Closer than my closest friend.... To celebrate the good times ......To help me through the hard times ......To bring me down to earth ........Remind me what's important.......

The past 2 days have been better. After my trip in to hospital on Wednesday I was given fluids. My results showed I was almost neutropenic. Which is what we are pretty much expecting / waiting for. After the fluids, its amazing how much better I felt. Even though I'd been drinking 2L water every day, it appeared I was on my way to dehydration.
My sister arrived on Wednesday evening from NZ. And all of the sudden I was feeling a whole lot better.
We've had tears, laughter and lots of "mum-moments" as I've come to call them..... Those unexpected moments when you remember something "Gerry would have said /done" and you burst into tears when you realize she's not here.....
Anyway.... It's been fab, and an absolute morale lifter having my blister here.
We're off to the hospital again now. Had a small scare last night when my temp spiked to 37.6C ... But we realized that having the electric blanket on boost before slipping into "fresh sheets" had an impact on the results !!! After I switched it down to 1 ... Temp dropped to relatively normal......
I'll be asking for more fluids again. It's so much easier than having to drink it yourself !!! And hopefully I'll be sent home for the weekend...... But we'll have to see what Tina says......
On another note ..... I'm nearly at my "target weight" from my operation last year !!! Not something I'm even thinking about, but noticed when I jumped on the scales this morning..... Heh heh..... Not all bad see?
Xxx
Quick update .... In hospital now.
Temp is slightly up 37.5C bit we're going to see what it is after fluids. Blood pressure was low too.....
Waiting for bloods to come back.
Tina says if I have to be admitted, I'll be in for about 4 days..... They all (the nurses) place bets on when you get admitted !! Lol I want in on it too !!

D+6

Just a quick update. Been feeling pretty low the past few days. Sunday was the last "good" day. Monday I just felt wiped out..... And the feelings haven't changed since then. No energy, diarrhea, nausea.... Just a part of every day now. However, I haven't had to go into hospital with a fever. And I've kept my fluids up. So it's not all bad !!
I had to start my injections last night. Yet another pill/prick/suction of me. But I shouldn't complain..... It's all going well.... As expected.
I'm off the the hospital now for another blood test and check up. My white blood count should probably be '0' now - neutropenic. This way I can start to build up and start again !!!

Wish me luck.......

.......Love is the answer....At least for most of the questions in my heart..... Like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard? ...... It's not always easy and Sometimes life can be deceiving....... I'll tell you one thing....... it's always better when we're together.....

Looking forward to seeing my sis on Wednesday....

I'm in the middle of a Jack Johnson-a-thon .... and so I guess, feeling pretty alright so far too.

It's Sunday.... Thursday was implant day and my days have been relatively good. If I jinx myself by writing the following then <insert "F-style" curse word here>

Anyway here goes.... so far, no temperature, the anti-nausea drugs are keeping things at bay, no diarrhoea... the worst so far is the irritating Dracula's neck jewellery (Thanks Nigel - liked that one !!). But even that is beginning to settle and not be as annoying.

OK Coldplay-a-thon now..... JJ was getting a little melancholy for me......

I've been very careful so far. Bucket loads of anti-bacterial hand wash, lots of water, hydrating fluids and no contact with anyone or thing. Although I have managed a couple of trips to the park with the pups. I've also been sleeping well(ish). The olympics have helped too. Live streaming on the iPad on the middle of he night is great. I'm back on the Dexamethasone so that may explain some slight insomnia. 

I'm now on a neutropenic diet too. And it looks like I'll have to stay on this for the unforeseeable future. As I now have no immunity I won't be able to combat food bacteria. I'll have to start from scratch with my body. One of my biggest disappointments would have to be that we will not be able to visit "Sizzler" for the next year !! Oh woe is me..... how will I survive ?? !! No salad bar or all you can eat soft-serve is allowed to pass my lips !!! Looks like it will just have to be fine dining establishments and home cooked delicacies. 

I have a bowl of drugs I have to take every morning..... 

• Dexamethasone - Anti-sickness 2-3 days after chemo (all good now)
• Metroclopramide - Anti-sickness 20mg 2 tabs up to 4 times per day
• Pantoprazole - Antacid (and for nausea) 40mg 1 tab per day
• Fluconazole - Anti-fungal 200mg 1 tab per day (for the foreseeable future)
• Valaciclovir - Anti-viral 500mg 1 tab per day (for 3 months post transplant)
• Filgrastim - 300mcg Injections daily in evening D+5 onwards
• Gastrostop - 2mg Once it starts.... max 8 per day !! eeuww

I have my first check up appointment on Monday morning. I'm hoping Tina (my Nurse) will be very happy with me. 

My beautiful niece - who's birthday it was yesterday

And so back to the couch and the relaxing.... my Blue boys are about to start. I haven't picked them to win and after the WCE performance yesterday I'm hopping for some winning vibes in the house. I must also say that as my first year as an Aussie I'm a little disappointed at the performance of the number of Olympic Gold's for Australia!!! Go Team GB !!! Just saying......

Oh yes one last thing.... we've booked our wedding venue. Looking forward to Jan wedding......