Happy Halloween!

With most of my spooky times behind me, I am enjoying a slow recovery from the stem cell transplant.  :)

My hair is coming in, my eyebrows are back, and I even had to shave my legs!  My gut is recovering, and an annoying cough seems to be the last remnant of the two bouts of pneumonia.

I saw my specialist at UCLA last week, and my skin score had worsened a bit from the last visit in September.  I was not shocked--in fact, I was more surprised when it was so improved last time.  I had never expected improvement, just hoped for stabilization of the disease.  I recall that my skin score improved briefly after Cytoxan last year, as well, so perhaps the temporary loosening was also related to the pre-transplant Cytoxan.  I am hopeful that it will stabilize.

I have been exercising a little, with the heart rate still a limiting factor.  Further research suggests it is also a temporary post-transplant phenomenon.  I am advised to wait 6 months and it will normalize, but my doctor is checking an echocardiogram just to be sure.  :)

The boys, however, just don't stop moving.  Jake had a huge win in a tennis tournament in Palm Desert this weekend, and Luke was a consolation round finalist.  It was great fun to be outdoors in the warm, breezy, desert air watching the boys play beautiful tennis.  After the long weekend away, I was ready to collapse, but the boys inspired me to help toss up some Halloween decorations--and away they went trick-or-treating!  It was all I could do to answer the door.  I got some funny looks when I forgot my hat...some of the kids must have thought I went all out for Halloween!