I have finished my Cyclosporin! Feels great to be rid of it- Imagine, I may not have to take any more ever again. Just penicillin and septrim for a few more months and then my immunity jabs (mumps, measles, rubella etc.) I am grateful and humbled not to have experienced any GVHD to speak of. (Even though my blood system is, at last count, 93% grafted) I hope that GVHD is kept at bay now that I am no longer on immuno-suppresants.
What have I been up to? Well, I was best man at my sister’s wedding last week (pictures to follow). It went very well, a rather special event: My sister looked fantastic, Bridget played classical guitar beautifully for the ceremony, no-one fell over and I apparently looked pretty healthy. I was grateful to be around for it.
Yesterday I played my first post-cancer squash match. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to play, but I lasted an hour and ended up winning 5 games to zero! (9-6, 9-2, 9-0, 9-1, 9-5) Apparently it was not a pity performance from my opponent, so I was very pleased with myself. I am playing again tomorrow, so let’s see how it goes. I am now capable of walking several miles a day without issue. Bridget no longer has to adjust her pace. I may try to get back into jogging again although that is a rather scary concept. I get a little stressed revisiting my old activities, as I fear not being capable of them.
The mornings are still tough. It is like a wall of hopelessness, sorrow and depression paralysing me. I just have to lie down for however long, feel it fully then, when possible, get up and go about my day. I have been offered anti-depressants repeatedly, but am not taking them. Why? Well, because they take 2 weeks to kick in, there always remains the hope that things will improve in the interim. Also, I have found depression to have appeared in my life at the brink of important developmental stages, and am loathe to obfuscate the process. Maybe I am just being silly, but I’d rather be naturally moody than artificially ‘chirpy’. Then again, without drugs, I would now be deceased, so it is not as simple as drugs=bad. But for the time being I am coping ‘au natural’. I guess, I don’t want to miss real issues and opportunities for growth, painful as they might be. This is where I am at the moment, anyway. All I know is that sometimes, when things are okay, I momentarily forget what I have been through and it almost feels like earned happiness.
