Life is getting busier...Day 87

Let's take it as a good sign that as my days become more filled with the normal activities of everyday life, the blog posts grow a bit more infrequent. There was a time just a few short weeks ago, where the biggest thing I accomplished in a day was writing one of these posts. I'm grateful that at this point in the recovery this can be a welcomed treat - after a long day of work - to update the ones I love about my progress.

SO on that note...We are 87 days post-transplant! I've been in Wisconsin for 96 days in a row (certainly the longest stretch since the last transplant) and this one is on pace to beat the days away from restaurants and non-family members by a few weeks at least.

HEALTH UPDATE:

So much good news...Gosh that feels great to write!

• ANC is up to 889! (Reminder at 1000 they believe I'm strong enough to fight a cold or virus I might pick up, so ths is magical territory we are aiming for, and the ability to fly home vs drive home to DC).

• Platelets are rebounding strong! Best evidence of that was cutting my finger tonight while chopping tomatoes, and NOT BLEEDING OUT :) Some Neosporin and a band-aid and I'm good as new.

• ANC is up to 889! (Reminder at 1000 they believe I'm strong enough to fight a cold or virus I might pick up, so thyis is magical territory we are aiming for, and the ability to fly home vs drive home to DC).

• Fancy new hardware on my body: No not the beautiful medical bracelet I'm still on the hunt for, but instead a FREE STYLE LIBRE glucose reader. It's a super cool device that I wear 24/7 on the back of my left arm, and it allows me to check my glucose/blood sugar level with a super nifty this reader without pricking myself over and over again. This makes it easy to figure out when I need insulin, and how to make the right kids of eating choices (mostly that I need to eat little amount ALL the time!). Already things are improving on regulating my insulin levels. These shots have been a GAME CHANGER!

• Hernia is all healed basically! I can resume the Peloton this week (slowly), and YOGA next week. All clear for long walks (even with big hills).

• Dr. has said that if everyone take a rapid test, and we are in fact in a private room, and the waiter wears a mask, I'm good to go to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday next weekend INSIDE A RESTAURANT - OMG OMG OMG - SO EXCITED!!!

What's Entertaining Us:

• Tonight we finished STATION ELEVEN. It is truly a remarkable piece of art if you ask me. Without giving anything away, at some point during the final episode, Raj turned to me as said "Is this going to turn out as a Happily Ever After Situation?" I replied, is that really possible when the entire premise of the show is that a flu/pandemic essentially wiped out almost all of humanity? It kind of got me thinking about Happily Ever After...I think it can happen, even when really rough, even devastating things have happen. At least I'm holding on to that idea for my own life.

• We did lots of great cooking this week...Spaghetti Squash Marinara, Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry, and Veggie Buffalo Wings with Italian Salad tonight... We are so damn domesticated at this point, but I have to admit that I'm kind of enjoying our nice evening routine. I cook, Raj cleans up, we watch a show, eat a little ice cream, and are in bed by about 930 most nights. Are we on the verge of living a geriatric lifestyle? Maybe beyond the verge, but its really working for us :)

• Before my transplant, I had started to really NOT like my work. That was a totally foreign space for me! I have always been super passionate and loved working hard. Its now clear, of course I hated the work, I felt like total shit, my body was shutting down, and it wasn't really invigorating to try to fake feeling excited and passionate about things. I'm SOOOOO thrilled to report, that along with a rising white blood cell count, my passion for work has returned 10-fold (but with some real sanity and boundaries about how much it makes senes to work). A little preview of some of this cool stuff that happened just this week:

  • Planned and facilitated a 2-hr zoom call with the CEO, CFO, and CSO or International Retailer at 5 Youth Climate Activists from around the world on how to redefine a vision of Consumption for this Climate Crisis Era.

  • Learning ALL about Tik-Tok Influencers to try to shift the narrative and shift culture and story telling around Single Moms in America.

  • Plotting out how to raise resources to build Progress Political power in America through a remarkable new model - and also helping elect the next governor of Rhode Island at the same time.

  • Leading an amazing campaign - bankforgood.com to help people bank with an institution that matches their values - and moves their money away from banks that fund fossil fuels and harmful projects for people and planet!

My days feel more "normal." I wake up and get ready, and work most of the day - no more day-time tv watching...It feels quite good overall, and I'm certainly looking forward to normal including actually being back in society too!

What I'm grateful for...

• May have buried the lead here - but it looks like if all stays on track I'm headed to my OTHER home of DC on March 12th! Fingers and toes crossed!

• DRIVE (yes its the name of my company, but its also this powerful feeling that's returned for me, and I'm relishing every last bit of it!).

• Seeing my cousin, and my BFF from college, IN PERSON, with masks, INSIDE an actual place of business...WHILE TRYING ON WEDDING DRESSES! Who would've thought, I'd 40, going on 41, with a port in my chest, 80+ days into recovering from my 3rd bone marrow transplant, picking out a GORGEOUS wedding dress! Life sure is bonkers. I couldn't have made this shit up in my wildest dreams. I'm certainly Livin' the Dream, Ben. I think you'd be proud.

I've said it before...but tonight might just take the prize...MOST GORGEOUS SUNSET YET!