Chicago, Chicago. Oh that toddlin' town....

It's been a week of ups and downs. The graft v. host is driving me nuts. Itching, nothing tastes good, mouth tender. The blood work showed rising liver counts so I'm on an additional drug to deal with that.

The sinus infection is not going away nicely. I'm getting daily IV antibiotics at the clinic. I assume they haven't switched me to oral antibiotics because my counts are bobbling all over the place. I've had several transfusions this week. Platelets were 22 one day, 38 the next and 8 the day after that. This is down from well over 100 for weeks.

The only real news I've had is that they are going to make sure I get to Chicago for Christmas. The NP said "we will just transfuse you and throw you on the plane." KU will set something up with a BMT program in Chicago for a pre-flight refuel on the return trip. So I'm wrapping and packing. A person has to have platelets of 50 to fly.

We will do a bone marrow biopsy after Christmas to see what's going on. I expect the counts to be back up by then. Revlimid has a long half life and its effect on my counts can last quite a while after I stop taking it. The team is very worried about losing the graft again, but always in the past when I had GVH the donor cells were working. I just cannot reconcile all the symptoms I have with losing the graft. So I remain optimistic. Most of the time.

I've been a little teary worrying about not being able to go to Chicago, and about the transplant failing again. So the key is to stay rested and stay busy. There is lots to do here at Christmas time.

I made Rocky Road candy today and I felt pretty smug about not having to hide it from Mark. I used to make it, then try to fan the chocolate smell out of the house, then hide it somewhere because if he knew I made it, he would be busy looking for it. And half the pan would be gone in the morning! However, I underestimated how much Walt and Caroline could eat in mere minutes when I offered it to them during a shopping break! I will be making more tomorrow.

I stayed at Mom's for a couple of days and Walt stayed here with me for a couple of days. I ran a fever every day with the sinus infection and that just took the vinegar out of me so I needed a companion. Walt has fixed a lot of little things in the house and is here again working on a humidifier. Hopefully that will help prevent more sinus problems.

I still have lots of energy, except when the temp goes up, so I'm enjoying baking and cooking. Wrapping and nesting. What we do when it's cold outside.
~Cathi