Month: July 2020

Well, it’s been 30 days since my “escape” from the hospital post stem cell transplant procedure and things are going really well IMHO. 🙂

On Day 2 a walk around the block did me in and yesterday I did a fairly fast 30km group ride with the Rat Portage Cycling Club in Kenora, which included a long hill with 8% grade and I survived! Not last up the hill and about mid-pack of 24 riders overall on the ride. Of course I socially distanced 😉 and stayed in the back of the traditional mid-ride photo op.

I’m taking less naps and feeling much more energetic and numerous other things have improved since getting out. Still no hair but that’s OK, less work and it’s cooler in the summer anyway.

Next up is a Dr. visit for some blood work and touch base on August 7th.

Its been 20 days since hospital discharge and today was the second in person follow-up with the doctor.

I’m continuing to improve and several bodily functions are returning to a more normal status. A couple of days ago I noticed a real positive change in my energy level and went out for a 56km ride which went quite well.

Today’s visit with the doctor was for blood work and a “how are you doing?” visit. The blood testing results continue to improve in most areas which most likely accounts for my increased energy levels. Platelets dipped a bit but, hemoglobin is up which is good for energy and bike riding and I’m sure a host of other things too. Normal hemoglobin is 140 – 180 and platelets in the range of 140 – 440, so still well below the guidelines.

The white blood cells are recovering and up from the last doctor visit and from an all time low of 0 in the hospital. Still a ways to go as the “normal” range is 4.5 -11.0. Key takeaway is that as the WBC improves I’ll be more able to fight off infections, viruses etc. This could come in handy these days.

Next doctor visit is August 7th. Then it will be a PET scan on August 20th and a review of the PET scan results on August 25th.

I’m still taking it pretty easy but I do have a group ride planned for this Wednesday. I hope they take it easy on me, or I’m up to the challenge of a faster and longer ride.

Well, it’s been a little over 9 days since I was discharged from the hospital and it’s great to be at home.

We’ve had our first post-hospital meeting with the doctor which went well with no concerns. On the good news front he indicated that swimming in the lake would be “OK”. I didn’t tell him I was going to do it anyway, but now I’ll take less flack, which is good. The usual blood work was done and things are recovering slowly. My white blood cell count and hemoglobin are still very low which accounts for the fatigue.

On the 2nd day at home a 1km walk around the block did me in. A few days later a slow and easy 9.5km bike ride was the max. A few days later a 20km ride followed by a 22km ride. Still going slow and wondering when 30km/hr will be the normal minimal pace.

I can usually manage doing some stuff in the morning and early afternoon and then spending the rest of the day recovering. Yesterday, I took the car in for servicing and walked a lot wandering around Lowes waiting for it to be completed. Then in the afternoon I managed to clean the inside of the car and then it was nap time.

All in all I’m doing very well and looking forward to heading out to the lake tomorrow to be with all the family.