Saturday Off / Quick Summary

Hi new readers! We have a very dedicated following, so I post daily.  It's a bit much if you are starting now.

Here's a quicky summary: I started feeling weak the first of June on vacation.

I used a lot of air diving, and we thought it was weird. Two days after returning, I flew a 3 day trip. At the end of that, I called out sick and took myself to the doctor. 6 hours, and many tests later, I returned home awaiting blood results. That took about a week or week and a half. I called Mom down to take care of me. We got the blood results and got checked into the hospital the same day.

The hospital got the vomiting under control and fluids and food in me, and I got much better. Then we started treatment. I stayed in the hospital 23 days, then released to the clinic to get supervisory care.  I have had 2 other hospital stays due to a fever, and one stay for the bone marrow transplant. The transplant was harvested from my brother/hero, Ed, through a process like donating blood.

The first 28 days after my brother donated his stem cells for the transplant, I was at the clinic every day for bloodwork, fluids and whatever else I needed. The transplant is going well and no sign of "rejection" thanks to the drug prograf. 

Prograf depletes magnesium, so that's my biggest struggle. I try to eat the foods high in magnesium, but right now it's hard to eat anything.  Thanks to 4 rounds of many chemo and 8 rounds of radiation and 4 more doses of chemo, I have no hair, no appetite, and no energy. 

Today, though, I am hungry. That's huge. I think I have more energy too. Time to go take photos of dogs. I know you have seen enough of them.

Let's hope for test results tomorrow and feeling a little better.