Moisturising

Well, it's been just over two weeks since my last update.....doesn't time fly when you're having fun!! I was up at Hammersmith last Tuesday for blood tests and a review with my consultant. Bloods are heading in the right direction and in some cases, though still low, are within the 'normal' range:

WBC 5.9 (normal range 4.2 to 11.2)
RBC 3.4 (4.2 to 5.3)
Neutrophils 3 (2 to 7.1)
Platelets 206 (130 to 370)
Hb 11.7 (13 to 16.8)

In fact my consultant is no longer 'concerned' about my blood counts and is now focusing on my paraprotein level. As I've previously said, the real success of the transplant won't be known until I get the results of my next bone marrow biopsy, three months post transplant....so around mid April. That's getting closer and my mind is definitely starting to shift its focus from 'post transplant recovery mode' to 'how successful has this transplant really been mode'...and unfortunately this does at times bring negative thoughts to the surface. I do try and keep positive, but inevitably the shield does slip sometimes.

So, what else is new? Well, still on the medicals, I've started my new course of antibiotics. No allergic reaction, which is good news as I'll be on these for the rest of my life. They're supposed to slow down the spread of any infection, should I get one, as apparently the spleen is damaged during the transplant, and part of the spleens normal function is to help fight infection. The itchy skin continues and boy am I getting fed up with having to moisturise my entire body twice a day. According to my consultant, this is likely to continue for a while as the high dose chemotherapy attacked the skin as well as my bone marrow.

On the plus side, my hair has started to grow back over the past few weeks, though it's weird seeing dark Professor Robert Winston like eyebrows sprouting, since I'm used to being blond. Unfortunately the new body hair hasn't aided the moisturising process either!!

My taste has pretty much returned to normal now (I can finally savour a beer) and despite the fact I'm still not allowed takeaways, I've put on more weight....not back to my full fighting weight, but getting there. My energy levels and overall fitness are also improving as my red blood cell count picks up. All good stuff, but the consultant has advised me to steer clear of pubs, restaurants, public transport.... in fact anywhere where I'd mix with lots of people, until at least three months post transplant.

Marcus and I have also been busying ourselves building a radio controlled off road car over the past few weeks. We took it out for its maiden voyage yesterday down at the park... great fun...pretty damn quick as its got a fairly powerful fuel engine.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now. As you've probably noticed, I've started to reduce the number of blogs I write. Whilst things are stable I'll probably only update it every few weeks, but I promise, should anything interesting happen, like I get pregnant, my third nipple gets removed or get some significant news on my progress, I'll keep you all updated!