Bottom Of The Wave

Hi All!

Yes indeed, this has been a while since I wrote something in this blog. I know, I know. I see the stats numbers are dropping too. But I kind of went through the aftermath of a high dose chemo and stem cells transplant last week, kind of a big deal too 😉

But be reassured, all went fine, and all is going well right now. As Rita – my lovely wife – well stated on FB the other day, counts are low, low, low but spirit is high, high, high. In other words, as we expected, the chemo wiped out my blood system, so my blood counts are super low. For instance, my white blood (immune system) is around zero now, at the bottom of the wave. Again, that was expected and this is the reason why 1) I am freaking tired all the time (I take an insane amount of naps every day), 2) I am taking some good medication to prevent any infections my body couldn’t fight with such a low immune system, 3) I am having transfusions (mainly platelets so far) to supplement my blood with the cells I need. All together, this works just fine.

The only main side effect is fatigue, from mild to extreme at certain times of the day. But we are fortunate enough that we have a wonderful support system at home with our family (my sister and my dad, and now my mother in law and soon my father in law). So nothing impossible.

This week, we are anxiously waiting (at least I am!) for the stem cells to start producing blood cells and finally see the “rebound” that will be the sign that the transplant is working, and that will get me out of the wood in terms of immune system. In other words, I hope to have a new immune system back within a week. What’s encouraging is that there is right now at my cancer center another patient who is exactly one week ahead of me,so I see how he is doing, and I am hoping that I will do as good as he does within the overall same timeline. Thank you for showing the way Rick!

And the other good news is that, if you are reading this post, it means that I feel well enough! Yay!!! Very happy about that.

Lastly, I have been very touched by the success of this blog. We reached over 1,000 unique visitors within just a few weeks, and that warmed my heart a lot. Thank you for your interest and support.

Ready to rise again, at the top of the wave this time.

See you for the next story.