On September 15th I left the hospital after being their for almost 3 weeks. I handled the transplant well and got out a bit earlier than expected. Now, even though I handled it well it does not mean it was easy. It was HARD! The hardest part of course was being away from my boys and home. That mentally drained me...I was down and depressed the whole time. Then their were the physical side effects which were not pretty or fun at all. I won't go into detail about those. When I got out of the hospital I had to be extremely careful and stay in Salt Lake City for a couple more weeks to be close to the hospital. Just a few days before I was supposed to return home I got sick and had a fever and had to get admitted again. It was awful. BUT It only put my going home off by a day so it wasn't too bad in the end.
Saturday, October 3rd was an amazing day! I got to go home FINALLY. I hadn't seen my boys since August 24th. I got home and they looked SO BIG. They had grown so much while I was gone. Hugging and kissing them was the best feeling in the world. Even though, I was allowed to go home I was still pretty weak I slept (and still do) a lot. I felt nauseas and just run down. I'm on day 66 since transplant and still feel tired and ill sometimes. The docs say by day 100 I'll be doing a lot better and by a year out I will feel normal again. This has been hard to get used too. I hate not feeling like my normal self and being so out of shape. However, I need to look at the positives and that is I'm ALIVE and get to be with my babies. I'm staying with my Mom and she helps me SO much with the kids, I don't know what I would do without her. I literally go to bed at 7 pm some nights because I'm so run down.
What's Coming up Next:
- Currently I'm going through Radiation to the following: Neck, Armpit, Chest (Around my heart) and part of my lungs. Yes, that is ALOT of places but I chose the most agressive route possible. Radiation kills all the cancer cells that can't be seen on a scan. So if I did have any left in me this is getting rid of those. One million cancer cells can fit on the tip of a pen and can't be seen in a scan (scary right?) Radiation is an insurance policy to help avoid a relapse. I only have to do 12 sessions and have 4 left! So far no side effects besides just being tired.
-Nope, I'm not done after radiation. Since my type of Hodgkins was so resistant and aggressive I am going to be taking a new drug called Brentuximab that specifically targets Hodgkins cells. I will take it through an IV drip every 3 weeks for a year. It's technically a type of chemo but with minimal side effects compared to standard chemo. My hair SHOULD continue to grow back during this time. This is my second insurance policy to make sure my disease is GONE and stays that way. I will start this after we move to Boise sometime end of November.
My plan from now on is living life as normally as possible. We are moving to Boise November 15th and I'm really excited to be in a new place, but will miss the friends I've made in the Burley/Rupert area tremendously. I know I will still see them though! It's not THAT far. I'm really looking forward to a new healthy year and to say good bye to 2015 since it was hell for me.
Here's to a New Year coming!!
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