Day 40 Report

Today is day 40 post-transplant, which seems like an auspicious pretext for an update. I also just returned from an appointment with my Kalamazoo hematologist, Dr. Vemuri, so there is actual news to convey. The news is, according to Dr. Vemuri, quite good: my blood counts are satisfactory, I am physically where I am expected to be at this stage of recovery, and completely free of infections. On the other hand, I still have protime problems (my blood is too "thick") and I need to start working out again, even if it is fatiguing, in order to maintain muscle tone. I just wish that I felt as good as the report sounds; the thought of a workout on the elliptical machine sounds to me like being tortured in a third world prison, but I suppose that this is just the fatigue talking. The thing I should be focusing on is not my lack of stamina, but rather my lack of infections--most stem cell transplant patients get at least one infection during the first month of their recovery, and I have dodged the infection bullet completely. In two months, I return to the Mayo Clinic for extensive follow-up testing that will tell us whether the chemo and transplant therapy was successful in driving the myeloma into remission. That is the real test; if I am in remission then all of the unpleasantness will have been worth it. If I'm not in remission, then there will be more unpleasantness dead ahead. In the meantime, if you have any spare energy lying about, please send it my way--I'll need it for my first session on the elliptical!