Still on the rollercoaster

Things are still completely unpredictable. In Seattle the oral medicine doctor found graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) on my tongue and prescribed a steroid gel to apply to my tonuge to treat it. When I returned home, I started applying the gel. Apparantly I was a little too liberal with it and after a couple of weeks I was on a manic high. Realizing this, I have been more careful with it and the high is definitely gone. In the meantime, while I was manic, I got a lot of cleaning done and in the process got a brown recluse bite. I guess the effects of a bite can be pretty gruesome, but after four days mine just looks like a bruise with a hole in the middle.

Since returning, I also had a chest scan which showed that the fluid around my lung has increased. My pulmonologist is thinking that it is also GVHD and is talking with my doctors in Seattle to address that. It might mean more steroids or a change in my immune suppressing drugs.

All of that is no fun to write or read about. What is fun is that it's almost Halloween. And the weather is very nice for being outside. With my burst of energy I got a lot of walking in. Very nice. We also visited a Halloween shop.

I guess the leaves here aren't going to be very bright this year, but they are already very crunchy. I love the sound of crunching leaves. There are also a lot of spiders and acorns. I'm a little cautious about going outside because I'm afraid I'm going to get hit by an acorn. Knowing me I'd end up in a cast or something. :)

Everyone here is doing well. Happy haunting!! Jill