Quiet Day

God is it great not to have to go to the hospital today. No apheresis, no blood draws, nothing. It's AWESOME. First quiet weekday in two weeks, and I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm exhausted, and my catheter still hurts a bit, but I'm feeling better overall.

I'm very relieved that the stem cell harvest was complete in two days. What a treat, we were prepared for 4-5 days of having to go in for collection. The procedure is not painful, it just takes a long, boring time where I'm tied to the apheresis machine. I wasn't even allowed to go to the bathroom. If I had to pee, they gave me a jar. #2 was simply hold it till the end. Once started, they couldn't stop the apheresis machine.

What was painful was the high doses of Neupogen required to elevated my stem cell and white blood cell count. My back still hurts from that. Ouch. But, thankfully, with the end of collection, I'm done with Neupogen for the time being. They say I may get more during the transplant to help stimulate my new immune system.

Preparations are well underway for next week's Leukemia Cup Regatta! We're getting very excited. I wrote the first draft of my notes for being the guest speaker Friday night. I think its pretty good for a first cut, but know there's alot to work on. I really want to share what's going on in my treatment without sounding like oh poor me. It will be good when its finished, I just know there's alot left to do.

I'm off,

T