Living a Dog's life (Somewhat)

Well, it's day 3 and so far so good... I don't know who's lazier me or my dog Chili! Luckily I haven't had any major issues or drama yet unless you count the tongue lashing I got from my nurse for not showing up at the clinic on day 1! That's right, I blew off my first clinic on Tuesday as I was still exhausted from such a long semi-traumatic day on Monday. I showed up yesterday at clinic and my nurse named Dot (no joke) made me call in my Dad and Stepmom to the office. She then proceeded to tear me a new one not to my face but to theirs. It didn't stop there however... My P.A. came in next and was a little softer but had the same message, "you need to be here every day for us to check you out". Ok, Ok I said, I understand. Next was my transplant doc who started to go into it and I finally said enough is enough already! I UNDERSTAND! So we finished the session and they sent me down to get x-rayed as I've been having some pain on my left side when I inhale. Got the results back today and my P.A. Claudia said it looks good except the lytic lesion I have on my rib is still there although there's no way of knowing it's still active with canser. By the way, I mis-spelled canser on purpose and will continue to do so. There's a gal named Kris Carr who is a survivor and started a web site, filmed a documentary and wrote 2 books who gave me the idea. Her site is Crazy Sexy Cancer and she said intentionally mis-spelling canser kind of takes the stigma out of it. I like it so I think I'll do the same. Kinda cool there's another survivor out there who shares my name (although she spells hers with a K). I actually discovered her when I first got diagnosed and Jackie and I were flipping channels. Her documentary happened to be on Discovery Channel and the timing couldn't have been better.

Anyway, other than going to the clinic everyday, I've been laying low like I said. I'm still painting and putting the finishing touches on another piece of work. I say a piece of work because my hobby is a work in progress :) I am getting a little better though (I think) and one day might have the guts to put a pic of one here.

Also, my Dad will be dropping off my Stepmom Marty tonight at the airport. I really appreciated her coming here and taking time off of work to help out. My Dad will be staying with me until the 20th I think. I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay out of the hospital until my next transplant. The nurse told me that my counts are going to plummit any day here and I'll be vulnerable to infection. I just need to keep taking my temperature and make sure I'm hydrated. There's a chance I'll get through this one without having to be hospitalized but it's a slim chance... For my next transplant however, I will for sure have to be hospitalized as my doc says he's never seen anyone go through the protocol (2 HDC's and TBI) and not have to spend time in the hospital. I guess the average is 14 days. By the way HDC=high dose chemo and TBI is total body irradiation. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it...

By the way, I just wanted to ask anyone who prays to keep my friend Marsha in your prayers. She just found out yesterday her SCT didn't work. She has been fighting relentlessly and really suffered along the way. My heart goes out to her and her family. Her next move is GND chemo and then possibly a trial drug or mini allo transplant. I wish her the best...