Day +155

Labs were fine this week. The only culture result that came back so far was C. diff and it was negative. I had some more vomiting on Monday because of mucus building up in my stomach again. The results of the chimerism test should be back relatively soon.

Day +147

Dr. Burt changed his mind about blood test frequency, so I'll be getting it drawn every 2 weeks for now. I saw my GI on Tuesday and she ordered more cultures, mainly for C diff once again, and added Sed rate and inflammation markers to my usual blood work. I'll followup with her in 2 weeks. If worse comes to worst, the colonoscopy at Northwestern should provide the answer to what's going on.

I had some more vomiting mucus yesterday that was similar to the week before, but it didn't persist as long. I managed to take Zofran and that calmed my stomach down. I've been fine since. Mucus seems to keep building up in my stomach because of post-nasal drip left by the cold. I'm still taking Mucinex D to help with it.

Day +140

Labs were fine again this week. Dr. Burt said I can start getting them drawn monthly now. I finally got my followup scheduled this week. I'll be in Chicago February 13th-17th for a CT scan, colonoscopy, blood work, and appointments with a new transplant GI (Dr. Craig retired) and Dr. Burt.

I was talking with the 3rd Crohn's patient who had the cord blood transplant earlier. She had a chimerism test done a little more than a month post-transplant and it didn't show any donor cells at that time, either. It may not really mean much but I think it's worth noting for comparison.

I made a trip to the ER last night/this morning. I was vomiting pretty consistently for a few hours, all mucus after the first few times and my stomach was empty. I felt really dehydrated and fatigued, and couldn't keep sips of water down so I figured it was worth going for IV fluids at the very least. Looking awful and saying "stem cell transplant" really cut down on the wait time. They started fluids, did blood work, an EKG, got a chest X ray, and gave me Zofran. The EKG was normal, my WBC were slightly elevated, and the X ray didn't show anything of concern. It was most likely a lot of built up mucus from the cold I've had, possibly a mild virus. My stomach had settled and I was able to drink and keep down water. They gave me a prescription for Zofran and let me go. I feel fine now today. Eating normally without nausea and without taking Zofran. Hopefully the mucus got cleared out of my stomach and it won't cause more issues.

Day +133

My labs were fine this week. All of the cultures came back negative, though. I'm still pretty sure I have C. diff based on my symptoms. The test for it just isn't very accurate. My GI wants to see again me before doing anything else so I have an appointment for the 17th. My cold is still around, but getting better.

Day +126

I didn't see a copy of my labs this week yet due to the holidays but Dr. Burt would have called if anything was noteworthy. Flagyl never really helped too much with the symptoms so my GI ordered more cultures to test for C. diff again and some other stuff before trying another antibiotic. I asked Dr. Burt about possibly stopping some of the prophylactic antibiotics since I haven't been on Cyclosporine or Cellcept (the immunosuppressants) for a while now and he said to stop Bactrim and Diflucan. Since stopping those, and finishing the course of Flagyl, I haven't had any nausea or vomiting. I did come down with another cold, though. I had a bit of a sore throat on Tuesday that went away for a bit and came back, then had sneezing and a runny nose by the time I went to bed. I'm taking Mucinex D during the day and Nyquil before bed and they're helping. I felt pretty bad yesterday but considerably better today. The results of the cultures should be ready on Monday or Tuesday so I should be able to start whatever's necessary then.

Day +120

Labs were fine this week. The test for C. diff came back negative, but it could be a false negative. My GI is having me finish the course of Flagyl and added Florastor, a probiotic that should help fight C. diff as well. I'm feeling a little better, but not a lot. Been having a more frequently upset stomach and vomiting from the antibiotics. I'll get in touch with my GI on Monday and see what she wants to do. It will probably either be more Flagyl or Vancomycin.

Day +112

Labs looked good again this week. I never really was back to feeling too well after last weekend. Dr. Burt had me stop Cellcept to see if that would help any, as well as for the chimerism. It was a bit up and down and then I was feeling worse with GI symptoms later this week. It seems exactly like how I got C. diff before, so I feel pretty sure that's what it is again. They're testing for it to be sure, but I'm already going to start a 10 day course of Flagyl. I have an appointment with my local GI on Monday so she can look after things and they don't have to play long distance doctor from Chicago quite as much.