Feelin' good in the Neighborhood.

Though my blood counts don't seem to be reflecting it, (yet!) I'm feeling better yesterday and today than I've felt in weeks.
A few things likely to have contributed to this: Chemo done (for now) Blood infection gone, heavy anti-blood infection medicine stopped, and general recovery from the heavy amount of treatment. Also, I was a bit dehydrated over the weekend and have gotten lots of fluids and two (count 'em!) TWO units of red cells since the weekend. Apparently the slight dehydration falsely lowered my RBC count and therefore my hemoglobin, the stuff in your blood that carries oxygen. Hence, with adequate hemoglobin, my mood and health improves.
Oh, and tomorrow celebrates four weeks here. Yippee! This is sarcasm, of course.
Honestly though, I'm feeling a lot better. And eating! Nausea has gone away, food is tasting like food, such as it is here. But I've had dreams of yummy meals I haven't had in quite awhile. This is good, as I need to build my weight before transplant.
Speaking of transplant, mine's scheduled for the 22nd. My donor showed up for her pre-transplant workup yesterday, which is good news. The plan is for the cells to be harvested on the 18th, then cryogenically preserved, that is, frozen until the day I get them. It seems like just around the corner now.
One other thing that has improved my mood and temperament this week: I fired the residents. If you're not privy to hospital care, or even if you are, you may not be aware that medical students are often responsible for evaluating patients. So it is the case with Roswell Park. What you may not know is that you can request to see real, live professionals instead. In my case, I have established a good relationship with the nurse practitioners on the leukemia team here, but wasn't seeing them up until this week. Finally, after discussion with a good friend, I told Dr. Wang on Sunday that I would prefer to see the NPs in the morning and then whatever doctor that was on service for rounds later in the day.
The result? I am working with my preferred NP in the leukemia team, who knows me and my case inside and out, is willing, able and eager to go to bat for me with the doctors and generally is competent. This is important to me, as I am fighting a pretty tough battle here, and having one more competent person on my side means I'm closer to my goal of getting well.