May 27, 2009 10:30 PM 1 day to go

A number of things to talk about today as it was a clinic day - the last of the weeklies. Next appointment - June 24th! However, as the doctor noted, the downside of this is that my social life has now decreased by 75%!

First of all it was the first time since October that I had my blood drawn by needle and she managed to apply a little pain - not just the expected pinprick. Maybe my pain threshold is rather low given the long layoff. Other than that, there were no other problems - just a lot of tubes.

The doctor's visit went well, my counts are starting to climb - with hematocrit and hemoglobin being the highest that they have been in a long, long time. This indicates that the transplant is really starting to take hold. However, these counts have a ways to go before they get back to normal. But everything is right where it should be or better.

The doctor officially ended the 100 days today - even though the real count ends tomorrow. This relaxes the dietary constraints though he recommended that I lay off fresh deli meat cuts for a while. Also, as expected, no glass of wine until I am off the immuno-suppressants. I haven't really missed it up to this point so I don't foresee any issues here.

One medical item of note is that they were concerned about my glucose and cholesterol levels because an increase in these is an expected side effect of the immuno-suppressants. And, sure enough, when we got home from the hospital there was a phone message from the doctor saying that my cholesterol level had skyrocketed. Before the transplant it was 153(which is very good) and has now risen to 270(which is not very good). So, he has prescribed Lipitor until I am weaned off the immuno-suppressants and the level returns to normal(for me)!

So, it will be a month now before there will be another doctor's visit and a medical update. But that's alright, I can fill you in on all the food that I am consuming from outside the house. I am sure that all of you will be greatly interested in that!

That's about it for the day. Not that I can think of anything else to say right now anyway...

Bob