Friday, April 16, 2010

Return of GVHD

For the past few weeks I have been whining about my weight gain. I had gotten back to my regular weight and was putting on a bit more, thanks to the prednisone.

Then, voila! The stomach bug hit, and I lost about 10 pounds in five days. That was great, but the way it happened wasn't. I called Dana-Farber and they said to come in the next day.

Melissa said it was probably a flare-up of Graft-Versus Host. The first thing was to increase my prednisone from 1.5 mg. to 40 mg. a day. So here we go again with the higher prednisone. My legs have gotten weak again, and I'm sure that's part of it.
I also got a bag of fluids, which was great. I love it over there in the infusion room. A nurse brings you a warm blanket, you adjust the chair and then you snuggle up and sleep.

My counts were all messed up caused by the dehydration and whatever's going on, so I won't even mention them.

Bump in the road, I know. But it still takes a lot out of you.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Dearest Runder-Woman,

Ever-swift, you soon will be soaring over that bump in the road...even now you are striding over it, more slowly than you'd like...

and the road will rise up to greet thee...
the wind be behind thee...

xop

Ann said...

I'm sorry you had to go on the higher dose of pred. It can be so frustrating. This is temporary. Keep doing what you've been doing. I'm with you in spirit.

PJ said...

This confirms what I think about low-level gvhd. When I went on prednisone my digestive track responded instantly. I gained 10 lbs or more and felt great. As I've tapered the drug, I've been less hungry and maintained my weight. I'll be on the lookout for stomach issues because it may mean the gvh is acting up. Hope you're better. Except for sleep issues, I did well with the 40 mg.

We were at Vassar yesterday with Harry attending admitted students day. I was impressed with the school and Harry will probably go there. Has Katie decided yet?

Ronni Gordon said...

PJ: She is still deciding between Brandeis and NYU. Leaning towards Brandeis.

Nelle said...

Sorry this happened to you. At the RWJUH I was in, they give you warm blankets when you go for things such as PICC lines. That is one of the things that thrills me, a warm fresh blanket.