My Own Worst Enemy: Graft vs. Host Edition

Do you ever have days where you feel like your body just won't cooperate with you? Maybe when you're especially tired or feeling sick? Well my body is hosting a full-on attack on...well...my body.

I've developed graft vs host (GvH), which happens when the donor's immune system (now my new immune system, aka the graft) doesn't recognize my body (the host) and attacks it. Ideally I would develop *just* enough GvH so that the new immune system will recognize any new cancer as foreign and attack it, but not so much as to cause all these other cruddy symptoms. GvH can cause everything from dry itchy eyes, to dry mouth, to skin rashes, to gastrointestinal problems, to organ malfunction, even to death.

So naturally the doctors are taking my outbreak very seriously. They started me on 80mg of steroids a day (a lot) and when that didn't immediately work they DOUBLED the dose to 160mg a day! The first night I wasn't sure I was going to be able to sleep a wink, the steroids had me buzzing around getting all sorts of things accomplished. I'm getting the hang of it now (sleeping that is) but the steroids still haven't made much of a dent in my skin rash. Today I was told that unless my skin shows marked improvement by Monday, they might have to check me back in the hospital to get super, epic IV steroids three times a day. I'd rather not, so I'm cheering for a quick weekend recovery. Plus, it would be great if every bit of my skin above my knees would quit itching.

You can see a bit of rash on my face & neck here. I could show you the worse parts, but I'd have to flash you.

Other than the GvH and its associated symptoms, I've been doing great. My blood counts continue to look good; I've not needed a blood or platelet transfusion since I was discharged from the hospital. I'll be on "house arrest" at least until the 100th day post transplant (sometime in August). That means no retail therapy, no baseball games, no roller coaster, and no restaurants. If you ask me, I think a lunch from Penn Station and a DQ pecan cluster blizzard would do a body good, but I'll follow my doctor's orders until I'm cleared in the fall. Then I'll eat ALL the food.