Well, we are now 4 days beyond the Transplant and 6 beyond the Melphalan chemo infusion. Of those 2 events, the one-time chemo infusion remains the driving factor affecting my frame-of-mind, health, appetite, digestive functions. My blood counts are continuing to fall (as expected) and hopefuly they will bottom-out in the next few days. After that (lord willing and the creek don’t rise) we turn the corner and begin a gradual climb to recovery. And, about a week after that we go home.
For the most part, I am doing pretty good. I am not in any serious pain; I am tired and sleep a lot. I managed to get rid of the clanging pump. They replaced it with a much quieter pump which I now call Forrest Pump. But at least I can sleep at night.
The chemo seems to have affected my bladder functions so, four days ago, I was outfitted with a catheter. The good news is that I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom; the bad news is that this is NOT real comfortable when performing my daily 1/2 mile hike for exercise. This morning, the urologist decided the catheter was no longer needed, so out it come (ouch!). This afternoon he decided it was probably necessary after all, and ordered a new catheter inserted (ouch2!). I have come up with a nickname for my catheter that I think is appropros: (drum roll) CATHETER ZETA BONES!
That’s the latest from Ann Arbor,
Larry, Forrest Pump and Catheter Zeta Bones