1st doctor appointment back in Mt. Vernon

Here are some of the things I found out at my doctor appointment last Thursday. The first 2 months after transplant are the most critical. I’m supposed to stay away from enclosed places. There’s no point in me going to restaurants anyway because food doesn’t taste that good to me. Sometimes it tastes horrible. Other times it doesn’t taste like it’s supposed to. Or it won’t taste at all. Eating is not enjoyable right now. I asked my doctor how long till food would taste normal again. Everyone’s different. There really isn’t an answer. He said it could be weeks or it could be months.

My PET will take place 6-8 weeks after transplant, so will be sometime next month. I will have blood draws to check my counts every week for 4 weeks, then every other week for 2 months, then once a month for at least 6 months. 1 year from transplant they’ll check to see if I need my childhood vaccinations or not. 6 months from the transplant they talk about my immune system being back to normal.

I’m still taking the blood thinner shot every 12 hours, along with the pill form since Friday. I’ll find out later today if I can just take the pill form & stop the shot. That would be great since I think the shot has caused the rash I have again. It’s worse than last time though. Besides covering my whole body it’s on my face & head too. It is making me miserable. I don’t think I even fell asleep last night. I just want a prescription to make it go away, but all I’m told to do is put itch relief lotions on it. I just have to wait it out.

My eyelashes are pretty much gone. Some are really short & there are a few long ones left. My eyebrows have really thinned out too. Apparently it takes those longer than hair to grow back. My hair has started to grow back, but you have to look really close to see anything. I haven’t been feeling the greatest since Friday. There were a few times over the weekend I felt like I was going to black out & I had a really hard time getting up & out of bed. I’ve been very cold too, which is a side affect from this whole procedure. I’m just chilled to the bone & nothing seems to warm me up. Maybe it will help that I have another doctor appointment today & so I’m forced to get ready & get outside.