+19 Days

My day is going really well. We went up to the CTCI clinic and my first surprise of the day is
that my PICC line was removed! This was a good thing. I can't wait to have a shower
without putting plastic wrap on to cover the PICC line. Getting the PICC line out was painless.
The only thing that hurt just a little was removing the stitches that held it in place, but that
was just a pinch. I can't say how thankful that I am for the PICC line! It made going
through this procedure much easier.

My blood levels are up as of yesterday when I had blood drawn.

I will be having my blood drawn again tomorrow morning. My second surprise of the
day was meeting with Prof. Slavin. What a kind and humble man. He went over all
of my lab tests and hospital reports. He also talked with me about the meds that I will
have to take for the next 3-4 months. I will be taking Acyclovir 200mg 3 times a day and
Omeprazole 20mg 2 times a day.

My third and biggest surprise was Prof. Slavin telling me that I can go home! He
got his camera out and asked me about any changes that I have has since my HSCT.
I do have a couple of small changes. My right foot has been 'frozen' for a long
time. I was not able to bend my toes. Last week in the hospital, I bent my toes.
This sounds like a small thing, but it is a big one to me! My walking has improved.
I will need to walk everyday to build up my strength. My right leg muscles are very
weak and my right leg looks like a chicken leg. I'll probably go to PT when I get
home.

I just got finished changing our plane tickets and we are going home!

Day +17 Back at the Vital

I was released from the hospital in Jerusalem yesterday. My blood levels were all
coming up so the doctor gave the official okay. Ahron, the cab driver for CTCI came
to pick me up at about 10:00 in the morning. What a great feeling! I had not been
outside in a week.

My happiest moment was walking out of the hospital. My right leg and the foot drop
has been very bad. I was able to walk, slowly, all the way to the cab. I had been
walking laps all week in the Bone Marrow Transplant unit, but this was a really long
way. I have to work hard now to get my strength back.

By the time we arrived back in Tel Aviv at the Vital hotel, I needed a nap. I have to
admit that I am very homesick. Thankfully Marilyn is here!

Day +15 The Tomato and the Cucumber

I have been at Hadassah Hospital now for a week. My blood counts are all coming up.
The platelets are lagging behind a little bit. Here is the printout from my week at the
hospital.

I've gotten in to a routine here. Get up, shower, eat breakfast... The hospital food is
interesting. Breakfast and dinner always have the same plate that has a whole tomato,
a whole cucumber, green olives, soft cheese and I still don't have a clue what is in
the little container with the blue top. It smells a little like yogurt.

The bad part about this plate is that I can't eat anything on it! I did wash the cucumber

once and then tried to peel it, but peeling a cucumber with a plastic knife just doesn't

work. There is also a hard boiled egg and 2 slices of bread. Sometimes a scrambled egg.

I can eat the eggs and bread.

I am sticking with the Neutropenic Diet just to be safe. 

Neutropenic Diet Guidelines

The big meal of the day here at the hospital is lunch. I am called out to pick what I want

out of a buffet cart. Then they bring the food to my room. This has become my favorite

meal of the day! 

The rest of my days have been resting and walking laps around the unit. I have to get my 

strength up and it feels so good to walk and stretch. Prof. Resnick came in to see me 

today. He was doing his rounds. What a caring and wonderful man! 

I am being released from the hospital in the morning. Marilyn's cooking will be heaven!!

As will the bed at the Vital hotel, my HSCT home away from home.

This has been a hard, but good week. Samira, the head nurse came to visit me yesterday

and she spent time with the doctor here and went over all of my blood counts. 

My faith in Prof. Slavin and his team at CTCI is very strong. 

The care of their patients is top priority!

+12 Days - I am back!

I woke up last Friday, May 15th with a fever of 38.8.  Marilyn called the clinic and we went
right up. They don't mess around here! Within about 20 minutes of me waking up, I had
fluids going in my PICC line and antibiotics were started. I spent the next few hours in
the clinic. The next thing I heard was that they were sending me to Hadassah Hospital
in Jerusalem.

That is where I have been for the last 5 days. I am in a private room that is in the
Bone Marrow Transplant wing. The care of the nurses and doctors has been nothing
short of amazing. They have been testing for everything! I did get some kind of
infection in my blood that caused the fever. That is under control now.

When the doctors (there are usually 2 or more) came in today they gave me good news.
My blood counts are starting to rise! I am not sure how many more days I will be
in the hospital until I get to go back to Tel Aviv. But, I am so thankful to be here.

