What a journey so far, I'll keep it brief - it's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep so hopefully this will help tire me out a little ahead of the morning of meds to come.
This is obviously my first blog update for a while, not sure if I'll be updating on a regular basis but (as you may have guessed) my strength is coming back (otherwise I wouldn't be doing this!) so we'll see.
A brief recap then of things since my last update:
Day 0 - this was the last day of TBI (total body irradiation) and the introduction of the stem cells. Everyone was telling me that the stem cell transfusion would be an anti-climax as it's just bags of blood going in. How wrong. The American cells were very thick and required real effort the French cells seemed better. However the steroids given beforehand had me climbing the walls and I reacted badly to the preservative used for the cells causing real problems over the following days.
Eventually that sorted itself out and fundamentally the rest of the time has been just recovery. For a long time (as my blood was completely devoid of white cells) I was permanently fighting off high temperatures through a cocktail of tablets and IV anti-biotics/anti-fungals. I had a naso-gastro tube for feeding which was quite uncomfortable but effective.
More recently my blood counts are starting to come up (no where near normal levels) but enough where it looks like the doctors are willing to withdraw some of the anti-biotics soon to see if I can cope without them.
Also I've been feeling stronger in myself and have started doing some exercises in bed to try and get me ready to do things like sitting out of bed and going for short walks.
I still tire relatively easily, especially after things like bed baths, so there's a long way to go still but I definitely feel I'm well on the road to recovery.
Fairly soon too it looks like I'll be disconnected from the heparin which will be great as that will provide a level of freedom.
Anyway, that's it for now - my sincere thanks and love to those who've been in touch one way or another with messages of support and best wishes, it's really appreciated knowing there's so many folks out there rooting for my recovery - thank-you!
