Dietary Restrictions

One of the key features of a bone marrow transplant is that for a while the population of white blood cells (B lymphocytes, I think) in your blood drops to zero for several days. This disables roughly half of your immune system (there are two halves, which rely respectively on B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes) and leaves you at significant risk of illness and infection. Fortunately stem cells are industrious little buggers and six or seven days after being returned to your system, have implanted, reproduced, and completely rebuilt your population of white blood cells.

The practical result of this is that for a while you have to take fairly stringent measures to prevent illness and infection. You can't go to any sort of public function such as a concert or a movie. You have to avoid sick people like, well, the plague. You can't use knives or sharp instruments, as the slightest cut can result in disaster. You have to wear masks, take prophylactic antibiotics, and avoid cats (apparently because bacteria from their litter boxes lingers on their stinky little feet).

But the part that really galls is the list of dietary restrictions. No fresh vegetables of any kind. No fresh fruit, except basically bananas. No buffets. No fast food. No nuts (apparently nuts can and occasionally do carry the aflatoxin fungus). No restaurants. No leftovers. No pepper unless you put it in the food at the outset and cook it. No microwave ovens, when they argue don't heat foods evenly and leave pockets of potentially lethal bacteria here and there. About the only things you can really eat with a clear conscience are things that have been wildly overcooked to kill bacteria, or things out of cans, which I guess are wildly overcooked as a matter of manufacturing process.

Now I get around to my point. There's a Chinese buffet that we go to fairly often. Buffets are the kiss of death for someone with an impaired immune system, and they probably aren't good ideas for anyone at all. But I do happen to like Americanized Chinese food, and I rather miss the buffet and its ridiculous wonton soup (I call it ridiculous because I think it's 99.9% chicken broth and 0.1% other stuff).

Today I spent six hours at work, which was rather a long time. Afterwards I felt pretty good, so I went to the hobby shop and bought some glue (two kinds of glue, not that it matters). And on the way home I stopped at a menu-based Chinese restaurant called Big Heng to satisfy my months-old craving for Chinese food. Hey, it isn't a buffet, right? And they did clear me to eat at restaurants so long as I didn't eat anything raw. I brought dinner home, ate, and felt good enough to go outside and work on my Imhotep model for a while, till my bald head got uncomfortably cold.

My point - my real point - is that I did a lot today, and never really got that tired. Compared to the wretched ass-draggery I experienced last week, I feel really quite strong and rested. Is this just the result of taking it easy over the weekend, or is my body really getting stronger and fitter? I vote for the latter. And now that I have two kinds of glue, the sky's the limit.