+54 Days

It has been very hot in Montana the last 4 days. About 97 degrees. This is a picture of what
the dogs have been doing for the last 4 days. It is much too hot for them to go outside!
Even though they have their own kiddie pool in the shade.
I am doing surprisingly well in the heat. My husband is still doing all the shopping
and I have not been to a store yet!

My appointment yesterday with the Oncologist went really well. She does want me
to stick with the diet of no fresh fruits or vegetables until I am at +90 days.
Also no yogurt. She did say that I can start venturing out if I am not in a crowd or
around sick people. Well, I am now a germaphobe so that is no problem.

As far as my blood goes, my tests yesterday were really good.

I think that staying home for the next 4 weeks will be alright. I am keeping busy

knitting, reading, walking (when it is not 100° outside) cleaning my office, etc...

I have amazing friends that come and visit too. 

The Doctor told me that I need to start Physical Therapy. I'm going to my first a

appointment in a few minutes. I will write about this later.  Hope everyone is enjoying

the Summer!!

+47 Days!!

I have been home now for a little over 3 weeks. My time is spent at home and outside
on the deck! This is one of the views from the deck. I am very thankful that it is so pretty!
I am getting cabin fever.

I posted a question on Facebook about mosquitos and if they are dangerous

after having HSCT. I am now the proud owner of all sorts of mosquito

repellant that does not contain DEET. I guess that getting mosquito bites is

not a good thing when your immune system is not 100%. 

The week before last, I ended up in the hospital Emergency Room with a fever

of 38.8. Going to the ER was just a precaution and I am happy that we went. The

ER doctor had never heard of HSCT for MS, which is not a surprise. My internist

decided to have me see the Oncologist for my checkups after the fever. 

I have now seen the Oncologist two times. My blood work has come back very good.

Everything is within normal limits. She is very happy, but I still need to be very

careful about being around other people. 

A few of my close friends have come over to visit. Not all at once though! 

Each person has to wash their hands before touching anything and then we go 

sit out on the back porch. I'm just thankful that it is Summer in Montana and not

the Winter, or we wouldn't be on the porch! This is a picture of what it would

look like in the Winter from the deck. 

So, now I am waiting to get my immune system back to where I won't have to 

worry about getting sick anymore. I've seen improvements in some of my symptoms.

The first symptom that I saw improvement in was being able to bend my toes on my

right foot. I noticed that they would bend when I was in the hospital in Jerusalem. 

The next symptom that improved was my worst one. My right leg has been 

dragging behind me for a few years and I have had very bad foot drop. 

My right leg is not dragging behind me anymore. It is now possible to go for 

a real walk. My cane lives in the car now. I'm hoping it will stay there for good. 

When I had that fever a couple of weeks ago, my leg got bad again. After the

fever left and I rested up, it started working again. 

I'm thankful everyday for being able to pick up my right leg and walk. Now, I am

focusing on building the muscles up since they are much smaller in my right leg. 

It would be nice to have matching legs again.

My goal with having HSCT was STOPPING the disease progression. 

Any symptom improvements are a BIG BONUS!! 

Home

We arrived home last Friday, May 29th. A week earlier than planned. Flying
to Montana from Israel is exhausting!

It took almost 24 hours to fly from one side of the Earth to the other side!! I still
have jet-lag and we have been home for 9 days.

I am so thankful that I was able to go to Israel to have my HSCT. What a
blessing. I am especially thankful for my friend Marilyn. She came with me
to Israel to take care of me and she was amazing!!

My husband has supported me through all of this. Mike spent hours reading about
and researching the procedure before we even decided that I should do it. When I
got home, he had the house clean and had even replaced the carpet in our bedroom
so it would all be clean.
He had even organized our closet, which was a huge job!
Mike's other major job while I was in Israel was taking care of my parents.
My Dad is 93 and lives next door and my mom is in a nursing home with
dementia. He did all of this and still went to work everyday.

Being home is so nice! I think that sleeping in my own bed is the best feeling
ever! I have been walking around the block everyday. I went two times a couple
of days ago. I'm trying to get my strength back. I'll start increasing the distance
as I get stronger. The muscles in my right leg are much smaller than the left
because of my foot drop. My foot drop is not totally gone, but is better
after my HSCT. I'm still very slow and am concentrating on each step and
how my foot connects to the ground. I have not been using my cane since I
got home.

Up until a couple of years ago when my foot drop got so bad that I had a really
hard time walking, my favorite thing to do was hiking. We live in a place that has
more hiking trails than you can count! My goal for this Summer is to hike to the M.

This is a hike that I have done so many times I couldn't count them. There is a hard

trail that leads straight up and an easier trail that goes to the left through the trees. 

I will be trying the easy trail! I'll post an update when this happens. Mike got my

mountain bike down yesterday and I might try to ride today. I need all the

exercise that I can get.

It has taken this whole week to get over the jet-lag. My dad says that it takes one

day for every hour of the time difference. He has traveled all over the world, so

he does have experience. Not to mention that he is very wise being 93 years old!

Since I am a total germaphobe now, I'll be staying home unless I have to go get

blood drawn or go to the doctor. I did ride with Mike to the grocery store last

night, just to get out of the house, but I stayed in the car. It is not worth getting 

sick with my non-existent immune system. Mike is going to do all the grocery

shopping and errands now. At least he will only buy what is on the list, which

is hard for me to do. Mike shopping will probably save us a small fortune. 

I'll still be blogging about my progress and welcome any questions from others

that are considering having HSCT.