Katie's BMT Updates

Yeah, I know. I'm bad. I get feeling a little good and what do I do? I go out living and quit writing in my blog. Just what kind of grateful am I to all of you who have stuck with me through all the bad stuff? You're right, I should be writing about the good stuff, too. I apologize. I repent. I promise to try and make up for it by writing in my blog more often.

So, what have I been up to, you ask? Well, for one I wrote a book. (Ha! You weren't expecting that one, were you?) And no, I didn't write about my bone marrow transplant, like some of you suggested. In the end, I just couldn't stomach rehashing the whole experience just yet, even though memoirs are exceedingly en vogue (never one to follow the pack though, was I?). Instead, I wrote a young adult novel about a 17-year-old cellist who discovers herself through love and music. I've completed the first draft and have moved onto the editing stage. What will I do with it? I don't know. I guess I'll try to get it published, but in the end, I wrote it for me. That said, when I am done, those who want to read it can do -- when I'm done. I'll let you know.

And my health? So glad you asked. I'm virtually fine. I say "virtually" because there are some lingering issues, like my numb toes and, a little more importantly, my crashing neutrophil numbers (if you recall, these are the white blood cells that fight infection) -- they've been falling below normal about every six weeks and no one knows why (they almost never know why). They thought that I might have developed a rogue neutrophil-killing antibody, but they did a test for it and found nothing. So for lack of a better solution, they've been giving me a neupogen shot every time the counts drop below normal, which sucks because the shot almost always knocks me on my ass for a day, day and a half where I lie in bed all day feeling like my bones are growing. I had my last shot on Tuesday and finally got out of bed this morning ... feeling much better now, thank you.

But other than the toes & the neutrophils, I feel great. I am down to *one* Tacrolimus pill a week. I am off the V-Fend completely. Instead of a million pills a day, I take about five pills a day (including vitamins), seven on weekends (special antibiotics). It's so great, every time I take pills I get that weird feeling like I'm forgetting something, but alas, no -- I just take less pills!

I've gained some weight -- thank you Dronabinol (you didn't know pot came in pill form, did you? They call it a "cannabinoid" Heh heh). I've grown some hair (good, but not fast enough -- I still get hit on by chicks at Rainbow). I can even ride public transportation again (hooray, right? Zach thinks so). Soon I'll go back to work, but doing exactly what -- video, writing, production -- who knows? Every time I try to think about how I'm going to juggle career with childcare, I go mental.

I've even been getting out and having fun. I even went to my first show since before my bone marrow transplant (2 years +, right?), an SF Noise Pop Festival event to see a band called Best Coast (great lo-fi, fun, fun, fun vocals). For the first time in, I don't know, eight years since this whole thing began, I feel like dancing. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I now have the bone marrow of a 20-something (I jest, but maybe?).

Oh, also another fun fact: My blood type changed from A+ to O+ ... Trippy, no?

Did I also mention that I am 99.9999999% donor? Yeah, that means, in a sense, I'm technically dead. Cool, eh? F*&K cancer. I win!

All for now ... I have so much to tell you about Zach, but I'll save that for another entry (soon, I promise) ...

much love,

Katie