Yesterday I walked 2 laps around the unit in the morning and then 2 more laps last night.
It feels so good to move!  I did a little more today and my appetite is coming back.
I am bald now. My husband and I will be bald together for awhile!

Since I am feeling much better now I'll be posting every couple of days. I know this
post is short, but wanted to let you know that I am doing really well. I am so
thankful for all of the good thoughts and prayers from everyone!

+6 Days

I went to the CTCI clinic this morning for my daily check-up. The nurse told me that everything
looks good and that I am now Neutropenic. That means that I have no immune system at
all. He said that I have to be extra careful now, which I have been, but to hear it like that
is a little eye-opening!

I am very tired now and don't feel like I even went to bed. Nodding off while on my
laptop or reading is happening quite often the last few days. Now I wait for my blood
to come back up. Hopefully by next week. I just have to stay well!

Marilyn is an amazing chef and made a delicious dinner last night. She has to make sure
that everything is very well cooked. The Kiwi kitchen is coming in very handy!

More FYI

There have been questions about the food issue here so here it goes....
The mall on the ground floor of the Vital has a grocery store, very similar to home.
The mall has almost everything you could need, clothes, drugstore, electronic store, etc...
On Friday there is a fresh food market that sets up in the mall with hot food, fresh
fruit and vegies, desserts, etc...
There is a bakery in the mall with fresh bread.
The coffee shop is kind of like a Starbucks, but I think better.

The KIWI Kitchen has: a two-burner hotplate, 2 pots with lids, an electric
frying pan, a Panini press, a big bag to carry it all in, a toaster,
plastic storage containers, vegi pealer, bowl, knives, strainer, spatula.
I might have missed a couple things, but you get the idea.

In other words...don't worry about food in Israel!!!

My friend, Marilyn, loves to exercise and has found that the classes at the
gym downstairs are very good. She has also been walking to the beach and
swimming in the sea! While I am in the room resting she has found some
incredible health food stores, open-air markets that have everything you
can dream of in them and all sorts of other fun things. I'm just a little
sad that I can't join her in these discoveries.

Make sure your Kindle, Ipad, whatever you have is loaded up before you come
to Israel. You can't even watch Netflix or listen to Pandora because of some
licensing thing and the internet. I'm sure that a computer genius could figure it
out, but I don't have the energy.

If you can think of other questions, just put them in the comments below and I will do
my best to answer them!!

Our anniversary

First, I will admit that it was not an easy week.
Tuesday went by as planned. I went to the clinic and the nurse started
me on fluids. At about 2:00 we went to another medical clinic for my
bone marrow aspiration. The bone marrow procedure was painless. I got
on the table and a nurse put oxygen on me and got me adjusted. The
next thing I knew was that I was waking up in the recovery room. Dr.
Nadir performed the BMA and put in a catheter. We went back to the
CTCI clinic. I was tired, but felt pretty good.

My chemo started when we got back to the Clinic. I spent Tuesday and
Wednesday night there. Everyone knows that Chemo can make you sick.
And it does. It felt like a very bad case of stomach flu. On Thursday morning
I was sent down to our hotel room for a shower. Then I went right back up
to get my stem cells back.

Today is a special day. Not only do I get my stem cells back, but it is our
wedding anniversary. I married the most amazing, loving man 21 years ago.
He is so supportive of me in every way possible. I am so thankful for Mike!

Getting my stem cells back was another unforgettable experience. They
were in 2 blood bags. My Picc line was flushed out and one of the two bags
was hooked up. When it was not going back in to me fast enough, Dr.
Nadir put another IV line in my left arm and started the second bag on the
other arm. The stem cells took about an hour to go back in.

After my stem cells went back in I got a fever. I did get a little worried at
this point. This was a little hard and exhausting. Dr. Nadir and the nurses got
my fever under control and I spent my third night in the Clinic. Sleeping in
the clinic is not easy. The nice part is that when you are in the clinic at
night you have a private nurse. I had 3 different ones and each one is a Bone
Marrow transplant nurse from the hospital. They were each very experienced
and caring. The staff are all so professional and very loving.

I got to go back to the hotel room on Friday morning. I was still very
nauseated and was only able to eat Saltine crackers. Checking my temperature
every hour got to be a habit. I ended up back in the Clinic on Saturday
to have my vitals checked, but no IV.

Today is Sunday and the start of a new week! I was checked this morning and
did have to have more IV fluids. But I am feeling much better today and so
very hopeful! I have gotten through the week of the transplant and now
am on the way to get better!!

