a·plas·tic a·ne·mi·a/āˈplastik əˈnēmēə/

Noun: Deficiency of all types of blood cells caused by failure of bone marrow development

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

1 Year Anniversary

1 year ago today, I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia.  I was 5 months pregnant and had no idea there was anything wrong.  It was only because of a minor traffic accident that we found out.  I can't believe it has been a year and and I can't believe how well I am doing!  I'm so thankful that I have a beautiful, wonderful son and a very supportive and loving husband.  Without them, I don't know where I would be in my recovery.  Tomorrow I go in for more labs and a doctor visit.  I'm also getting an MRI of my hip, which keeps hurting off and on for no reason. 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Day 148 - Perfect!

All of my labs came back perfect today!  I'm so happy for this!  I still have some significant fatigue and occassionally some nausea, but other than that I am doing great!  I couldn't have asked for anything better!  So I hope this gives hope to other bone marrow transplant patients.

Otherwise, life is getting better and better.  I'm still with my parents, but I leave on February 1st to relocate to Washington DC.  My husband leaves Hawaii tomorrow and will be in town for about a week.  He'll then drive to DC around January 2nd and start house hunting and waiting for our household goods to arrive.  They are expected to arrive around the end of January, so we are waiting for them to arrive before I go.  We don't know a lot about the area, so if anyone has suggestions on where the good areas are to live, we would appreciate it!

Kellan said Dada today!  He's also dancing and pulling himself up.  He still isn't crawling, probably because he can't get his pudgy belly off the ground!  He really enjoys spending time with Jack and Sam, my friend's kids.  I'm so glad he can socialize now.

Thanks everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers.  This has truly been a rough and bumpy journey!  But things are starting to get better and better each day.

Happy holidays to everyone!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Day 134 - Great News!

Today started out with such an exciting start!  On our way to the doctor, we stopped for gas and I had a dollar in my pocket, so I bought a $1 scratch off ticket.  I thought, what they heck, its only a dollar.  I got to the car, scratched it off and won $500! 

My appointment went great too!  My counts are good, even though I have a slight cold/runny nose.  I am now to every 2 week appointments!  They stopped my ursadiol as well!  That's the medication that is suppose to protect my liver from GVHD.  So that was all wonderful news!  I do have to go back next week, just for labs and to get my antibiotic treatment, but no doctor visit!

Kellan had an excellent day at my friend Trisha's house.  He had a blast with Sam (5) and Jack (3).  He is going to sleep good tonight.  I really need to get him into some play groups, he is such a social butterfly (or whatever you call the male equivalent). 

I'm still enjoying staying with my parents.  I am thinking about going to Hawaii for a couple of days, but have to work out the logistics.  As much as I would love to take Kellan, I just think that it would be too much for me to handle and too much for him as well.  So its either just me or not at all.  Its a tough decision, but I really miss my friends from Hawaii and would really like to help my husband out with the pack out (when the movers come to pack our stuff).

Thanks, as always, for keeping me and my family in your prayers and thoughts!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Day 126

It has been awhile since I posted.  I was pretty busy the last couple of weeks.  My husband was able to come and see me for Thanksgiving, so that was really nice.  Kellan and I both miss him terribly already!

My counts have been good.  My hemoglobin has climbed back up to 11.6 on Monday.  Normal is 12.0, so we are close.  I was told to expect fluctuations for awhile.  My liver tests were a tad high too, but nothing to be concerned about.  They are probably going to fluctuate as well.  The nurse practitioner indicated that I might have a tiny bit of GVHD in my liver.

I've now moved into my parents house, about 2.5 hours away from the hospital.  I am still going weekly for check ups, but I feel a whole lot better now that I'm with my family.  My in-laws did so much for me and I am very grateful for everything they have done. 

The worst news I received this week was that I am in menopause now, so no more kids.  Its kind of devastating, but I knew that there was an extremely high chance of this happening.  I am happy that I got to have 1 child and he is the most amazing little boy!

Thanks for everyone's continued prayers and thoughts.  I will be eternally grateful to my husband, parents, brother, in-laws and friends for all their support.