+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. 

+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!