MCL and Me

On Wednesday of this week I went to the transplant clinic for my usual check up. My last one was two months ago. I saw the consultant who dealt with me through most of my transplant and whom I hadn't seen for a while so it was nice to catch up with him. Everything is going fine and my blood results were all in the normal levels. I've been having a few grumbling patches of bad skin on my face, in the creases of my elbows and the backs of my knees. I've tried treating them with the steroid creams I have and it does get rid of them for a while but then they come back. However they don't get really bad and they are not very itchy at all so more recently I've been just leaving them to their own devices in the hope my donor's cells get bored and leave my skin alone. That said the consultant said low level GVHD was no bad thing as it means it's quite possible that I also have GVL (Graft Versus Lymphoma) meaning the donor cells are also going around killing...

When I went to the transplant clinic a few weeks ago I asked the consultant about coming off the amlodipine blood pressure tablets as I had only been put on them because the ciclosporin caused my BP to rise. I've been off ciclosporin since before Christmas so the consultant said to co-ordinate with my GP to come off the BP tablets. This I have duly done and after a couple of BP checks at the surgery, plus my own daily checks at home for as while, it looks like although my baseline BP has risen a little since coming off amlodipine, I shouldn't need to go back on the tablets. This means I am now down to my lowest number of different medications and probably the ones I will be on for life:- Penicillin to help with bacterial infections as bone marrow transplant patients often have under-active spleens. (1 x 250mg twice a day ) Thyroxine to help with my under-active thyroid gland. (1 x 150mcg once a day ) Hydrocortisone to help with my under-active adrenal glands. (20mg Morning, 10m...

It seems an age ago but New Year's Day was just under 3 weeks past so a Happy New Year to all my readers. Before moving on to other things just a quick medical update. I went to the transplant clinic last Wednesday and it is very much steady as she goes. I've tolerated coming off the ciclosporin fine and apart from a couple of patches of dry skin the GVHD seems to be lying low. The ciclosporin caused my blood pressure to rise when I was first put on it back in September 2008 so I was put on a blood pressure tablet called amlodipine. In theory now I am off the ciclosporin I can come off the amlodipine as the chances are my blood pressure should go back to normal. The consultant I saw suggested I check my blood pressure at home a few times and take these readings in to my GP and get him/her to manage my withdrawal from amlodipine. So I've started drawing up my little spreadsheet of readings and will be off to see my GP next week. I mentioned a while back that 2011 will be a y...