T + 123 I’m back at work

I started back to work on Friday. I went in at 8:00 am, later than the normal 6:30. I’ll do that a while till I get back into the swing and see how my fatigue goes. I spent the bulk of the day quickly reviewing and purging e-mails to get the tiny amount of memory allocated by IP down to a level that will allow me send a reply. I dumped half of them and hope to continue. I also spent some time on the phone with the disability insurance folks making sure all of my return to work info was being taken care of.

Monday and today I continued the e-mail purge. I need to bulldoze my desk soon. I downloaded a lot of data from a computer system that was retired while I was out. I need to set up procedures to get the same data from the new system going forward. There are several areas/projects that I will focus on until I have to go on shift work. Back to work has been good so far. I have been staying low key. Not many folks know I’m back yet. I’m avoiding shaking hands and staying away from as many group meetings as possible. There is a lot of illness at work and I need to avoid it as much as I am able for another few months. I will go back to BMTG in Atlanta in mid-April for my 6 months post transplant follow up testing.

I put Bennett down last night around 8 pm. Karin went for a jog at 8:15 pm. She returned and then I went for my walk at 8:30-9:00. Bennett projectile vomited from 9:15 to 10:30 pm. (I actually had started this blog update Monday when Bennett got sick.) This is the first time he has been sick in 15 and a half months. I put on a mask and rubber gloves and helped a little, but I have to leave Karin for the bulk of the mess. This scares me. We don’t know if it is something he ate or if it is viral. I can’t take a chance on getting sick. We wash Bennett’s clothes and bed laundry and I put it in the dryer before midnight. He has a few fusses in the night, but he sleeps most of it.

Bennett made it through the night with no more puking. We thought that we were in the clear. Karin goes to get the newspaper for me at 6:15 before she heads out for work. While she was out, Bennett got sick again. She called her department head to let him know that she will be late for work. I take a shower and get ready for work. Paul arrives around 7:15, he didn’t know that things weren’t well. I run to Kroger to get some ginger ale and pedia-lite to keep Bennett hydrated. He continues to be ill for a while. Karin stays home with Bennett to take him to the doctor. Paul tried to play golf, but it rained.

Bennett ate only a sliver of toast during the day and drinks some ginger ale. Karin and he spent many hours in the recliner today. I pick up some jello on the way home from work. He eats some after we have supper. Karin took a bath with him and he acts like he is feeling much better. Then he had an episode of explosive diarrhea. I had on my mask, and I still ran away. Karin changes him and then fed him some banana. He drinks half a bottle of apple juice and she put him to bed. No milk today or tonight. It had been curdling in his stomach. He is better. I have no symptoms thankfully. I continue to be cautious. I do a lot of bleaching this evening.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I have an 11 am appointment at Candler Hospital Respiratory Therapy for my Pentamadine treatment to prevent pneumonia. This is my 4th treatment of six. At 1:30 I have an appointment at Dr. Negrea’s for my weekly CBC blood check. I also have to have my port-a-cath flushed (every 4 weeks).

Mark