I’ve had a couple of graduations in the past, high school, university, but today I have had a different one… I’ve graduated from one part of the hospital to another, and yes this progress.
For the past year I’ve seen my local Transplant Doc in what’s called the Ambulatory Clinic, it’s where Out-Patients with a variety of medical backgrounds are seen to have daily treatments, no hospital stay required. That is where I have spent lots of time after each chemotherapy and my Transplants, seeing my Docs, getting blood products and meds as needed, etc. However I can say that my time at the Ambulatory Clinic since my 2nd Transplant has been scattered and significantly reduced compared to my first run through. And again, that is progress, as if I don’t need to be in the hospital it means I’m moving in the right, and a desired direction.
I remember in March of this year, when I started to resume some of my work related duties and get out in the world again. That exercise came with many new experiences, perhaps the most common experience was seeing tons of people and having them inquire as to how I was doing. My response was something like this… “I’m feeling far better than expected at this point, still have a major rebuilding ahead, but I’m tackling that one step at a time”. It got to the point where I was saying those words so often I decided that I really should shut-up and just say “great, thank you”.
So today, at about 13 months Post-Transplant I can’t tell you how good I’m feeling compared to my expectations of 13 months ago, as I was very much expecting a similar road after my 2nd Transplant. That has not been the case, and I really did know better, as I believe every Patient’s experience is customized, but I had one set of experiences from my first Cancer Challenge, and when presented with a similar situation I figured I’d have a similar experience. That hasn’t been the case.
Amazing what happens when you avoid a month in ICU, a coma and having to rebuild the foundation of your body physically!
So at the 13 month mark I’ve been kicked out of the Transplant Clinic in the Ambulatory Clinic, and my next visit to the hospital, which isn’t planned to be for a couple of months, will be as a regular Out-Patient. I’ll be transferred back to my main Hematologist and will continue my recovery and medical management from there.
This is progress, and another step in my recovery, my blood levels are pretty solid, livers are still a little wacky but nothing to worry about, and if I wasn’t working so much I would be feeling very fantastic.
So I’m going to slow down, take it easy for the next while, refocus myself and ensure that lots of my energy goes towards my continued progress, on all levels.
Always…
Live life. Love life.
Geoff
