This week was an important week, as I have several apointments at my two favorite places: Tenon hospital and Saint Antoine hospital!
On monday morning, I had a photopheresis treatment: no big deal, as I already had more than twenty photopheresis. As a thank you for the fantastic nurses working there, I brought a carrot cake and a banana bread: big success!
Tuesday was the day! In the morning, I went to the Tenon hospital at the dermatology department to have the carcinoma treated. On arrival, the doctor put on it a cream containing a photosensitizer, and we had to wait for 3 hours, until the sensitizer could spread in the carcinoma. Then, using a strong IR lamp, the dynamic phototherapy was performed: very hot, but the skin is cooled down by spraying water (by the doctor of course since I cannot move!). It lasted 10mn, then I was expecting to be released…. Not! The doctor checked the whole body to be sure that nothing was left unexplored! Doctors are very carefull ;-)!
We took two buses to then go to my favorite spot in Paris: Saint Antoine hospital! I had a regular apointment with my graft doctor, the famous Doctor Yes! As I had no left signs of GvHc in the mouth and on the skin, I expected that she would lower the amount of cyclosporine I take each day. And yes! She told me that from now the amount of néoral I had to take would be twice 20 mg by day! Big victory! I am so grateful to her! I was looking forward to this great news from months :-)! She also gave me the blood analysis results: almost perfect, with just the red blood cells count being a little low.
She also told me that to stay on a safe side, we should not change at the same time the cyclosporine and the photopheresis. So I will continue my monthly visits to Marceline for the photopheresis!
I am now 22 months after the graft. Between the end of may and the begining of june, I will have several exams to check if everything is OK: it will be my second year anniversary!
I would like to take the oportunity to thank again and again and again my stem cells donor, the doctors at Saint Antoine, the nurses, my wonderful family: if I am here today it is because they did a fantastic job. I love them all!
Take care and enjoy life!
ppmhk 