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Old Fri Jul 2, 2010, 02:26 PM
Neil Cuadra Neil Cuadra is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 2,553
Hi Roger. I'm sorry the long recovery period is so frustrating for you. In the big scheme of things I hope you'll find that getting back to feeling normal again isn't quick but it's worth the wait.

After my wife's transplant she couldn't have visitors in the house unless they wore masks and she was so susceptible to infections that we skipped some of her favorite foods for many months. When we had a salad we washed each lettuce leaf individually. It's definitely not the way you want to live. But when you eventually make it past that stage it sure gives you an appreciation for what you've got.

My wife had to have her "baby shots" too. It's like your body has been reset to zero. She had a reaction to one of the immunizations but the rest went well.

I'm glad you were able to talk to a counselor. Family, friends, and people you talk to over the Internet can listen and sympathize but there's a lot to be said for a professional who can listen in person and make concrete suggestions as they come to understand what's bothering you the most and what you can do about it. I think it would help you to have another talk with the counselor now that you've had more time to think about it.

These diseases do take away a portion of our lives and we are perfectly justified to be angry about that. We just have to make up for it by doing the most we can, at each stage, to live our lives and do what we want. You won't suddenly go from uncured to cured; it's gradual. If you're like most recovering transplant patients, you'll feel a little better each week and month, with occasional slips back, but overall you'll feel more and more like yourself and be more and more confident about your future. You'll reach the point where you can spend an entire day without thinking about MDS because you were occupied with better things. It's a great milestone.

I'm glad to hear that you are volunteering at the Blood Bank and even doing public speaking (a lot of people aren't brave enough to do that) and have a Facebook page along with your blog. When you're being held down by MDS, doing something (anything!) positive can be a great benefit to yourself, not just others, and gives you feelings of purpose and accomplishment. Doing useful work of any kind, especially something related to healthcare or your disease, can turn you toward positive thinking.

It looks like you relocated your blog. Maybe you should update your forum signature to point to http://blog.ihavemds.com/.
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