Day +19

Bummer! I suppose everybody who has been keeping up with my updates is expecting me to write about how good it feels to be home today. Unfortunately the planned discharge for today did not happen like expected.

On Sunday I had another day pass and got to spend some good time with family, including Mary, Mya, and Reed before they head back to Florida. I was feeling pretty good most of the day, but unfortunately had some diarhea. When I got back to the hospital last night, I had some more diarhea throughout the night. So because of that issue, the transplant team wanted to keep me for at least another 24 hours to monitor the situation and make sure I don't have an infection or some other problem. It stinks to anticipate a return home and then have it taken away, but its better to be safe when dealing with my health.

One of the things that I learned over the weekend is that I'm not expected to drive while I am on the tacrolimus. That stinks. So when I do get home, I won't be able to be as independent as I thought I would. Kate will have to play the role of driver as well as wife and mother. Unfortunately Kate doesn't enjoy driving like I do, so that will be another of those nuisances that we have to deal with during this situation.

My blood results from today were excellent. My white blood cells were 7.87 and my absolute neutrophil count was 5.588. Those numbers are more than doule what they were two days ago, and are actually towards the high side of the healthy range. So my new immune system seems to have come in strong. I believe I will no longer have to take the neupogen shots, which stimulate cell growth in the bone marrow. Thats another step in the right direction.

Right now I am feeling extremely positive about my health. I feel like I have dealt with the bone marrow transplant about as well as I could, and am thankful for that. The only question I have in my mind right now is whether or not the cancer is still present. Since I am feeling so well, I take that as a sign that the new bone marrow cells and the high level doses of cytoxan and fludarabine might have wiped out the remaining cancer. However, I have felt confident before about being in remission and been let down. So I will keep on praying for my complete healing and giving thanks for how healthy I feel so far. After today's disappointment, I'm not planning on necessarily being home tommorow, but hopefully my next update will come from home rather than a hospital room at NIH.