Day +78

A lot has happend since our last post. Chris had his third IVIG treatment on Sunday and had his blood tested again (White Blood Cells was 5.1!). We also hit a huge milestone on Sunday: 10,000 hits on our blog from over 20 countries!

Today was Chris' monthly check up and it went exceptionally well. As you can see, Chris is still recovering really fast (the last two photos are less than two weeks apart!).

In fact, he was approved to go back to work next week, which is WAY ahead of schedule. His doctor told us that transplant patients usually require three to six months before returning back to work, with most patients taking closer to six months to be ready. However, she really looked impressed when Chris told her that he was working out on the elliptical for an hour each day and lifting weights. She assured us that as long as Chris was feeling up to it, there was no health risk for Chris going back to work this early.

However, while Chris is feeling much better, he did get a little push last week in the form of a letter from SunLife Financial. Chris was denied long-term disability covereage due to a condition we didn't know about in their policy. Chris' work changed their coverage on long-term disability last June. SunLife Financial has a pre-existing condition that once an employee gets long-term disability coverage, they need to have a 13 week period in the first year when they do not require medical treatment.

Well Chris had an appointment to get information about the transplant in July, which was 12 weeks and 4 days before he started the procedure. Even though Chris wasn't "treated" for anything at the time, SunLife Financial includes all physican consultations as treatments and denied Chris coverage. It was definetly a set back, but luckily Chris was close to the point that going back to work was a possibility. In the meantime, Chris is working on writing an "I hate SunLife Financial" song that we can post on YouTube that will surely go viral.

Finally, our last update is about the MS Walk that we are participating in this May. Chris and I, in addition to some of our friends and family members, will be walking 5 km to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. The MS Society  is responsible for the funding of this MS trial and for other research funding in Canada. Last May, there was no way that Chris could walk 5km due to a severe relapse, and we are really excited that he will be able to participate.

We just wanted to post a link to our fundraising page to anyone that is interested in donating to the MS Society. It would really mean a lot to us if you can donate anything, and it will mean even more to the other 75,000 Canadians with MS.

Here is the link to our Team Glazier MS Walk  fundraising page:
http://msofs.mssociety.ca/2011WALK/SponsorTeam.aspx?&PID=1246591&L=2

Two month update

Chris on Day +66 after his transplant and
feeling great!

Chris was officially two month post-transplant on Sunday (February 13). He has really improved leaps and bounds from our last update. He does 30 minutes of cardio each day and is starting to lift weights again (and  much more than 5 lbs now!) He can even keep up with me when I go on shopping trips, which is an accomplishment for any man, bone marrow transplant or not.

We have his next appointment on March 1 and Chris is going to discuss with his doctor about going back to work soon. Originally they had discussed June 2011 as a probable timetable, but at the rate he is going, it is hard to imagine being at home for another three months.

Even though he has made such hugh improvements in his endurance and strength, he is mostly proud about his hair growth. His hair is officially growing back on his head (lot of fine hair!) and for some reason his facial hair, especially his moustache, is growing back thicker than before. He needs to shave it almost every day now! Weird.

In terms of his MS symptoms we are trying to be alert of any signs of relapses or progression and maybe even  some signs of improvements. No relapses, no progression. In fact, Chris' last relapse would have been April/May 2010 (he had mitoxantrone in July to try and prevent relapses and progression prior to transplant). I get super excited just thinking about this.

 In terms of improvement, we are actually starting to pick up on little things. Prior to the transplant, if Chris used the elliptical, his muscle in his left leg would spasm and shake. Since he has started working out on the elliptical again after the transplant, he hasn't experienced any muscle spasms on his left leg.  It may seem really minimal, but it is such a hopeful sign for us.