Could it be.... a few new cells??

Sorry to be so long between posts, but I am sure you all understand that being at home means there are lots more fun things to do and less medical stuff going on. This is a good thing!  I received my brothers cells on Wed the 19th.  They were fresh from his transfusion the day before so I didn't stink with the preservative.  A fact that Brant and the kids appreciated. It was sad to see my brother leave, but he left a big part of himself behind!!  It took an extra day for him to get home, just like John, but he is safely back with his family and enjoying that warm Australian sunshine.

Since the transfusion of Tcells and stem cells (I got both), I have been up to Richmond on Sat the 22nd (got blood and platelets) and Tuesday the 25th.  I am following the normal drop in my counts that I do after Vidaza..  On Tuesday, my platelets were at 17 which is above 10 where they keep me, and so they did not give me a transfusion - surprising.  I had planned to get a transfusion on Thursday here locally knowing that the 17 number would drop quickly.  But then the doctors in Richmond decided they wanted to see me there on Friday (today) to see what my counts were doing. So I stretched it out one more day wondering how low my counts had gotten.

This morning I woke up not feeling so good, but headed up to Richmond with my sister.  I didn't sleep well last night and was tired.  Plus I have had a lot of achiness in my legs and hips.  We are hoping this is engraftment of George's stem cells and not the flu!!  After sitting there and feeling so blah, thinking my platelet count was down to 6, you can imagine how shocked I was when they said my platelets were at 33 - almost double from Tuesday.  My hemoglobin has gone up slightly, too, from 8.7 to 8.8.  My white blood cells are still lagging and stayed at 0.5, but at least they didn't drop down to 0.3 like they have the last few months.  So this is very exciting.  It would appear that I am making blood cells on my own!  Go George's stem cells. Unfortunately,  I still feel pretty yucky today and have mostly napped and lounged around watching TV.  I am hoping it is just one of those off days and that my energy will be back tomorrow.

So I turned 45 earlier this week.  Each day is special but it did feel great to celebrate a birthday.  It was exactly 10 months after I was first admitted at VCU for leukemia. At times it has felt so awful and bleak, but now I am so thankful to be where we are and feeling as good as I do.  Until I am in remission, my goal is to be the healthiest leukemia person around!