In Transit

Right now I'm sitting in the Virgin Australia lounge room at LAX, and for lack of a better word, I'm buggered.  I woke up this morning and I didn't feel the best.  Maybe it was because I had the busiest day I've had since transplant yesterday, or maybe it was because I was nervous about getting sick on the plane, I don't know.

All I know is for the first time in a couple of days I felt nauseous.  Luckily, I still had some Zofran so I took one of them and I was right as rain.  The other problem I had though that bothered me a little more was for the very first time the site of my PICC line had started to ache.  Not good.  I had planned on phoning Amy anyway that day to let her know I was going home and just to say thanks, so I raised it with her then.  As there was no swelling or redness and I didn't have a fever she said it was most probably nothing but if it still bothered me when I got back to Melbourne to raise it with my doctors there.  Most probably I just slept on it in an awkward way.

Anyway, so far today has been really long.  Not that things have gone badly they haven't.  But airports are tiring at the best of times and we have already had a four hour flight from Chicago to LA and on Chicago time it is currently midnight.  I am looking forward to getting on the plane having a bite and then going to sleep.  Thankfully I have had no trouble sleeping since SCT which I would imagine has made it much easier for me.

And to think in just 18 hours time I will finally be able to rest my head on my own pillow in my own bed.  What a luxury.  But it can't last too long as the day I return I have a doctors appointment to organise all my follow up blood tests etc....  It will be interesting to see my counts as I have noticed today I have been getting a little short of breath which would indicate that my haemoglobin is dropping.  It would have been artificially boosted by the transfusion I had the day I left hospital but hopefully my stem cells are starting to engraft properly and my red cell count will start to rise naturally.  Until next time, stay well:)

Update

I have a bit of a skip in my step today.  I feel that things are starting to get moving, but I have to admit, it isn't going to be easy.  One of the things I am trying to do is to 'pre-qualify' for the stem cell transplant whilst I am still in Australia.  I don't want to go all the way to Chicago, only to find out that I am not a suitable candidate and I get sent packing back to Australia with my tail between my legs.

So right now I have been asked to do a lot of tests.  And I mean a lot of tests.  I have listed them here:-

Blood Work and Urinalysis

Immunoglobulins quantitative IgG/M/A

Lymphocyte phenotypes (CD3,4,8, CD 56, CD 20)

Varicella zoster virus (VZV)

Herpes simplex virus HSV

Cytomegalovirus by polymerase chain reaction (CMV by PCR)

Urinalysis (UA)

Uric acid

Fibrinogen Antigen Assays/Prothrombin Time (PT)/Partial Thromboplastin Time (PTT)

Anti bodies; MAG, GM1, GM2, GD1b, sulfatide, GALOP

Serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP)

Immunofixation Electrophorisis (IFE)

Anti-Hu anti bodies

Cytoplasmic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (C-ANCA)

Antinuclear antibody (ANA) panel to include Anti DS DNA, SSA, SSB

Anti-gliadin

Anti-transglutaminase

Rheumatoid Factor

C-reactive protein (CRP)

Sedimentation rate

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)

Cryoglobulin

Triiodothyronine, Thyroxine, Thyroid-stimulating Hormone (T3, T4, TSH)

Thiamine (vitamin B1)

Vitamin B12

HIV

Hepatitis B 

Human T-lymphotropic virus Type I (HTLV-1)

Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)

Other Tests

Pulmonary function Test

Echocardiogram

CT sinus’

EKG

Chest X-ray

MRI

Lumbar puncture

I have been very busy getting my head around what they are all for, which has been really hard seeing as though my GP didn't know what about a third of them were.  Luckily, Dr Google seemed to have information on most of them.

Although the task is daunting, it is nice to finally feel like I am doing something.  The worst feeling is just standing still waiting for something.  An appointment, a test, an answer, anything.  Anyway, forgive me if my blogging is a little light in the short term, I've got some work to do!  

Tomorrow and Monday I will get the other tests done, and hopefully by then I will have figured out the blood tests so I can get them done, and have the results to Chicago by the end of next week.  But I know how it works, I will settle for by Christmas.  The other benefit I have is that I have already done the MRI and lumbar puncture ages ago, so these results will do.

I will keep you all updated as things progress.  Stay well:)