7 Months Post Transplant

Life as a stem-cell transplant survivor can best be described as a delicate balance. You want to act like a normal person, but sometimes your body just isn't up for the challenge.

One day you feel great, for example, I can put in a normal work-day, maybe a little exercise afterwards, a trip to the grocery store, and make a nice dinner (veggies, of course!). The only difference is I'll need about 11 hours of sleep to recover from this. It's not yet "sustainable" for me.

This has got to be the most difficult part of life a survivor for me, it's pretty easy to respond to this, "well then, just take it easy!", but it's a really slippery slope. Once I make the decision to go back to school, I don't get extra time for homework, or extensions for papers at work. My laundry doesn't do itself, nor does dinner make itself. Bills don't stop rolling in either.

So usually what gives is social stuff, which sucks because my friends are awesome, and I like spending time with them, but if I'm going to continue surviving something has to give. The biggest difference between 1 year ago, and now is that I recognize that I need, before anything, to take care of myself, otherwise I might not be around for too long. So, no stress, no getting run-down, no burning the candle at both ends. If I have my way, I'm not heading back to a hospital anytime soon.

So happy hour, parties, and mountain bike race weekends be damned, I've gotta pass! It's doubly difficult because most of friends are interested in stuff I just can't do much of right now, partying and racing bikes. But if I'm ever gonna graduate I need to keep a low profile, and hammer things out, so, back to work I go...right after this nap!