Saturday, June 1, 2024 & Sunday, June 2, 2024 – Day 4– Day 3 Good news is that this weekend is the last part of chemotherapy. Bad news is that the next few weeks will suck while I wait for engraftment (aka for my body to accept Gordon’s marrow). Today I start cyclophosphamide for two […]
Chemo Part 3 (Day 3 & 4) Read More »
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 – Day 0 Today was a lot of emotions. From a medical perspective, though, it was actually a much bigger day for Gordon than for me. A transplant can happen in two ways – peripheral stem cells or bone marrow harvest. There are pros and cons to each of these, but
Happy Birthday to Me (Day 0) Read More »
Thursday, May 23, 2024: Day -6 I’ll be getting two different chemotherapies the next four days: busulfan and fludarabine. Today’s dose included busulfan, a 3-hour infusion that started at 4am. The reason we had to start so early is that we have to do something called pharmacokinetics to determine the optimal dose to give me
Chemo Part 2 (Day -6, -5, -4, -3, -2) Read More »
Saturday, Monday, May 18, 2024 I have a 5 day break from chemotherapy after doing 3 days of Campath (alemtuzumab) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The weekends at the NIH are eerily quiet but it also means it’s a good time to get out of my room since there are barely any people in the
Drug Holiday (Day -11, -10, -9, -8, -7) Read More »
So the countdown officially starts. Tuesday, May 14, 2024: Day -15 I got my central line placed. A central line is similar to an IV line in that you can get IV medications. However, central lines can stay in place longer than an IV in your arm. It also makes it easier to draw blood
Campath (Day -14, -13, -12) Read More »
I found myself crying a lot today. Random spurts of tears streaming down my face, most of the time completely unprovoked, and me thinking to myself god damn.. stawp. wtf. It’s the realization that today is my last day out in the wild before I go into the hospital tomorrow for a month and a
The Calm Before the Storm Read More »
This week is part 2 of meeting all the doctors. I found out on Monday that I might have some permanent hearing loss (womp womp). As I mentioned in my last post, I started to have some hearing loss last week. At first I thought maybe I had gotten water in my ear when I
Transplant Workup Week 2 Read More »
First off, I can’t believe it’s May. That means that my transplant is really happening soon. It’s been a long road, one with many delays and disappointment. I’m excited because I’ve been waiting so long for this but also dreading it because it’s going to be really awful. I feel pretty stable for my standards
Transplant Workup Week 1 Read More »
Monday, April 22, 2024 Day 11 Fertility – Ultrasound #4 I started my day visiting Dr. Park, my OBGYN. We looked at all the follicles again through a transvaginal ultrasound and it looks like I definitely have 8 follicles on the right side that can be taken and 3 on the left side. If I’m
Egg retrieval week! Read More »
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 I’m having all the feels today saying bye to Seattle for four months. “Stopping life” so I can move on with my life. Feeling grateful for my parents and family but also feeling sad that they even have to take this time away to help me. Feeling relatively okay health wise
Freezing My Eggos (April 2024) Read More »