Post Transplant (Week 1)

*(Day +1) Wednesday, (May 12th), was not a good day. I woke up in the morning feeling very overwhelmed from the day before. We had to put a sign on my door to ask people to leave me alone for the day because I was anxious and worked up and very uncomfortable. It's hard to describe how my body is feeling. I can feel my body working harder than ever and it's exhausting. Even getting up to take a shower is a hard task right now. It's frustrating to know that things are going to get worse before they get better.

*(Day +2) Today, (May 13th), is another tough day. As you all know, I was given cord blood from two different people, which increases my chances of one of them working. This morning we learned that one of the two units was growing some strep in it. The doctor says not to worry because they have meds they can give me but it's scary to know that strep could be growing inside of me and I have nothing to fight it off with. I spent most of the day in bed again because my stomach has been killing me. They've put me on nutrition so I have over 1,000 calories pumping into me constantly. It's not fun or pleasant. I'm still trying to eat a little bit every day just to keep my stomach used to food. I did manage to exercise for half an hour today and I've been out of bed for a few hours. I'm trying to occupy my time by watching seasons of shows. Right now I'm finishing up glee. Anything to keep my mind off of everything.

*(Day +3), Friday, (May 14th), was another hard day. My red blood cells dropped so I was really light headed and shaky for most of the day. I did manage to eat and get out of bed for awhile. The good news is that it sounds like the strep isn't going to hit me so I'm feeling more confident. We're still just waiting to see if my new marrow will grow, which is an awful waiting game. Friday was also tough because I missed out on the debate banquet. I think they're going to try to mail me the video so I can at least watch it but it was really hard to miss out on it because debate and forensics were such a big part of my high school experience.

*(Day +4), Saturday, (May 15th), was a much better day. I woke up at 7 am and couldn't get back to sleep because my back was sore from laying in bed so much. I spent my morning in the chair watching tv. My stomach has been much better today. I had poptarts for breakfast and chipotle a little bit ago. Everything seems to be sitting okay so far. I am starting to notice a few more mouth sores, which can get really bad over the next week or two. I'm being really careful to keep my mouth clean and not irritate it. For now, it's tolerable.

*(Day +5), Sunday, (May 16th), was another tough day. The shakes got so bad that it's hard to eat or read or hold anything steady. I also started gaining crazy weight. My legs and ankles swelled so much that I've gained about 20 pounds in four days. It's extremely depressing and I feel like a whale. Thankfully it's all water weight so it should go away but it's so unpleasant and painful right now.

**Reason of the Week: The weather is starting to get really nice and I can see a good deal of sunlight through my windows. The sun seems to put me in a better mood. Sunlight is always a reason to smile (RTS).