One Year Post- Bone Marrow Transplant

It has officially been ONE YEAR since my bone marrow transplant!! I can hardly believe that. This past year has really gone by so fast! Looking back over the last twelve months, I can see just how far I have come and I am so grateful for how smoothly my recovery has been! Some of the things that have improved since then are my energy, strength, ability to eat without a feeding tube, gained some weight so I'm not quite a stick figure anymore, and my hair has grown. Another thing is I have not had to go back to the hospital since leaving. That has been the biggest blessing of all!

Some pictures from just a year ago-

BMT day! Me holding the bag of cells for my new marrow

This was the sixth and last week of my hospital stay when I was finally allowed to go outside. It was glorious!

Leaving the hospital!! 4/27/19

Moody with the feeding tube

Yay no more feeding tube and wow so bald still

Also, this is a little thing, but I am now a pro pill taker! When all of this started back in 2009, I'm embarrassed to admit that at times it would take me over thirty minutes to swallow one pill. In my defense, those were usually the chemo ones that made me feel awful afterwards but still, even I can admit I was being a bit ridiculous. Even at the end of my BMT hospital stay I struggled with it. Being able to swallow four decent sized pills was a huge battle for me, but it was the only way I was allowed to go home. Now I am happy to say that I can swallow up to six pills at once. I know, I know, I'm sure many people can do that, but it's a huge accomplishment for me! It's the little victories.

It has been quite a while since I have written...about six months actually. A lot has happened in that time but I guess I feel like nothing happened that was important enough to share here on my blog regarding my health, which, really, is a good thing!

To pick up where I left off six months ago, I was able to work for my dad for a few months in the fall before it got too cold. He owns a parking lot striping business. It was good to work for him not only for the money aspect but it made me stronger physically.

Work with Dad (I help layout and he paints)

I got the rest of my wishes fulfilled from the Dear Jack Foundation. I got eight Marvel movies, a meal at The Cheesecake Factory, and a spa day for me and my mom. I am so thankful for organizations like them who care about young adults who struggle/have struggled with cancer.

Our lunch at The Cheesecake Factory

My favorite cheesecake- the 40th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

In January for me and Mal's 24th birthday we went to a cool place in NYC called The Museum of Ice Cream. We had a lot of fun there and I would highly recommend going!

In the beginning of February I was asked to start working with the young women in my church. These girls are ages 12-18 and I help mostly with the 14-15 year old girls. I have really enjoyed having that responsibility!

The other day I was thinking about the day I went into the hospital in 2019 for my BMT which was March 17th. I was thinking about how that was the beginning of my quarantine for six weeks in the hospital and now here I am, with most of the world, doing some version of quarantine again for the coronavirus! It's okay though because I consider myself a pro at quarantining and social distancing. Not going to lie, it's kind of nice that other people can now appreciate a little what it has been like for me to have to social distance and stay away from germs as much as possible. Thank goodness we can still go outside, especially now that it's spring!

As for my health, over the past six months I really don't have much to complain about. My doctors have been happy with my progress for the most part. Something that we have been working to fix is my hormones. The BMT really messed with those. We did blood work to see what my levels were and at one point I had no estrogen in my body! So since then we have been trying to find ways to balance everything out but as some of you know, messing with hormones is not fun and takes time. 🙄

Just recently my ANC (acute neutrophil count), which determines how strong my immune system is, has dropped pretty low. My doctors don't seem too concerned yet because it isn't uncommon for that to happen to someone like me who has had a lot of chemo and radiation over the last few years. Also, my other counts look fine and we think it might actually be from increasing the dosage of a medication I am on. We are taking that away for now and seeing if that helps. I really hope that it will!

I haven't had chemotherapy or radiation in over a year now (WOOHOO!) but my recovery is unfortunately still not over. Over the next year or so I have to get all of my childhood vaccinations again since apparently they were wiped out with my old marrow. To say I am not looking forward to that is an understatement. But, I'll get through it just like everything else.

My one year post-transplant appointments have all been postponed, including what will hopefully be my last ever bone marrow aspirate due to the precautions for coronavirus. After everything comes back good I will finally be getting my port taken out. I could have had it out a while ago but with my history, I just wanted to be extra sure. Another good thing that will happen is I will finally find out who my donor was! That will be exciting because right now I know absolutely nothing about them.

Hair growth picture- October 2019

Hair growth picture- March 2020- It's coming along slowly but surely!

HOORAY for one year whole year of being cancer free! I'm hoping for many more better and healthier years ahead.

I still hear about those who pray for me and I still appreciate it so much! Thank you for caring about me and for reading my blog! It means a lot 😊

xo,

Megan