April 13, 2004 DAY #168
Friends,
Hi to all! It seems like forever since I sent out an update. It has been an eventful couple of weeks. The day after my last appointment, Menchie and I took a first aid class. After the class I missed a step down on the sidewalk on the way to my car and fell, scraping my knee and hand. We went back in to the first aid class and got first aid. Nothing major, just wanted to avoid an infection. It has all healed up now. I guess I couldn't stand being away from doctors for a whole two weeks, because I thought I might be getting an ear infection and went to see my primary care doctor last week. Turned out to be wax. I got really sick one day, we think from eating tuna. Last weekend we went to the Wild Animal Park. We stopped for breakfast at a fast food restaurant. They gave me sausage instead of bacon, and I got pretty ill at the park. I made it home OK though. As my prednisone levels are dropping, I am finding that things like the neuropathy in my feet is getting more painful, making walking very difficult, so we haven't been walking much. Menchie has been working a lot, and I have been her transportation. Her driving lessons are going well. She will have her license in no time! I have been working quite a bit and have been to the office a couple of times. They make me feel like a returning hero there. Thanks guys! I also made it to a radio club meeting for the first time since September, I think. It was a magic show, and a lot of fun.
The coming week is going to be very busy. Tomorrow is Menchie's 29th birthday. Well something like that, anyway. Thursday, she gets more dental work done. Friday is the Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion at City of Hope. We will be driving most of the way up there on Thursday night, and returning Friday afternoon late. I hope Menchie will do some of the driving! Next week, we will try to avoid going to the doctor if possible. Doctor visits have become a highlight of my life though, so maybe I will find an excuse to go to the hospital anyway. Maybe there will be a support group meeting next week or something.
Lets see, my visit today! It was quick and easy! Hemoglobin is just shy of normal. RBCs are climbing toward normal. WBC is pretty normal. Platelets are boringly normal. Creatinine dropped to 1.5! The first downward trend in a over a month!!! I took my last Prednisone this morning. Hopefully I won't need it again. Next appointment is in two weeks, on Wednesday.
On the medical front, as I said above, I'm done with Prednisone. The doctor instructed me to cut my Cyclosporine from 75mg twice a day to 50mg twice a day. I am looking forward to that. Hopefully some of the side effects I am experiencing will start to subside a little. The doctor said there are few effective options for treating the neuropathy, but cutting Cyclosporine might help a lot. We shall see. I will have to keep an eye out for GVH now that the immunosuppressants are being reduced.
Lab Results:
Lab Results |
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Blood Cell Type |
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| WBC | 4.5 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| RBC | 4.30 | 3.73 | 4.0 | 4.01 | 4.18 |
| HGB | 13.9 | 12.5 | 13.2 | 13.4 | 13.8 |
| PLT | 130 | 228 | 196 | 213 | 206 |
I hope you are all doing well!
Ted
tw@wilcoxent.com