DAY 22. The sensitivity in my hands is diminishing, but they are starting to peel like crazy. I’ve also started having gut issues again, having to go every 2 hours or so. Not fun. It turns out that I have C Diff again, so I was put on Vancomycin for 10 days. I’ve been pretty run down lately, most likely due to the fact that I’m not getting good sleep or eating well. My taste is still off, although it seems to be getting a little better. A few tastes come through, mostly sweet and sour, but I still can’t eat meat. I can chew it, but my throat doesn’t want to swallow. I’ve also started getting a rash on my face. Right now there is a small patch in the center of my forehead, and patches on my nose and down the sides to the top of my mouth. This might be signs of Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD). This is an expected condition where my new immune system sees my body as foreign and attacks it. Some signs of GVHD are good, because they show that my new transplanted cells are engrafting. I’ll only need to worry if I see rashes on a large percentage of my body. So far my blood counts are looking good. I’m looking forward to being able to eat again, since this is probably the most difficult part of the recovery process for me right now.

My magnesium infusions were increased to twice a day – 4g in the morning and 2g in the evening. We had issues with the first pump. We kept getting Upstream Occlusion and Air in Line errors every 10-15 minutes. The pump was switched to a smaller, more portable pump and that one works a lot better.