Another week of recovery under my belt and I am happy to report that I am no longer neutropenic. That’s a fancy Doctor speak for low white blood cells which makes you feel crappy. I went into Lahey yesterday and got poked, and most of my numbers are back to the normal range. I kind of expected that once my numbers were up I’ld be back at 100% and running around the house. Turns out that isn’t how these things go.

Taking a 20 minute walk with the wife leaves me huffing and puffing like a 500lb shut in. Ok fair point I am a shut in, but that’s not by choice. I asked the Doc about it and she said that it is due to de-conditioning. This is partly caused by my 15 days stuck in a hospital room and partly caused by my body recovering from the chemo and transplant. I got to be honest, it’s a bit frustrating after fighting back from the spine fractures. I was just starting to get back to where I was pre-diagnosis and bam they smack me back down.

On the other hand I could have gotten further in my re-conditioning and then had to go get smacked down in another six months. Getting treatment and stem cell transplant all within six months of diagnosis is pretty speedy.

The doc says my good blood counts is likely due to good eating. I have to give all the credit for that to the wife. She’s been cooking a tour of my favorites. Blueberry muffins, chicken soup and Guiness Beef Stew!

She also made Leroy’s favorite Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza!

We seem to talk about food a lot for a cancer blog. What can I say I like to eat and am blessed with a wife who likes to cook.

That’s about all that’s going on here. We are about a third of the way through my isolation. I can have healthy guests I just can’t go in crowds or be around kids. Some good news is the chemo diet has finally kicked in. I lost about 15 lbs since getting out of the hospital. Pretty soon I’ll be back to my pre diagnosis weight.

One thing I didn’t realize is how this hair loss works. I knew going in that I was going to lose my hair and my beard was likely to get so patchy it wasn’t worth keeping. What I didn’t understand is that it just doesn’t grow back. The pic below was taken a week and a half after I shaved my head or face. So yeah personal grooming has been downsized a bit.

I also have three whole weeks off from the Doctors. Three weeks with no check ups, blood panels, poking ect. This will be the longest stretch I will have done without seeing a doctor since Dr. Doom gave me the good news. Going to try to keep up with the walking and exercises so when my 100 days is up I’ll be ready to rock.