May 23rd Journal Entry
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Three months and seven days since my transplant. I feel pretty
good right
now. It is amazing to me three months have already passed. There
were days
time would just crawl, but as I feel better the time just flies
by. My energy
has begun to improve significantly. This past week I have picked
up my
cycling again and am finally feeling like I can actually train
a little. My
bike is a great barometer to how I am feeling. I am going to begin
pushing a
little more each week and hopefully my body will respond positively.
Yesterday was my most recent check up at the doctors office.
Here are the
results:
Recovery Information:
Current Weight: 169 lbs. Gained six pounds back this past three
weeks.
Eating strong and exercising is helping the weight come up. Hopefully
I can
get up to about 175 over the next month.
Energy Level on Scale of 1 to 10: 7 or 8, better this past week.
Blood Counts..Checked on May 22nd:
| Hematocrit | 5/1(38.9%) | Today(41.5%) | Normal(34-55%) |
| Platelets | 5/1(88,000) | Today(86,800) | Normal(150,000) |
| Neutrophils | 5/1(4,100) | Today(3,300) | Normal(7,000) |
| WBC's | 5/1(5,800) | Today(4,800) | Normal(7,500) |
My hematocrit is up which is why my energy probably feels pretty
good. My
platelets continue to stay low, but didn't drop significantly
over the past
three weeks. My doctor reassures me platelet counts don't go much
above
100,000 for many transplant patients. One of the reasons platelets
are most
difficult to keep up is the fact that they are replaced almost
daily by the
bone marrow. Whereas, red blood cells last for over a month. The
marrow has
to work very hard to keep up with platelet demands. I may have
low platelets
for a long time. We don't want to see a steady decline of my platelets,
but
if they hover in the range they are now I will be fine. I continue
to pray
they come up in the following months. WBC's and neutrophils were
down, but
they are still in a normal range and fluctuation is expected.
Overall, I am
comfortable with yesterday's blood count check and I won't return
for another
check up until July.
On the home front I am pretty busy. My wife, Michelle, had
ankle surgery
yesterday. Her long time basketball injuries to her ankle and
ankle surgery
15 years ago are catching up with her. Now I am taking care of
her. We have
been a pathetic couple this past six months. Her surgery was done
arthroscopically and she is expected to be up and around in a
few days.
I continue to thank the Lord for all my blessings and continued
healing. I
pray I don't let the insignificant stresses of life take away
from the
immense joy life has to offer.
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