Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Out of the Woods!

Well, I got a phone call from Dot today and I'm finally fully engrafted! My neutrophils are 1.4 and my WBC's are almost 4, yeee hawww! So, I don't have to go to the clinic for daily blood work and vitals, just twice a week now (relieved). This means I can get takeout again, go out to a movie or restaurant, go grocery shopping, all without feeling like a "bubble boy"! The only thing I have to deal with now is the chest/side/back pain when I inhale. It's weird as it's really sore intitially when I do my breathing exercises and seems to "stretch out" once I do a couple of deep inhalations and exhalations. I asked the doc about it yesterday and he just shook his head and told me he didn't know what it was and that it "could be anything". I'm hoping it's just scar tissue that is getting stretched out and torn when I breath deeply. The lungs are so sensitive... Anyway, I have a CT scan in around 9-10 days so we'll see. I'll try not to stress out too much till then ;)

Another bit of news, found out my TBI has been moved up to December 18th. So I'll have 4 days of this (2x per day) then get chemo for 2-3 days and probably get my stem cells back on Christmas day! What a Christmas present ;)

My Mom will be coming out on the 18th as well so she'll be jumping right into the fire! By the way, I have to say how proud I am of my Mom for quitting smoking after 45 years! She started using Chantix and is having great results so far. You can do it Mom!!

That's it for now, the waiting begins...

3 comments:

Veronica said...

Yay........congrats on your successful engraftment :0) Here's to many, many take-out meals in the next couple of weeks ;0)

And congrats to your mom on quitting smoking - moms like to make it hard on themselves - choose probably the MOST stressful time of their lives to do something stressful!! Wullie's mom quit just before his transplant too and 18 months on has successfully and fully quit :0)

B. said...

Hell yeah! For engrafting! So glad the cells are doing their job, and that you're able to go out and get take out.

Sometimes, I really think its the small things that make such a HUGE difference.

Know, I'm following you carefully, even though I don't comment often. And, I'm cheering from the sidelines.

So glad that you're seeing the silver lining of getting your cells back on Christmas, and that Momma Dukes is coming out. All great stuff.

You are doing awesome Chris, honestly. The battle is almost over, and you will be putting this behind you before you know it.

Sending Love to you and Jackie,

Bekah

Anonymous said...

Great news (even if I'm reading it a little late) Chris! Keep up the good work and the strength to get you through to the next/last SCT!

Brian