Post-May, 2000 Diary Entries

May 14, 2001 So, it's now been almost a year since my last entry.  WOW!  I guess I got wrapped up in the real world and all that there is to do to get better! I have had no drastic symptoms of any kind.  I have had bouts of mouth sores, head and chest congestion, and slight fevers here and there.  Other than that I don't look or think back! I had been getting shots of Epogen weekly, courtesy of my wife, Julie.  Dr. Vesole decided that we could terminate them as my red blood cells were doing great.  I returned to work full time on January 2, 2001, after one and a half months I fell out and needed two units of blood because my reds were so low. It was determined that I was anemic and would need the Epogen shots to continue to bolster my red blood cells. I only missed one day of work and continued the shots at home once a week. The hours I work are good for me, I get up at 2:30 a.m., I have a 35 minute drive to work and I start at 4:00 a.m. I finish at 12:30 p.m. and then pick up the children from school, mine and others in the neighborhood and lead a very much a normal life. I stay busy till it's time to go to bed at 8:00-8:30, when I thank the Lord, my wife, and my children for a good day! I coached football last fall, and am now coaching baseball. I continue to follow other BMT'ers, and try to help when I or my wife Julie can respond to others problems. My one year checkup went well, (the Epogen shots were reduced to once per month) and I will be starting my "baby" immunizations at my next appointment with my regular onc.  I can also finally have that long-awaited dental work that needs to be done, the severity of which we don't know yet.

I was off for a week after my checkup for a nasty head and chest cold, which after two weeks and antibiotics, is still lingering but manageable. I lost a friend I had never met in person but talked to via e-mail and twice on the telephone, he left shortly after his transplant to better things, and left behind a wonderful wife, daughter, and son. He lived in the state of Washington, was my age, and we shared our transplant journey together. I am still in touch on a weekly basis with another man my age who resides to the east of me in England, and is two months behind me in his travels with his new life.  We also share our voyage with others through our sites on the web and tend to sometimes meet at other peoples sites!!

I would like to say to all who have followed and wondered what happened, as far as the diary.  It was time to get away from the computer end of life and live away from what had been my way of living for a long time. It truly was a breath of fresh air and great to know that I could do other things once again and not look back.  Today it seems as if it never happened, life is indeed different though. It's better!!!!! Yeah, you still have to deal with the real world, but I know out of all this I feel content with what lies ahead !   Love, Peace, and Thanks to all who have sent well wishes and Prayers, it all works, for all of us!!!!!!!   Greg 

July 18, 2000: Hello!!!!! I know! It's been way too long, there just hasn't been much going on of that much importance on the medical front.  Thank God and all of you who continue to send prayers for myself and family.  Yesterday we went into the hospital for +100 day follow-up. The program included, Pulmonary Function Test (Lungs), Lab Work,(15 vials of blood), Bone Marrow Biopsy, Chest X-Ray, and CT-Scan of Pelvis, Abdomen,and Chest. The Pulmonary Function test, which consists of inhaling and exhaling into a computer monitored machine, (vigorously) did not go too well due to the ongoing sinus and chest congestion situation I have been in since the Transplant.  For someone like me who had Sinusitis almost all my adult life it's barely noticeable, but it definitely is having an effect on normal breathing and is the only thing right now that we are keeping an eye on. To the blood-suckers (Labs), we went next, I had my Hickman Catheter taken out 3 weeks ago, so we are now back to getting poked in the arm. I don't mind being poked, and I really disliked that catheter hanging out of me like a parachute rip-cord, I just didn't feel normal with a cord hanging out of my chest attached to a major artery going to my heart. So because of the rest of the tests requiring an I.V. hook-up, we put in an I.V line so as to only have one poke done allowing access for quick connect and disconnect for the day's later I.V. infusions. It took about 8-10 minutes to draw all the blood that they needed and we were then off to the Bone Marrow Biopsy, (YAHOOOOO!!!!!!).  I just jumped up on the bed and rolled onto my stomach and said "Let's Go!" (RIGHT!) After I was on the bed the nurse from the Lab came back and said she forgot to take one of the blood tests and would need me to come back after the BMB so I could give her one more vial of blood, O.K. we said and continued to proceed on the BMB.  I, or should I say Julie had E-mailed Karin, the physician assistant doing the extracting, on Sunday, asking if we could have the med Versed used to help along the way during the extraction, the Versed was there. The freezing of the hip area began, the Versed was infused through my I.V. line and we were on our way.  I  felt perfectly normal through the whole thing.  There was no dizziness or feeling high.  I could feel the pressure being applied to get the syringe into and through the bony area to get the extraction.  Now would come the test though, the extracting itself. My past extractions really left me grasping for something to clench onto due to the pain. Today's pain was half of what I was accustomed to and went very well, Thank you Karin! Julie sat there watching throughout the whole procedure.  This was her first time, so I think she was more squeemish than I was!  So Bone Marrow Biopsy complete, blood sucked all outta me, they throw me in a wheelchair and Julie wheels me down to the X-Ray lab for chest x-rays.  Bing, Bang, Boom, done all tests should be like this. Next stop CT-Scans, we arrive and drink the liquid barium everyone so much enjoys. I myself have no problem with it.  We now wait and watch t.v., listen to other patients bitch, or read a magazine.  I chose to listen to other patients bitch and Julie went to have some lunch. After hearing my last name slaughtered for the final time this day I was being wheeled to the room where the Big Doughnut lives. WOW!! I said to myself, a new machine, this new machine cut the process in half, what used to take 30-40 minutes now only took 15 minutes and I was out of there, that was great! Done for the day, now we come back on Friday for all of the results, which I will then report to all of you, I Guarantee it!!!!!  Thank You all so much once again for all your prayers and well wishes!!!!! Love, Peace, and Prayers for us all!   Greg