Thinking ahead

In two days time I start week four of Chemo Cycle 3. Then there's the "week off" followed by Cycle 4 and then - after a currently unknown period of time, probably no more than three weeks, it's the transplant. We should be starting that process in early March, so it's no longer in the distant future, it's moving rapidly into something rather closer.

There are practicalities to sort out. I'm going to be in hospital for a minimum of two weeks, probably four or it could be longer. It all depends on how long it takes for my immune system to rebuild itself and my white cell counts to get back to normal. So there's all kinds of household stuff - bills to pay, salt to put in the water softener, emergency contact numbers for electricity and phone and water and so on, and lots more I haven't thought of yet. Everything Sue needs to keep the place going and deal with any likely problems while I'm not around. I started a list a week or two ago but need to get back to it (after we've finished her tax return, which should be by this weekend - I've done mine).

The transplant process itself will be tough enough (I'll leave what I know about the details for nearer the time), but then comes the recovery at home. The general view among people who've been through it seems to be that it takes a year for a complete recovery, although I should be reasonably functional after two or three months.

More on this later, probably.