Day 238
I went to my regular clinic appointment yesterday. My GI and emotional concerns that got me into the clinic last week have subsided and are much like they had been before, although I still feel a bit low and low on energy. My blood counts are very close to what they have been for quite a few weeks, so the doctor is keeping my meds at the same levels also.
WBC – 3.3, up from 3.0
Hgb – 10.9, down from 11.0 and still below normal of 13
Plt – 272, down from 281 and still at a very good level
AST-SGOT – 47, up from 41 with 10 – 42 being normal
ALT-SGPT – 52, up from 47 with 10 – 40 being normal
The last 2, which are the liver enzymes, seem to be hanging around just above normal. This and my GI cramping are both indications of GvHD that seem to keep the doctor from wanting to decrease any of my meds. He says that his experience leads him to believe that it doesn’t pay to rush things.
Despite having slightly lower energy levels, I am trying to get more exercise. The warmer weather has gotten me back to doing some bicycling and tennis, plus I played some volleyball for the first time in a long time. I like getting the exercise and I still get winded and tired quite quickly (due to some anemia as well as being quite out of shape).
I forgot to mention that at the clinic last week, my doctor told me that he is leaving to take a position heading up the cancer center at a hospital in Georgia (maybe the Medical College of Georgia). I have mixed feelings about this because he is one of the best doctors of any kind that I have ever come in contact with. I’m sorry to see him go for my sake and the sake of the BMT program here, but I’m sure he deserves the position and can maybe do more good for more people from a position with much greater influence. He will be around until the end of June and said he will be treating me right up to the end, but doesn’t know yet who will take over from there. My plan is to be on the home stretch then anyway, so it won’t affect me as much as his patients who have just had or are about to have their transplant. I am grateful that I will have had him treating me for about a year, including seeing me through the most difficult phases (I assume) of my disease and treatment.
Love,
Your getting-better friend, Justin
WBC – 3.3, up from 3.0
Hgb – 10.9, down from 11.0 and still below normal of 13
Plt – 272, down from 281 and still at a very good level
AST-SGOT – 47, up from 41 with 10 – 42 being normal
ALT-SGPT – 52, up from 47 with 10 – 40 being normal
The last 2, which are the liver enzymes, seem to be hanging around just above normal. This and my GI cramping are both indications of GvHD that seem to keep the doctor from wanting to decrease any of my meds. He says that his experience leads him to believe that it doesn’t pay to rush things.
Despite having slightly lower energy levels, I am trying to get more exercise. The warmer weather has gotten me back to doing some bicycling and tennis, plus I played some volleyball for the first time in a long time. I like getting the exercise and I still get winded and tired quite quickly (due to some anemia as well as being quite out of shape).
I forgot to mention that at the clinic last week, my doctor told me that he is leaving to take a position heading up the cancer center at a hospital in Georgia (maybe the Medical College of Georgia). I have mixed feelings about this because he is one of the best doctors of any kind that I have ever come in contact with. I’m sorry to see him go for my sake and the sake of the BMT program here, but I’m sure he deserves the position and can maybe do more good for more people from a position with much greater influence. He will be around until the end of June and said he will be treating me right up to the end, but doesn’t know yet who will take over from there. My plan is to be on the home stretch then anyway, so it won’t affect me as much as his patients who have just had or are about to have their transplant. I am grateful that I will have had him treating me for about a year, including seeing me through the most difficult phases (I assume) of my disease and treatment.
Love,
Your getting-better friend, Justin
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