Day 12

Today's counts:

White blood cells: 0.1  (normal: 3.5-10.5, in billions/litre)

Hemoglobin: 85 (normal: 135-175, in grams/litre)

Platelets: <10  (normal: 150-450, in billions/litre)

Did you know hospital pharmacies stock beer and alcohol? Yeah, just in case they're treating an alcoholic for something and they need to avoid withdrawal. I'm hoping they mix up my meds one of these days and plug some whiskey into my IV.

I had the last of my post-transplant immunosuppressive chemo treatments yesterday. I hope that turns out to be the last chemo I'll ever need.

I'm getting daily transfusions of platelets as well as regular blood to bring up my hemoglobin levels (hemoglobin brings oxygen throughout your body, so a low count usually means one is tired and weak, which is indeed the case for me). Actually, apart from being incredibly tired and dealing with canker sores throughout my mouth and throat, I'm not doing too badly. And it seems my white blood cell count has increased from less than 0.1 billion per litre to exactly 0.1 billion per litre, so maybe my new immune system is settling in.

Now, I'm not normally one of those foodies that takes a pic of his meal and tweets it for the world. But I'll make an exception this one time to share with you some of the hospital's greatest hits from the past couple of weeks:

Classic Salisbury steak.

I think this was an egg once.

The raccoons that attack my compost every day wouldn't touch this horror.

Day 7

Today's counts:

White blood cells: <0.1  (normal: 3.5-10.5, in billions/litre)

Hemoglobin: 101 (normal: 135-175, in grams/litre)

Platelets: <10 (normal: 150-450, in billions/litre)

Day seven and I'm reaching the nadir of all the badness going on in my body. I seem to have made it through the worst of the nausea and gut problems. I'm currently dealing with pretty bad fatigue and lethargy, a pile of grumpiness, and of course the newest addition to my collection of side-effects, the mouth sores.

I had dodged these mouth sores on my first trip through chemo months ago, but this time I'm not so fortunate. I pictured them as gross, seeping, cold sore type wounds, but they're actually just canker sores...on my tongue, my cheeks, and probably soon my throat. This makes eating a real challenge so I'm on a mix of painkillers and magic mouthwashes just to be able to eat.

It's a bit of a cruel twist: I was able to eat at first but had no appetite, and now I have an appetite but eating is hard.

I have daily appointments at the hospital to get my blood tested and receive any IV drugs I need, including a daily antibiotic for prophylaxis.

I've noted today's blood counts at the top. My white blood cells are still bottomed out. Once engraftment of my new cells starts, probably in a week or so, we'll see that number climb.

I received a transfusion of platelets yesterday, something I'll need occasionally while my system grows (basically to keep me from bleeding to death if I get cut or injured). That platelet count remains low today, so I'm getting another transfusion. It looks like a bag of margarine emptying into my veins, which is a bit gross.

I should definitely give a shout out to the quality nurses of the blood and marrow transplant program. I'm in good hands here. Apart from a few days early on when I was having nausea issues and again later when I had fevers, I've still been doing this as an outpatient, and my day to day goal is to not be admitted to hospital. My mental health is definitely far better when I eat my own food and sleep in my own bed.