Upward Spiral: Day +9

Hey everyone. A little short on photos because there hasn't been too much to photographically show. But the great news is that I'm feeling so much better today since I'm officially in engrafting, which means my cells are connecting to my immune system and we're upward and onward (hopefully) from here one out.

I've had a couple bad night's sleeps, even including last night not being a great, but much more tolerable. We're still trying to get my GI tract taken care of. Once the fluids flush through you, they don't stop!

I'll save you all the miserable details, but just say I think we are getting mine balanced out a lot better today. Upping my dosage of Immodium and adding another anti-diahreal, has helped a lot today. 

My sleepless nights are a combination of having to get up hourly to go to the bathroom, but also stem from a horrible hemorrhoid issue I've dealt with since my early 30s. Come for the bathroom trip, stay for the pain. My doctors added oxycodone yesterday for the pain and it's been a huge relief!

Also had a great surprise visit today from my buddy Paul. That was truly awesome for him to drive two hours here to hang out for a bit and just shoot the breeze. As much as I love all my nursing care team,  it was nice to talk to someone in person about something other than vitals and stats. Stephanie and the kids usually take that role, but they had swim meets today. I've been very adamant that I don't want to pull them away from activities while I'm here.

My appetite is slowly returning. Food is just a tad bit more appealing each and every day. And more importantly for me I'm able to drink more things meaning Iv'e been able to stay off the IV pump a lot more today. Small things like that are such a relief. I've had so many people reach out from the cancer community, including some local people who just recently did the same exact thing as me right now, some who are celebrating their new stem cell birthdays, meaning they've been through it already and even just connected with someone who follows the blog along that is near the same situation as me, with young age diagnosis, 2 kids and is prepping for his SCT. 

The support groups are great, but it's so much better connecting and learning with others directly, rather than a mass group facebook post, email, etc. 

I'll keep everyone updated tomorrow how each day is going and hopefully progressing. As each day moves on, I'm trying to spend more time outside my room just for a change of scenery. 

Thanks as always to our friends, family and community for so much support.