Day 27...Back in the hospital

This will likely be brief, as it's been a very rough week or two and my energy is low.  My headaches have continued and started to get worse.  I spent three days in the triage department of SCCA while they tried to determine a course of action. We had a difficult time finding a medication that would cut thru the headache.  Finally, this past Monday, I had reached my pain limit, so they admitted me to UW Medical Center.  We've spent the week working on finding a drug cocktail that will give me relief.  I think we've finally found a protocol that seems to be working, and there's talk of getting me out of here today.  Fingers are crossed.  It'd be nice to be able to get back to the apartment and get some freedom back.

They're still not certain of what is causing the headaches.  Could be the cyclosporine, one of my immunosuppressants that I started right around the time of my transplant.  They did switch that drug out last week, so if that was causing my headaches, they should be coming to a stop.  They could also be caused by my cell engraftment.  All of my cells have officially engrafted this week, which means the donor cells are now making new cells.  My bones are very full of cells, and that can cause bone pain (or in my case, head pain).  Or, the headaches could be attributed to one of my current meds.  We just don't know.  The plan is to treat them, and hope they come to an end on their own.

So, it's been a rough couple of weeks, and it's been a struggle to stay positive.  But there is always joy!  One of my joys this week is that one of my besties, Lis, flew up from Reno on Monday and has been here at the hospital all week with me.  That wasn't the plan when we scheduled her visit, but she's done a great job keeping me distracted, and forcing me to eat and walk.  It's been a great treat to get to catch up with her.  She leaves this evening, so Philip will be back on duty tomorrow.  Another big joy is that the kids are off on our annual trip to Black Butte in Oregon with my parents.  We were all supposed to be there this week, but since my transplant messed up that plan, my parents decided to still take the kids over for the week.  While I'm missing them like crazy, and so wish we were there too, I'm very grateful that they're still able to be over there swimming, golfing, paddle boarding, bike riding, and visiting all of our favorite restaurants.  I can't wait to see them when they get home this weekend.

Going forward, the plan is to return to the apartment today; I have my Day 28 bone marrow biopsy scheduled for tomorrow.  Not a procedure to look forward to, but it will give us a lot of information.  They'll be checking on presence of disease, and they'll also be able to determine how much of my immune system is my donor's, and how much of it is still mine.  They want to see that I have at least 50% donor immune system.  So that will be good information to have. Otherwise, I'll be taking it easy and trying to stay on top of these headaches.  One day at a time...