Today is day 400 post-transplant. Wow. Please do a happy dance with me!
Things have been going fairly well here. Although our household has seen the flu, pink eye, norovirus, and runny noses, I've had no hospitalizations since the end of February. I have some ongoing digestive sensitivity, which my oncologist chalks up to a combination of damage from the pre-transplant conditioning regimen and my prescription medications (we now hope to phase these out over the next eight months).
The good news is that my blood counts, while still lower than or on the lower end of "normal," are stable or slightly improved compared to four weeks ago. There is still no evidence of disease, and my fatigue continues to dissipate, albeit sometimes at a snail's pace. I'm down to one pill a day of tacrolimus (vs. three), and will likely continue on low dose prednisone for the rest of this year.
Although those two medications keep me a little more susceptible to illness than your average bear, the doses are low and I remain vigilant with basic, common sense hygiene. Frequent hand-washing, hand sanitizer, hospital grade air sanitizer, and being careful about what I touch go a long way. They're not a fail-safe because I obviously don't have control over others' hygiene habits, but they certainly help.
I'm also excited to share that, with my oncologist's blessing, I'm going back to work this coming Monday, April 30th! I'm even more proud that I will return to Stites & Harbison as a member (partner). One of the many things I had to grieve post-diagnosis was BPDCN's very poor timing. I was elected to membership just weeks before my diagnosis, but my membership wasn't effective until about a month after I began treatment. In short, although I'm currently member of the firm, I've never actually been to work as a member. That changes Monday!
I also miss my Stites family. The majority of our weekday hours are spent with our co-workers, and I'm lucky because mine are not just colleagues, but friends. So many of them have gone above and beyond to support me, cheer me up, make me laugh, host bone marrow donor drives, and fight insurance battles on my behalf over the past seventeen months.
Unlike so many other cancer survivors, I've never once worried that my job wouldn't be there when I was ready to go back. Talk about an employer doing the right thing! You have no idea what a gift it was to me and to my family to have that peace of mind so we could focus on my treatments and recovery.
Adding to this week's good news, today brought a sweet cherry on top. This afternoon, I attended a women's luncheon hosted by Louisville Business First. The keynote speaker was Jen Hyman, Co-Founder and CEO of Rent the Runway, and I met her!
Those who know me well know I've been a huge RTR fan since 2012, when I first rented a few sequin-covered dresses for a girls' trip to Vegas. One Cinderella moment and the rest was history. I now use RTR for nearly every major event on my calendar.
Through a friend, I was able to attend a small pre-luncheon meet and greet with Jen. She was lovely--down to earth, truly interested in the people with whom she spoke, and refreshing. Jen's story is incredible, and her speech at the luncheon was inspirational. Kudos to Business First on its fine selection for this year's keynote.
Although I nearly "fangirled" Jen, I managed to hold it together and even got a photo (I'm on the far left, she's in the middle):
Happy day 400, indeed.
