Day +25, Saturday

Last night I had difficulty falling asleep, so I watched a few episodes “The Crown”, Season 4. It felt slightly devious to stay up late; then again, morning came exponentially early and it was difficult keeping my eyes open for rounds. I may have taken a post-rounds nap.

The good news that I learned, is that Pathology does not believe I have Graft vs Host Disease of the GI system, so that is awesome. The question that’s left on my mind….? Where did this come from and why? More importantly, how do we fix the issue and prevent it for the future? I’ll be honest, I’m not exactly a Clear Liquid Diet kinda gal, I’m really not. Case in point, my dinner:

During rounds, Dr Owie (I know that’s not how he spells his name, but that’s how it’s pronounced. He leads a different protocol, but he’s in charge for the next 10 days, so I’ll see him every day, along with other members of my/Dr Hickstein’s Transplant Team). Anyway, Dr Owie decided to keep me on Clear Liquids because, in his words, “Ms. Chrislock did not challenge herself with her fluid intake yesterday. Perhaps today she will do better.” Now say that with a thick German accent.

Anyway, it made me laugh – thankfully, not out loud – but I can’t help but laugh at that. I mean, let’s face it: my body has been through A LOT. And I’ve had more diarrhea than I ever care to have again. So pardon me if I’m a little, er, cautious when it comes to topping off my system with fluids.

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll get upgraded to Solid Liquids, and can go wild and crazy with things like tomato soup, or mango-banana smoothies. That would be nice.

The rest of my day was low key. I’m still tired and low hemoglobin, at a whopping 8.3 are definitely contributing to my fatigue. So I took time to enjoy the small things – a hot shower, clean bed linens, joking around with Charlotte, my nurse, and a Zoom date with Andy,

And finally, my eyes have been feeling a bit drier, a tad grittier than normal. Pre-transplant, my NIH ophthalmologist cautioned me against wearing contact lenses post-transplant, as GvH can affect the eyes and often begins with minor eye irritation. It’s been 25 days now, that I’ve only worn my glasses, and really my eyes aren’t that bad. Andy calls this my sexy librarian look. I add sexy bald librarian look. And then laugh.

Anyway, over the past few days, I’ve been taking these eye drops that have helped to keep my eyes comfortable. It makes me grateful for modern medicine and science, my Team and all of the people who support me. Speaking of which…..thank you for your wonderful comments and texts, messenger chats and emails – I don’t always respond, but I read them all and they really help to inspire me. Your words reinforce the notion that I’m not alone in this process, and I thank you for that. ❤

Thanks Day + 25, this marks the 1/4 point to Day 100! We are off!