Well, even 14 months post allogeneic transplant, coughs and colds can turn nasty.......daughter had resisted taking a sudden end from her tour, but a day after, she started with a raised temp, feeling unwell, and we decided ( since she stayed with us overnight) she needed to phone the hotline, her temp was 38.6. A long, foggy journey on the motorway followed, she was admitted to the transplant unit and had extra drugs to prevent pneumonia, since her chest X-ray looked dodgy. It all worked, she had only two nights in there and I drove her home to her house this evening! So tomorrow since she has someone to take care, I should be able to go home again. ......love and hugs to all here xxxxxxxx

Hi Helen 

So glad to hear  your daughter is home !! 

sending love and hugs 

Maxine xx

Thank you Maxine, she is still asleep, which has to be healing, bless her, it seems she is able now to cough without it waking her, and it's a dry cough, not a nasty sounding one now, thank goodness. Hope you are doing ok? Love and hugs, Helen xxx

Hi Moomy

Glad to hear she's on the mend. Did she manage to finish the tour before she came home? If so: what a trooper, although I do understand how it is on the road. It gets very tight knit and as much as everybody else would want the best for her, I'm sure she'd have hated to leave ahead of time.

This is the kind of thing that I find scariest about this stuff. My doc said to me as I was leaving that she'd be "completely screwing up" my life for a year but it is more than that. My auto transplant (and the lengthy induction) a few years ago kept me off work for a good nine months - something which working for a small company now would cause difficulty - and it was a good year before I was properly back to normal(ish) and while I could easily have worked harder at my fitness in the meantime, here I am 5 years down the line only just getting decently fit. Now there's an allo with all the extra potential long-term trouble looming.

I guess it beats the main (ultimate) alternative but I'm not looking forward to it just the same.

Ian

Hi Helen,

So pleased to hear she is home. It just goes to show that you always need to be on your guard and not start to think you can totally put behind you what you have been through.  Its 8 months since my auto transplant now and after 3 months I got a mixed viral and fungal pneumonia which put me back in a hospital bed for 3 weeks so I am now being very cautious with all the germs and bugs that are around.

Interesting to hear what Ian says about how he found energy levels and fitness after an auto.  I am a huge amount better than I was but still find that I get extremely tired if I over do things and I need to really get my rest.  Have started yoga and Tai Chi as I am sure they will help me.

Love and hugs

Jen xx

Hi Ian and Jen, it is a slow job though possible to get fit after an auto, but you will find energy levels do take a while to enable you to really keep going and push yourself the way you would pre-auto. Daughter was able to build herself up gradually, but prior to the start of ABVD she was thinking of getting ready for a marathon, that has never been possible since. I think the allo takes much longer to get well, there is the blood group change with all the complications of whether red cell production works properly, after a lot of treatment that can take quite a long time! .......Ian, yes, she did manage to complete the tour and really went down with this about a day later, whether adrenalin kept her going, I'm not sure, but I bet it helped her get right through! ....... I suspect it will be a while till you can reduce the 'guard' but in any case anyone with any sort of pre-existing condition does need to be a bit more careful. She said a day or so ago 'will my immune system ever get really strong?' Hmm, a tough one, that, but I felt able to say that it should gradually get a lot better than it is now! ...... Keep thinking positive thoughts and do keep posting! Hugs to you both xxxx

Oh dear, it's a long hiccup, she had a few days when it all looked ok and now has a sore throat, snotty nose and painful face again as well as the cough back again, poor lass doesn't know whether she should drive down to us yet or not, maybe stay in easy reach of the hospital for a day or so more...... Love and hugs to all who pop in here xxx

Oh dear Moomy sorry to hear this.... Not what you or she wants. Have fingers and toes crossed that she gets on top of it in the next day or so. Healing vibes coming your way x