Aaah.. have been out of hosp for a week now and its flown by – but is still SOOOOOoooooo good to be back home, laying out on my own bed and sofa than being in Parkside Paradise. I have now perfected the fine art of turning 40 winks sleep into 400 winks – can now do full 5 hour afternoon snoozes without blinking, helped by the blow heater, well-worn blanket and outstretched dozy kittens down my legs. Bliss.
Conker & Mojo have grown hugely – so much so that they are now 2 full-blown weapons of moggy destruction - thus far we've lost a picture frame, 2 mugs, a sherry glass and a vase to their exertions. Mojo has an addiction to my fat makeup brush, so much so that it gets dragged down 2 flights of stairs and dumped next to their food bowl on a daily basis. She's currently trying to work out how to unzip the makeup bag that I've locked it into, and is in such a frenzy trying to pull it out that everything on the chest of drawers has been knocked onto the floor. Conker has gone nuts for a giraffe on a string that Liz T kindly bought for her – she can leap and somersault midair, even landing right on top of an unsuspecting Mojo if you get the angle of the dangle just right…..ho ho ho.
I'm feeling way way better than a week ago, though am pretty much homebound until allowed to mix with groups of people again once immune system up and running again. Am watching those neutrophils closely – can't wait to go out for dinner and do social stuff properly again. Am also not allowed to eat shellfish or soft cheese for 6 months – nor reheated food which is proving to be a right arse – hadn't realised quite how many of my meals are defrosted from the freezer, or leftovers from the night before. What a waste! I can't possibly have to become one of those 'I Always Cook From Scratch' typologies that McCormicks (work client) love to focus on. Always saw myself more as a 'It's Only 3 Days Past Its Sell-by' kind of gal….
Prof is happy with progress to date, am still on various pills, but mostly the 'anti's' – anti viral, fungal, nausea, bacterial etc, so no nasty chemo or anything major. Hopefully all are killing off the final mouth ulcer grot, will be so good to speak properly again, and not have to cut my food up so small. He even asked - astonishingly for him - if I wanted to start thinking of going on a holiday in 6 weeks time or so. MIRACLE! Is normally me who asks and gets the evil eye of 'don't even think about it' in return… Any good tips on where to go when you're not allowed to sunbathe?! Jordan a possibility – will have to warm up H to the prospect as suspect it's not high up his happy holidays list….yet.
And as for the transplant – if it goes wrong we'll know in the next month or so, as the paraprotein level will either dot up and down madly or just go up, up, up as I'm not on any treatment. Hopefully, it will stay low and stable – it was 6 when I went into Parkside so it could either stay at 6 (low enough not to do any damage) or be lower and stay at that low level for many months (hopefully!) This is as close to remission as you get with myeloma – the average remission following Stem Cell Transplant is 2 years – would be great if for once we get a lucky break – starting with a stable pattern of paraprotein, and hopefully one that stays like that ('the disease is then switched off' as Prof puts it) for AGES. Yes please, put me down for a bucketload of that..
So – no major things coming up, just twice weekly blood tests to check nothing's going doolally internally, and to get me closer to being classed as a human more than a leper. Hoping to get to Margo's Hen night in late Feb – may have to give the wig an airing for the big occasion! Bloody kittens also managed to dig the poor wig out of the bag I had carefully put it into, and dragged it into the kitchen like a fresh kill… In revenge I have booked them both in to be spayed this week. Anyone chews my wig or takes the piss – they'll be under the knife within days… you have been warned…. x