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!
I love hearing that your hair is coming back and that you are feeling better all the time. The skin score will come around eventually. At least it will settle in and stay put. Congrats to the boys!! They are awesome! You have some fun times ahead of you watching them shine. Makes me so happy to think about! Pretty soon you can challenge them to a match. Six months will go by before you know it, and I bet you really will be able to do more in a year too!
ReplyDeleteHang in there Holly. You are very strong to endure all this. I hope we can get together sometime when you are well enough. I would love to meet Atlas too. Take care, I know you will be back on your feet all they way in no time.
ReplyDeleteHugs... Kindra E