Day +282. Sixth day of fighting off this sickness and I think we’re finally making a breakthrough! Here’s a quick update of the past few days:

I was discharged on Tuesday, after being in the hospital for 4 days, with diagnoses of haemophilus influenzae (h flu) in my lungs aka pneumonia, and human parainfluenza 3 (HPIV). H flu is a bacterial infection that normally affects children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised so it comes as no surprise that I had it. Once the doctors were able to figure out I have H flu, they changed the course of antibiotics I was getting, et voila I began to feel better. Marginally. My doctors think the H flu was a red herring for the HPIV3.

HPIV3 is a viral infection that more often affects children, but also the immunocompromised, and often tags along with pneumonia or bronchiolitis. The only thing we could really do for this was to let my body work to fight it off. HPIVs are spread person to person by contact with infected secretions through respiratory droplets or contaminated surfaces or objects. The virus can remain infectious in airborne droplets for over an hour. I’ve been keeping myself cooped up in my room, coughing into tissues, constantly using hand sanitizer, and washing my hands to reduce the amount of viral particles that are floating around. Thankfully a good soap and warm water treatment will kill the virus, so handwashing has been crucial.

Today has been the first day since Saturday that I haven’t needed anything to help with fevers and body aches, meaning we’ve turned the page and are moving towards complete recovery. Kudos to my new immune system for ramping up the immune response and working so quickly! I couldn’t be more thrilled with how this sickness has progressed and the new graft is proving, again, to be a great one.

A huge thank you to my Ricky for being with me during most of my hospital stay and getting me soup, tissues, and gummis to brighten my day. :*