Been a real long time

I haven't updated this blog in months. I suppose that that is a good sign. It means that I've been spending my time getting back to living my life and spending less time revolving my life around my illness and my bone marrow transplant.

So what brings me here now? Sadly, a minor setback. Generally, thank God I've been feeling pretty good. My blood counts are almost all normal and my energy level has been pretty good. I have occassional problems with my skin. It dates back to February, 2009 when I was hospitalized with an enlarged liver and had all of these lesions which were never identified, although they were biopsied twice. I still get them, they're still painful and I still don't know what they are. It seems obvious that they're some kind of chronic graft vs host disease since they flare up when my prednisone gets reduced.

My eyes, which have been perfectly fine for months and months, are suddenly bothering me again. Immediately after my transplant they were very swollen and watery. The haven't bothered me in months and are now starting to feel weird again.

And last Monday I woke up at 6am feeling very nauseous. After getting violently ill 6 or 7 times I got back into bed. Next thing I know, I'm in the back of an ambulance. I was taken to Stony Brook University Medical Center with a fever of 104. Turns out I had a urinary tract infection. After 3 days on IV antibiotics, they sent me home with oral antibiotics.

So, I'm home but I feel like the wind has been taken out of my sails a bit. Just those few days in the hospital really set me back. And the Cipro made me real, real dizzy. I'm frustrated (as always) and impatient (as always) and want to get back to doing the things I want to do.

Now I think I'm up to date. I still have to see a dermatologist about the skin stuff. And I've also had some GI issues that are still being sorted out. But I'm working on it.

Thanks for checking in and for your thoughts, prayers and good wishes. I am truly blessed with the best friends and family in the world. Without the love and support of all of you, I would not have been able to get through this.