 3. Deep breathing exercises (10 deep breaths, 10 times a day) to prevent pneumonia in my lungs. Sounds like a piece of cake, huh? Apparently, it’s not as easy as it sounds. I’m going to be tired, nauseous, in pain and drugged out.

My plan is to rely on my family to keep me on task. I can become quite stubborn when I’m in pain, but my mom has a way of convincing (bugging) me to do things. She’s flying in tomorrow. Speaking of family, Van’s sister Agnes from Spain is helping us out for a month or so. She’s brought positive energy and motivation into our little apartment. She’s gone Amazon.com happy and ordered many books about nutrition and cancer. I’ve been wanting to incorporate better nutrition into my diet and I’m extremely thankful that she’s here to do the research and food preparation. My sis Melanie was also here this past weekend. Sisters are the best caregivers. She just knows what I need, doesn’t get on my nerves and can make me laugh. I’m glad she was here during the first rough days of radiation. I’m going to miss her. And then there’s always my constant, Van. He did a great job on my dressing change on my new catheter today despite the stress of doing it for the first time.

I am also going through major Marshawn withdrawal. I miss my yorkie so much. I think he’s a bit depressed too (hahaha..I know I’ve become one of those dog owners). He’s gained 20% of his weight since I’ve left (just 3 weeks!). All he does is eat these days.

This post is a big fat jumble of random sentences. Keeping things short and concise is tough. Plus I hope these blogs will help other patients. I’m going to end it here. Will try to keep you posted. Much love!!!

p.s. Donielle, my coworker, is 30+ days out of her transplant and her stem cells have engrafted. I was so happy to hear her voice today when she called. She has some GVHD, but it seems like the doctors have a handle on it. She sounds fantastic.