per-spec-tive (n)

Jo's white cell count jumped to 1.4 and she had a little more energy today than the previous couple of days. I asked her how tough the last few weeks have really been. She said the toughest part has been the boredom. Today is her 22nd day in the hospital. She doesn't have the energy to do much, but she feels okay so she is very present to the SLOW passing of time.

I asked her about the physical part and she said it hasn't been too bad and she immediately compared it to her ATG treatment 4 years ago at the NIH. If you don't know about that experience, go back and read our posts from February, 2006. Back then Jo was in the hospital less than two weeks, but every day was intense - blood pressure of 50 over 30, physically sick every day, serum sickness, etc. The time passed quickly because every day was an adventure trying to get the roller coaster of symptoms under control. To be honest, we came into this procedure expecting it to be similar to the NIH, only longer and it just has not been that way.

I remember Dr Alvarez saying that a transplant is just as much a mental challenge as a physical challenge and I am only now understanding what he meant. On Thursday I'm going to a class about life after the hospital. There are long lists of things Jo cannot eat, symptoms of graft vs. host disease, cleanliness practices, do(s) and don't(s) (no more "5-second rule"), managing a list of medications among other things. The recovery process is long and challenging. Fortunately, the physical part is not even close to the memories etched in our minds from 4 years ago.

Do you want to hear the really tough part? We don't know why but a couple of our 11th floor friends have had to get chemo AND ATG in the days leading up to their transplant. Talk about perspective!