Day +77

Yesterday I got a little surprise in the mail. I got a package and when I looked at the address I had no idea who it was from, only that it was from Montana. I opened it and it was a rag quilt. It was sent to me by an organization that was set up to make blankets for those that are dealing with chemo and radiation. It is in memory of a woman who passed away who received one and loved snuggling with it whenever she had to sit for treatments. Someone from the small country church in Augusta, Montana where I was living requested it for me. So that was a nice little surprise and blessing to brighten my day.

But things are continuing to go well and I am gaining energy daily. I saw my doctor on Tuesday and they are pleased with how I am doing. He bumped my steroids down another 10 mg. So the goal is to do that every week and pray that my body handles it well and doesn't react to where I have to be put on more again. The sooner I am off the steroids the sooner I can do things again. I was told that as long as I am on them I will be restricted. This even means after day 100. I am still on the steroids after day 100 I will continue to be restricted till I can get off of them because they act as a mask, blocking any issues that may be going on. So be praying that they can just continue to decrease every week with no problems. I can't wait because then maybe my face can stop swelling like a balloon and my muscles can become normal again. I was told that the reason my upper leg muscles are so weak and I can't even get up by myself from a sitting position is because the steroids cause muscle atrophy. I am supposed to do exercises to strengthen them daily, but until I get off them I don't think it will get back to normal again. Another great piece of news that happened on Tuesday was that I didn't need any magnesium replacements. That is the first time since transplant. My doctor asked me how much mag. I was taking at home, and I told him none. He was a little bit shocked. For some reason I guess my body is producing it on its own. That is pretty much unheard of in transplant patients. Usually all the immuno suppressents we are on depletes your bodies magnesium. So that is nice because for a while I was taking like 18 mag pills a day. So hopefully that wasn't a fluke and I continue to not need the replacements.

No replacements means less time at the infusion center which is good. Normally I wouldn't care too much because all I do is either go there or be at home. But since I have been feeling better I have adopted a lot of little projects to keep me busy for December. I am working on a couple quilts for some friends, filling out Christmas cards, shopping online for my gifts, I bought a new book that I can hopefully get to soon and I started feeling like cooking and baking again. So I have my little list that is keeping me quite busy these days. I have to say it feels really good to do things like these and not have to just lay down and watch movies all the time. That was starting to drive me a little crazy!!! It is good to do every now and then, but I am enjoying being able to do other things as well now.