#coldplaysucks

With Coldplay currently performing during Super Bowl half-time, rather than nod off (they always make me sleepy because they are excruciatingly boring), I thought I would pen a quick update on my progress.

I passed my 100 days post transplant mark a week ago.  An important milestone for leukemia and lymphoma patients, a lot of things start to be better after 100 days.  

I’m out of the danger zone for Graft vs. Host disease, so my new marrow won’t attack my skin cells.  I may have had a minor brush with it in regards to my stomach, but Dr. G. ordered some medication to counteract that.  As a result, I can eat more than a few tablespoons of food at a time.  In fact, I ate half a pizza for dinner and half a piece of chocolate cake.

My MSK visits this week were annoying as usual.  I had to have my blood redone and a bag of fluids was insisted upon since the labs got messed up and no one knew what my renal functions were like.  That was Tuesday, and when I got to the Brooklyn location, I had to wait for someone to open the gates while I waited out in the cold.  

Then Thursday it was back to Manhattan, with the car service picking me up 20 minutes late and an insane FDR traffic snarl that rendered us motionless for a half hour until we somehow snuck off the highway onto an entrance ramp and escaped.  When I was on my way back to Brooklyn 3 hours later, traffic was still a disaster.

I was an hour late to appointments, but I managed to get through most of them quickly.  I had PFTs (pulmonary function tests) to assess what, if any, damage the radiation might have done to my lungs.  They seemed to go about the same as the pre-transplant tests, so I suspect the lung protectors did their magic.  As bizarro as my radiation was, I kind of miss those tech guys.  They sort of made it fun.  It’s definitely the best time I had at my month at MSK.  Weird, but you take what you can get. 

After all the tests, I got in to see Dr. G. pretty quickly this time, and it was a good visit.  She said I can now eat steak that isn’t well done (thank goodness, because that is an abomination), and I can have two drinks a week. I celebrated this freedom with Tom later that night at Werkstatt where I managed to drink half a glass of red wine.  It was a bit overwhelming for my palate, but I’m sure with practice, I’ll be back where I was, enjoying my vino with joy in my heart and on my tastebuds.

Yesterday I pigged out on Spanish tortilla (potato and onion frittata) at Rosie’s and drank a whole glass of prosecco!

Best of all, I will now have bi-monthly visits.  Every two weeks.  Not every other day like it was a mere month ago.  And my hair is growing in.  It’s getting a lot better.  And that is a good thing!

Ok, the game is coming back on.  Gotta run.