Another week at home, how is it going?
I have been home for a little over a week now and I must say that it is nice to be in the Netherlands again!
How has it been in the past week and what are my days looking like now? In principle, not much has changed compared to my isolation period and this is largely due to the corona epidemic. My body is currently naturally recovering and still quite weakened and so I also belong to the risk group. Getting corona at this point will probably be fatal for me too.
Fortunately, I have quite a lot of experience in Russia with being in isolation and so not much changes for me at the moment. Fortunately, I do have a lot more room to maneuver here and just the Dutch television offer, so that's nice.
Anyway, what are my days looking like now? Regarding food, I am still very healthy. My breakfast usually consists of kefir (fermented yogurt) with oatmeal and roasted nuts. Lunch usually consists of brown bread and two boiled eggs, a bit later in the afternoon I often eat a plate of buckwheat and simmer meat and I also have the apples from the microwave in it haha. Dinner consists of a meal with many greetings. In addition, I also have additional drinking nutrition to get back to weight a little faster. When I returned from Russia, it turned out that I had lost about 5.5 kg, this is already about 1,5 kg back!
Ordinary yogurt / milk products are currently not recommended, nor are raw products (such as vegetables, fruit and nuts) still allowed during my recovery. So everything must be cooked, baked (or in the case of nuts: roasted). Either way, it should be well cooked and bacteria free 🙂
How am I doing? Well, actually. Most days I feel good, in addition to healthy food I am already doing some light exercises and also just resting a lot for recovery. To date, many of the symptoms that I experienced with the MS have greatly reduced or even disappeared completely, which of course is really great! Of course I do not want to be premature, at the moment it is not clear whether these symptoms have (temporarily) disappeared by having received corticosteroids and quite a lot of other medication, or whether this is really recovery. In about 6 months I can only say with any certainty what can really be counted as recovery. Keep in mind that the goal of treatment is also to stop the progression of the disease, any recovery is a pure 'bonus' and therefore not a certainty. Nevertheless, I am very happy that it looks very good at the moment! I will go into some more detail about these improvements in a future update.
As said, my body has a long way to go for the recovery and this was also shown by the first blood test at the hematologist. This has shown, among other things, that my delivery values are far too high. The reason for this is the chemo and a lot of medication every day for a month. So this is not unexpected, but should be watched to see if this fixes. In addition, the values of my kidneys are a bit too low. Also not really worrying, but again important to keep an eye on. My white blood cells are also currently higher than the normal margin, which is also not entirely good. Fortunately, I do not have any physical symptoms or symptoms that indicate that this is currently causing problems, so that is good 🙂 The next blood test is next Friday. I will tell you via an update whether there is improvement in that area. At this time, I also keep daily my temperature and blood pressure to determine that they are within normal values. If this is not the case, I have to ring the bell for a moment, then action may have to be taken. For now, however, everything in that area seems to be in order.
Oh yes… The hair on my head also fell out completely shortly after returning to the Netherlands and of course I don't want to deny you a photo of this 😉 Enjoy!
Until the next update again!
Greetings, Stephan
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Thank you for returning home. Strength with your recovery. The hairdressers are closed, so that hair is only easy. Waving through the window sometime soon. And if there is anything, I will hear it. your buuf.
Hi sweety,
Because of that corona virus you are no longer the only one who is isolated inside.
Fortunately, the beautiful weather is approaching and you can sit in the garden, even if it is under a parasol of course.
Thank you very much for your nice written message and we still had to laugh at your bald head, which is not surprising to you, it is certainly good for now.
Big guy and lots of love
Henk and Lenie
❤️
Hi Stephan,
If I read all your updates you can get started as a primary nurse in the hospital. You can put it very well so that it is easy for the layman to understand.
I wish you all the best with your further healing process.
By the way, a good photo where I especially notice the vibrancy of your eyes.
Greetz
It looks great on you, honey! Nothing more to do, summer is coming! ❤❤
Glad it is going in the right direction. Wasn't nothing that treatment. Much improvement, gr Mieke
Nice to hear that you are doing well.
Hopefully the blood values will show that next week as well.
That bald head suits you fine!
Cheers to you Stephen,
Steadier, stronger, and getting better. Wishing you
more strength with each coming day. I like the new
look, with those big sparkling eyes. Your face says
it all. You glow with happiness. SUCCESS !!
Pretty boy,
The head is completely contemporary and that the hairdressers are closed is not an advantage or disadvantage for you.
Not necessary and it saves money again.
I read from all stories that it is progressing slowly, slowly.
But watch out, with the virus.
Be good, we think about you.
Gerard and Annelies
Thank you everyone for the kind words! I will post a new update tomorrow morgen
Really nice to hear you are doing well !! And so the microwaved apples are a recommended dish?