10/9/2017 – Bone Marrow Transplant, Part 3

Writing with a clear mind, can’t wait to fill you in on all the things that brought me back on track by what I can only describe as the hand of God…  Well, it goes a little something like this…  About three days ago, Day +1 after the transplant, my meds were getting lined out and I began getting IV nausea meds.  Around the same time, I had begun a slew of other proactive anti-viral/fungal/bacterial meds, one of which we were concerned about for the side effects and possible long term implications.  Building gradually throughout those few days up until yesterday, were issues with my walking, which could be attributed to my stair climbing regiment that I had begun here, maybe that had something to do with why my ankle tendons were getting sore when I walked…  issues with confusion and concentration, which I thought mild but grew in intensity, and thought it could have something to do with the chemo, or the process, or just being mentally stressed, but hard to figure out when you’re under the influence of confusion.  It’s very hard to explain, but my best sanity measures were to do simple crossword puzzles and mind games because that was about the limit of my concentration and depth of thought.  Otherwise, I felt rather like wandering around overwhelmed by everything from text messages to replying to an e-mail.  Very strange…  and issues with my vision which made near impossible toward the end to read my text messages or the food menu for ordering meals, even with my reading glasses on.  It got to the point yesterday where I couldn’t walk half a block without sitting down on a bench to reset my legs.  One side would get sharp tendon pains and cause my foot to flip outward at the end of my stride, and the other leg would cramp up, become stiff and my toes would curl up under and not release.  It was downright scary.  So after talking to Jas quite a bit about some of the meds, and deciding we were going to ask about replacing one antibiotic that might cause an issue like that.  It was the middle of the night, and so before my next antibiotic dose I checked to see if my vision was any better, and it was.  I got up to walk a bit, and I could do laps without cramping up.  It was amazing!  So I just so happened to be walking by the nurse taking care of me and began talking about the issue.  We get to talking about what other meds I am on that I’ve never been on before, and one of the nausea meds is new to me…  and it just so happens that she passed on my last dose to let me sleep longer instead of interrupting me in the dead of night for it, which is why I was able to see when I woke up!  She put the pieces together and pinned it to the nausea med, seeing that one of the rare side effects is Parkinson’s symptoms, exactly what was going on with my legs.  The rest of the day today, I have been at 100% back in action, puffing up the stairs, walking the street, was able to do some e-mails, text and call people without paranoia... total 180°.  And it just so happens that I got a low-grade fever last night, which is treated very seriously with a weakened immune system, so I had to get checked and double-checked out for infections, and put on a different antibiotic, that replaced the one we were concerned about…

Days 3 to 5 are supposed to be the days of declining energy and blood counts.  My energy level hasn’t plummeted yet, but my blood counts are dropping.  Not technically at neutropenic risk yet, but trending down.  And everyone keeps telling me, you’ll hit zero and be there a couple days, don’t worry, it’ll drop.  So we’re waiting…