This is all going by so quickly. It’s hard to believe that it has alredady been 122 days since Dr. Gomez hung up my bag of stem cells and hooked them to my PICC line and started my new life. I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to get this done when I did. Every day I read stories from people who wish they could get this done or wish they could have gotten it done earlier in their life.
My immune system is now 4 months old and so far the absolute biggest struggle I’ve had since being home is staying healthy. I knew it would be tricky to do with a 4-year-old in the house who attends all day preschool, but I didn’t think it would be this much of a challenge! My daughter is currently on her 5th and final day of antibiotics fighting off bacterial pneumonia, which is scary. Pneumonia isn’t great news for anyone but it is especially bad news for someone with a weakened immune system like me. I’ve been really good about isolating myself from her as much as I can and always wearing a mask when I do have to be around her but just today I started getting a little tickle in my throat that usually signals the beginning of a cold for me. So I am loading up on all of the onions and garlic and water that I can handle in hopes of kicking this sickness out as quickly as possible…It should also help keep anyone away from me because now I stink.
It is easy for me to forget that while these 4 months have flown by, my immune system is still so new and fragile. I’ve been slacking on sanitizing surface areas and door knobs and not being as careful as I should be. I feel like this has happened every month since I’ve been home. I get comfortable and start slacking and then I get sick and realize I need to take this recovery seriously. Well, here I am back at that realization!
All of my blood work that I get done monthly has been perfect and right on track with what is to be expected from someone post HSCT. That is great news and now I don’t have to see my hematologist until April for another complete blood count.
Word is really starting to spread about HSCT and the promises of hope that it can offer. There is a family here in Michigan who got their story told by a local news station because the husband is going to Mexico in a couple of months for treatment. It is so exciting to watch people learn about this and decide if it is the right next step for them. I just pray that some day soon this will be an option that anyone with an autoimmune disease can readily get at home without having to travel abroad and/or spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. Until then, I’m so thankful that there are places that accept people all over the world regardless of their disability.
My hair is starting to get to where it now comes over the tops of my ears and I’m actually having some bad hair days. I can officially put my hair in a mowhawk in the shower when it is lathered up with shampoo. That’s what I call progress!
Adios, MS! 