Maybe I Really Do Have Superhero Powers...

 

OK.  I just read my last post, and I had to chuckle.  I explained how it would be a few weeks before my white count was in normal range, and how recovery was going to be a long process.  I didn't just make this stuff up.  This is what I was told by every nurse and every doctor I encountered during my transplant.  I was told that upon release I would need to have labs done twice a week, and as my numbers climbed that would be lowered to once per week until eventually I wouldn't have to do it anymore.  I was told recovery would take 2-3 months, and that it would take a number of weeks for the side effects of the chemo to subside.  My first follow-up appointment with Dr. Stephens was scheduled for this past Monday. 

 

So, Monday we went to see Dr. Stephens.  I wore my mask as instructed.  I was told I would need to wear that awful thing anytime I was out in public for about two weeks or so, until my white count went up a bit.  Honestly, I expected my labs to be better, but nothing significant.  After all, it was just Friday that my white count was 1.7 and had been going up about .4 every day prior.  Before the transplant my white count was 10.  Normal range is 4-10.  So, I was expecting a 2.5 result.  Uh.  I was off.  Way off.  Dr. Stephens left the room to go check on my labs.  He comes back in sometime later and says, "Give me that mask."  So I did.  And he threw it in the trash.  He had a huge smile on his face and was kind of at a loss for words.  He looked at us and told us that the reason he was gone so long was because he had the lady in the lab run my results twice, because he couldn't believe what he saw.  When the second run said the same thing as the first, he was shocked.  My white count was 6.0!!!!!  Already in normal range!!  All my other counts were either normal or very close to normal!!  Dr. Stephens told me I didn't need to come back for two weeks.  He told me that given my counts were so good, I should notice a big change in how I was feeling by this weekend, and said my appetite should be back and that I should also expect to be able to taste food normally again within a week.  He said he expected me to still experience fatigue, and to expect periods of energy bursts followed by fatigue.  OK!!  I'll take it!

 

Fast forward to today.  One week at home, four days since I saw Dr. Stephens.  What a difference a week makes!!  Last week I was hallucinating and wondered if how I was feeling was what dying felt like.  Today, I honestly feel really good.  The chemo side effects (mucousitis) are subsiding.  I haven't taken phenegren in two days.  Wednesday I was able to eat lunch for the first time in three weeks.  I actually want to talk to people.  I'm sleeping great at night.  I've been able to get up with the girls and get them ready for school everyday.   I've done dishes the last two nights, and some laundry.  Progress, progress, progress!!!!!   Jeremy told me that he can tell a difference in my skin color, and he says I seem to have more energy than before the transplant.  We are kind of in shock over all this progress.  We were prepared for months of downtime for me. 

 

I really think that I may be back to work part-time within three more weeks.  Seems crazy, and maybe it is, but if I keep getting better at this pace it will happen.  And I couldn't be happier about this progress!!  I told Reagan that they had to collect my cells so they could put Superhero powers in them before they gave them back to me.  Little did I know when I said that that it might just be true!!