Day 10. Ups and Downs

Even though I have done remarkably well, my days are still marked with ups and downs. One day I will have minimal queasiness, the next will be nausea requiring meds to control. One day my headache will be held to a minimum by my regularly scheduled Maxalt. The next day it will continually be behind the controlled curve. Some days I feel much stronger. Others I can barely make my laps. Some days I can eat; others, not so much. My blood pressure had finally come back down to my normal low, but the past couple days it has been inching back up.

Fortunately, these are the primary side effects that I am dealing with. So far, I have had no mouth sores, no infections, no fevers. That is huge! And we are very thankful. We still need to be on the lookout for GVHD symptoms that could happen at any time.

The doctors have reminded us that because I had the reduced intensity conditioning chemo, my WBC did not go all the way down to 0. I only got down to 0.9 on Day 5. Then it started going up to 1.2, 1.8, 7.0, 10.6 (I had a Neupogen shot), and back to 6.1. So I am obviously engrafting. :) But we will be relying on the GVL (graft vs. leukemia) effect to finish killing the rest of my bad guys.

On May 29, our 2nd anniversary, we will be back at MDACC having a CT scan, blood work, and another bone marrow biopsy. That is when we will know how much of my bone marrow is the new good guys and how much is still the old bad guys.

Day 10 was one of those days when I needed the anti-nausea meds and was extra tired. But Paul was here and quietly held me close.

If nothing weird happens, I get to go home tomorrow! Please continue to pray for my mom. The healing seems to be slow. My brother and sister-in-law have taken wonderful care of her, but she is struggling. Ron takes her to two different doctor appointments tomorrow. Please pray for answers...and for strength for all.

No one ever said that there wouldn't be ups and downs. The blessing is that God is with us at every turn!