Hi to Everyone,
I know it’s been a while but in this case no news is good news – sorta.
My testing in December and January went well with no signs of cancer and the recovery has been going well. The anemia is gone and really the only thing lagging has been my immunoglobulins which are the body’s first line of defense against infection. Apparently this is always the case and sometimes they never return to normal after transplant. For many patients this is not a big problem unless they are around lots of people and especially people with the flu and other infectious diseases – like in the emergency room.
I started back to work on a part time basis in early December. After a while it seemed like I never left. I really enjoy being back with my friends and it’s also nice to know I can still do the job and do things like use the computers, suture, think, etc. The down side was I kept getting sick with the flu every 3-4 weeks. Every time it was worse and lasted longer up until the 3rd time last week when it got worse to the point where I couldn’t take 5 steps without getting short of breath, was coughing my brains out and rattling so much that it was hard to sleep.
Instead of getting better, I seemed to be getting worse each day, and by Friday the shortness of breath was worrisome so we went to see my local hematologist who ended up admitting me to Lewisville M.C. TO make a long story short, I ended up with pneumonia (cultured out strep pneumo), gradually improved each day with antibiotics and was discharged Tuesday. During the course of the work up they also found a clot in the upper left calf but were unable to determine if it was new or a remnant of the one from last March. Although we all feel it is probably old, the safe route is to go on Coumadin for 3 months then re sonogram the leg.
The only bad news from the deal is that I cannot work in the emergency dept until flu season is behind us. When I’m recovered my bosses are going to find some non clinical work for me to do – are these good people or what!! In the mean time my hematologist is going to order monthly IV gamma globulin to boost my immunity, but it is so expensive that insurance approval takes 4-6 weeks.
So life continues on albeit a little differently that anticipated. Now I’ll have time to go to the gym, work on the yard and my truck and, for a change, hone the golf game.
I’m still sending monthly blood work to UAMS and will return in April for all the big testing again.
I hope all is well with all of you and I’ll try to do better about keeping in touch.
Don