The BIG week is here!

We are back to Sunday now and the real start of my treatment.
Today I went up to the clinic at 9:00am to get my IV infusion
of 3mg Lemtrada. It had steroids in it and something for nausea.
The infusion was hooked right up to my Picc line after the
nurse flushed it. How convenient! I asked Ashraf if I would
need another IV or anything in addition to the Picc line
and he said no. This picc line is for everything. Even
drawing blood.

Sunday turned out well. I was a little nauseous, but was able
to eat and had a really good day. The nurse said that I could
go out if I felt good, but I really don't want to risk getting
sick. So, I am just going to be thankful for being here and
stay in my hotel room. Learning how to knit is really paying
off now so I have something to keep busy with. Marilyn
shaved my head tonight! I will post a picture sometime!

Monday's infusion was 6mg of Lemtrada.
I was there about 4 hours again. Then went back to the hotel
room. To summarize, I had one injection of 3mg Lemtrada last
Thursday, one IV infusion of 3mg Lemtrada and one infusion of
6mg Lemtrada.

It is Tuesday now and it it the BIG day!! I am going to the
clinic at 11:00 for fluids and then will be going to the hospital
to have my Bone Marrow aspiration done this afternoon.
After we get back from the hospital I will be started on Chemo.
The schedule says: IV Fludarabin 20mg and Cytoxan 60mg.
I will have this same dosage on Wednesday also.

My stem cells get put back in on Thursday morning!! I don't think
that I will blog anything the next couple of days, but I'll be
back as soon as I feel better.

Just FYI

1. In Israel everything shuts down on Friday afternoon about 3:00 in
   preparation for Shabbat.

2. Stock your fridge before 3:00 on Friday with things to eat for Saturday.

3. The Vital HAS: bath soap, lotion (not great quality if you have very
   dry skin), shampoo, hair dryer, 2 bathrobes and 2 pairs of slippers.

4. You will need power converters. I bought 2 of these: Power converter

5. When you enter your room at the Vital there is a little electric box by
   the door. You have to put your door key in it so your lights will come on.

6. If someone is in the shower/tub and you have to leave the room, make sure
   to leave a key in the little electric box or the person showering will be
   in the dark.

7. Bring a water bottle. There is filtered water in the lobby by the front
   desk and in the business lounge. I wish that I would have brought one,
   I'm refilling a plastic one that I bought.

8. There is a drug store, like a Walgreens, in the mall. They have
    everything that you could need! I didn't need to bring lotion, extra
    toothbrushes, anti-perspirant, etc. It is a waste of luggage space.
   They even have contact lenses (over the counter!) and skin care.

9. Bring an HDMI cable so you can watch movies using your laptop. I brought
    our Chrome Cast and it won't work here because of the way that the
    internet works.

10. Have 7-Up or something carbonated in your hotel room. You might need it
      if you are nauseous.

11. My amazing friend, Marilyn, that is taking care of me brought essential
      oils and a diffuser. This has been very helpful! Lavender at night and
      Peppermint when I was nauseous.

12. I will add to this list as the next couple of weeks go by!

It's started!!

It is Thursday now. I went to the clinic to start my schedule this morning.
Ashraf went over my meds again with us and he took the dressing off of my Picc
line and cleaned it up. He was very efficient and redressed it so it is much
more comfortable.

After the dressing change I received my shot of Lemtrada/Campath of 3mg and
some pills. I know one of the pills was a steroid. Then we waited about a half
hour to make sure that I didn't react to the meds. I didn't have a reaction,
so we went back to the room.

One of our instructions is to take my temperature about 3 times a day and if
it goes to 38 degrees Celsius I have a medication to take and I need to call
the nurse. We went and bought a thermometer at the drugstore this afternoon
since I didn't bring one. Having the drugstore downstairs is so convenient!!

Friday came and went. We just went up to the Business lounge for breakfast.
Since it is Shabbat (What is Shabbat), none of the machines are turned on. So,
no espresso this morning! I was looking forward to oatmeal, but they don't use
electricity on Shabbat. The elevator is even different. it stops on every floor so
buttons don't have to be pushed.

Tomorrow is Sunday, the first day of the week in Israel. I will getting my
Campath the next two mornings and having my Bone marrow aspiration on
Tuesday afternoon along with starting on Fludarabin and Cytoxan.

The week ahead is going to be tough. But, it will all be worth it!!