100 Days Post Bone marrow transplant.

Today (May 19) marks 100 days post my bone marrow transplant. This period was to be a very guarded time for me to allow my immune system to recover. We have held back from seeing family and friends since early February to avoid any sickness. It has been hard as we miss so many people. After transplant I spent the first 21 days in the hospital. During that time I had to go into ICU due to an infection that had been picked up from a blood transfusion. After I was released from the hospital, things were fine until I fell hard at home. The doctors were concerned with my low blood pressure. Also they wanted to know why my blood chemistry was low on Magnesium (necessary for good heart health) and understand the drop in my white blood count. My white cells were destroyed by chemotherapy during the bone marrow work up in February. Initially all blood cells (red, white and platelets) were gradually increasing in numbers indicating the transplant had taken. But my white counts had slowed down and then began to drop. The doctors suspected that one of my heart anti- rejection medications, which affects white cell generation, may be the culprit. They removed me from that medication and gradually the counts have been increasing. The white cells are the body’s primary defense against diseases. For months I have been on a host of medications to protect me from most illnesses as a prophylactic. One of the other anti-rejection medications for my heart is Prednisone. Prednisone is a steroid that will cause, among other things, muscles to become weaker. This could be why my recovery seems to be so protracted.

I have been working on performing a single sit up. Things are improving, but I am not there yet. I was hoping my six-pack would be in good shape for summer to detract from my surgical scars. The scars are not that bad. I have one long one the length of my sternum and three small circles for the drainage tubes I needed post surgery. The position of scars looks like a single long hair straight up and down with two eyes and a nose. If you include my navel, now you have something that looks like a primitive native drawing of some guy with a bad (single) hair day. I should take this image and put it on a T-shirt and see if it sells.