Being back in our house was very strange, we have lived here for 7 years now and being away for that whole month made it feel weird to be home. It took a good 2 days to settle back in and feel like home again. Bianca’s class was conducting the assembly first thing Friday morning and obviously I didn’t go, but Daddy was able to be there which was nice for both of them. I stayed home and had a little man who practically sat on top of me all morning. We had a nice afternoon nap when we woke to Bianca’s school calling to say she was really unwell with 39° temps and Joe had to pick her up. So she was quarantined to her room and me to mine and we stayed away from each other. This sucked!!! Joes parents brought us pasta they had cooked for dinner which was nice and easy.

The kids loved their pressies!

Over the weekend Bianca and I wore masks and tried to be in different areas of the house most of the time. I really enjoyed having showers in my own shower again, and I had become this cleaning freak. For those who dont know me that well, in the past I had been too tired and did not operate fast enough to make everything spotless as I went or even at the end of the day, but at the moment I am buzzing from the steriods and am able to maintain it as I go and it feels wonderful to have a clean kitchen all the time.

Obviously shopping is a high risk factor for me so I looked into online shopping and placed an order at coles for Joe to collect and a delivery from woolies. I was a little bit impressed with our local coles being a click and collect store but woolies doesn’t have one near us so have to get deleveries when Joes back at work. Saturday we just veged and Sunday Joe took the kids to visit Dave and Emily and his parents etc while I stayed home. I was experiencing so knee and hip pain however only once did I need to take some panadol for it. I had felt like I had sat with my legs bent sideways for my hip to hurt or crossed legged or standing for too long with my knees. It probably is also a bit of bone pain but it is all normal and to be expected. I had noticed my face was a tiny bit puffy, but this also was normal.

Changing timezones was pretty easy for me given I didn’t sleep too much at night towards the end of my treatment anyway or really get into Russias timezone. Now I am able to sleep nearly all night here and I adjusted back quite quickly and easily. Poor Joe though, it took him a while, he had jet lag and was buggered for most of this week!

Getting back into the school routine is actually quite easy… I am ready to get up, make Bianca’s lunch, unload the dishwasher and get her ready for school as I am not feeling that fatigue I used to feel. However it is magic of the steroids at the moment so again we will see what happens after they wear off. Joe and I are having bacon and eggs most mornings and I even had baked beans on toast which is something I had never eaten before and had specifically ordered in the shopping as I felt like it in Russia. My taste buds have changed from the chemo so it will be interesting to see if they stay like this or revert back. I even was happy for Joe to put the pork in my stirfry. I never eat pork (except the crackling)! The kids are enjoying helping me with dinner preparation.

Monday I had a nice 2 hour soak in the bath while Joe and Dom were out and then I had my first adventure out of the house! After my shopping was finally delivered (had selected delivery between 8 and 11 and it arrived at 1.20pm grrr! Now I have free delivery on next order too) I went to the letter box hehe and opened up the front door to let some sunshine in. By night time I started to notice my glands under my chin were tender to touch, were quite large causing this big lump under my chin and my face is quite swollen…

Then Tuesday I had a little freak out after reading the medication fact sheet on the antibiotic as I was more swollen again when I got up and asked mum to come over and see what she thought and I also asked on the forums. It was all normal, not an allergic reaction but a post HSCT symptom of the steriods. As someone said welcome to the mellon head club! I was also getting the start of a cold so thats why they were tender under my chin too. I spent most of the day playing mario kart one the wii with Dom, was so much fun he loved it!

By Wednesday I had developed a bit of a phlegmy cough and found myself sleeping most of the day while Joan and Michael looked after Dominic then Joe took Bianca to the crows training and balfours pie night for the auskick kids and they both had a ball!

Then Thursday I was worried about my cold developing into something nasty but after checking and thinking that I was already on antibiotics for my sore throat when I left and am on antiviral medications for the month I figured there is nothing extra the Dr could do or suggest different so I am ok till I see my hematologist next week. I also still have some of the mouthwash from ISO that Dr Fedorenko gave me to bring home and am using that. I actually left the house today… I went with Joe to collect Bianca from school. I stayed in the car and it was worth it as Bianca was pleased to see me there even though it felt weird to be in a moving car lol.

I am feeling fine besides the cold, I still have some hair in patches on my head and most of my legs eek! I am able to cook and clean, I am on top of all the washing and have gone through the kids draws and cleaned out and re arranged their clothes, even though I only did this before I left but they have grown so much! Next week I am going to tackle my clothes and clean out my wardrobe and all my old toiletries and make up too, cleansing and being the new me!

Some people are asking if I have noticed any changes or am feeling better etc, I won’t know for some time yet and am expecting that once the steriods wear off in what could be a few weeks or as many as 6 or so weeks, that my body will more than likely crash as they help get you through the hard part of the chemo but only for a certain period. Once they are out of my system then the chemo will still be working and I could really notice the effects then. This is often referred to as the roller coaster 🎢 and brings with it highs and lows in recovery and fatigue and temporary worsening of old symptoms. Whilst improvements are going to be more than welcome the main goal is to stop the MS and halt it where it was and recovery is going to be a marathon and not a sprint!

Thank you everyone for your well wishes on returning home and I can’t wait to see you all soon xx