I’ve been sitting on this couch update for a while, waiting for something new to happen, but there’s only two things to report. One is, I did get out of the hospital on Monday. They kept me in nearly three days because that’s their minimum with a transplant stay. I just had a “neutropenic fever”, which means that my white blood counts were too low to fight off anything, but nothing specific. It’s good to be home.

It’s been a very slow week, because I’ve been really weak and unable to do almost anything. I did get my port out on Wednesday, which left me pretty sore and, according to the doctor, unable to lift more than 5 lbs. That’s not very much, but to be honest, that’s all I could really lift anyway, so it was an easy rule to keep. But they would have kept it in if they were worried about me going back into the hospital for nothing again, so that’s a good sign.

I’m in the stage that is the bottom of the curve, and I have to be really patient with myself and with time. Basically, since they killed my bone marrow, the white blood cells that fight infection and the red blood cells that carry oxygen everywhere all died out (the white cells instantly and the red ones gradually), and new ones have to start from scratch. That’s why I’m so weak and vulnerable to infection. I’m hoping I’m done falling, this week is as weak as I’ll get and I’ll start the curve upward soon.

I have enough strength to make myself an easy breakfast or walk into the back yard, but not much more. I haven’t even exercised this week. Some days I’ve picked some raspberries or made part of dinner. That’s a push and it’s about all I can do other than sit for the rest of the day, but I keep pushing to do that much, and eventually I’ll be able to do more.

I have lots of projects that I do a little bit at a time (things like organizing photos and transcribing my journals and writing thank you notes), and I talk on the phone a lot. So I’m not completely bored, although the days are pretty long without being able to be active. It’s okay, though. I’m happy and so far, able to be patient with the situation.

Fall is just around the corner, and I’m very excited about that. It’s my favorite time of the year.