Results Are Good!

The final results from my bone marrow won't be in until next week, but the preliminary results look good! The cancer is nowhere to be seen and the graft looks like it's holding. My blood counts are up today as well with a platelet count of 108 [where 150-400 is normal], the first time it has been over 100 in 3 years! Hopefully, all this extra blood will help my body's healing powers as my new bone marrow cycles up production of healthy cells, and as I heal my bone marrow will be able to produce more healthy cells, and so forth. I'm not going to be jumping on the elliptical machine anytime soon, but I am already walking better and that's a good start.

The doctor took me off of my restricted no fresh fruit or vegetables diet, because my white blood cell count is stable at 3.0, so I'm gonna have an apple this afternoon to celebrate. My favorite apples are called Jazz Apples and they have the perfect blend of tangy and sweet. I can't handle Granny Smith's or Red Delicious, they're just too sweet.

This weekend we took a drive around town to get some fresh air and ended up on Rice University campus. It sure is beautiful out there. The flowers are blooming and everything is kept so green and shady; it must be a dream to study there. This is what one of the trails around campus looks like here during Spring in Houston:

Ain't that nice? I wish I could jog, excepting all that pollen and allergy nastiness that's out there right now; jogging a trail like this would be really, really fun. (Can you see how I'm trying to talk myself into this someday?)

The doctor also gave me the green light to drive myself! I'm very happy about this because I love my car and I can't wait to take it for a spin, even if it's just to the grocery store! Isn't she gorgeous? This picture was taken at Rice as well when the clouds were just so.

Lastly, my medications and fluids by IV will be decreased over the next couple weeks as I increase the amount of meds I take in pill form by mouth. In a week or two I may even be able to stay home most of the week except for lab checkups and doctor's visits. This means that I might actually be able to accomplish something in the way of my studies instead of spending half of my day at the hospital trying to avoid catching some random infection from coughing people in the hallways, which is like dodging teenagers at the mall. The less time I have to spend at that place the better! More time at home means more time with my books, and that's time I need because I have a ton of great books on my list and I'm just now able to truly get back to my studies. Reading no longer makes me nauseous, and although concentrating is still a bit difficult, I should be back on track before you know it. Until then, I'm going to continue thanking Our Lord and petitioning Mary and all the Saints on all of our behalves. For each and every day we have is a gift and precious.