Happy Monday everyone, hope your day is going well. I’m writing with a brief update today to let you know that things with my lungs are fine. Saw the Doc this afternoon, he had a quick listen, and will see me again next Monday just to make sure. My cough isn’t going away, but it’s not getting any worse either, probably some viral thing that is going around. As I mentioned throughout the past couple of weeks while I’ve had this cough and a stuffy nose I have never felt bad, run down or anything out of the ordinary, but the symptoms were something I decided I should pay attention to. I’ll be back at the hospital again tomorrow for blood tests and will see my Transplant Doc on Wednesday as usual.
All else on the medical front is good, the GVH is still present but not prominent. I have a really dry mouth and my stomach is a little temperamental from time to time which are side-affects, but my rash is gone and no troubles with my eyes since the last infection. My liver functions are a little off, but not enough to adjust our strategy. My weight is climbing, I’m all the way up to 175 now!! Seriously it is something that I’m beginning to focus on, and in the coming weeks/months I’ll hopefully be able to get a good start on rebuilding some of my lost muscle. Saw my Dentist this morning, and no cavities, which is really good news as having chemo and going through a Transplant does some nasty things to your mouth and to come away from that without cavities is a nice bonus!
Being a little more active in the past few days I have noticed my energy to be challenged a little, which is a good thing as I view my rebuilding a lot like a rechargeable battery. The most effective way to rebuild is to run it down, then recharge all the way. Of course I am careful when it comes to the running down part, and make a focused effort to ensure that I do get recharged consistently.
The last thing I want to mention relates to me writing when I have other Challenges thrown my way. Many of you have written in the past couple of days or months after I had written about a bump in my road, my chicken pox situation over Christmas or last week’s coughing up blood incident are good examples. I want you all to know that writing a message to the group is usually the third thing I do after being presented with another Challenge, it happens right after I call my Mom and Dad. If you have forgotten you can look back at the messages I wrote in July during the week I was being tested to see if I had relapsed. I wrote while flying straight home from Calgary, sent that message from the ER in St. John’s, then wrote again later that day, and then consistently throughout the week as I learned and progressed through the testing process.
I have written many times before… this email group is one of the few commitments I have made since November 1998 that I have kept firmly, and I don’t imagine that will change anytime soon. So when I say no news is good news, I really mean it. You are always among the first to know what’s happening with my thoughts, feelings and health. Right now, all three are receiving lots of attention and being taken care of as best I know how.
I’m sure you’ll hear from me again soon.
Always…
Live Life. Love Life.
Geoff
