Writing the new book

Mom came home from the hospital today, marking the start of the long journey towards recovery.  There are so many unknowns and potential missteps that she is feeling a bit anxious.  Here's a list of things that are making her feel that way:

• She is neutropenic right now, meaning that she has a very low number of neutrophils, which make up the majority of white blood cells.  Since she is neutropenic, she must be very careful about what she touches, what she breathes, what she eats, everything.  This is manageable, but is a departure from mom's normal 'if it won't kill you, it makes you stronger' approach to germs.
• Once engraftment begins (probably in 2 weeks), she'll start seeing the first bit of GVHD (graft-versus-host-disease).  This could be the elephant in the room, in that she could suffer mild GVHD and be done with it after 3 months to a year.  However, this could linger and be a chronic issue that will need to be managed.
• The number of drugs she's taking is daunting.  She'll be taking around 20-30 pills a day for the foreseeable future.

All that being said, mom is focusing on the positives.  Although her life may not be the same after the 100 days, she knows she'll still be the spunky, fun girl she's always been even though her lifestyle may need to be altered to manage any chronic GVHD issues.