49.  PEACE!  My War and Peace Journey to Russia is at PEACE!  I am preparing to go home now!

Сме́лость города́ берёт.

                                     Courage overcomes all obstacles.

 Literal: Bravery takes cities.

There is that one day in the long HSCT process that signals success. Today is my BIG day!  My War and Peace story is now solidly all about PEACE within. My immune system is building like wildfire, and Dr. Fedorenko just walked in with only a face mask, lightens my isolation level a notch and tells me my leukocyte level exceeded 1.1 (million), and that is engraftment. It's all just filling in the spaces now and the process is working perfectly. 

I am so lucky!  To be here!  To have gone through HSCT as smoothly as I have.  To have been able to grasp the chance and pay for it easily out of pocket. To have had such excellent friends whose HSCT journey guided mine. To have such amazing positive support from all family and friends throughout. They trusted me to find the path I needed and knew I would do it the right way. I never got 'blow-back' in my 3-year journey to HSCT except from my own Neuro.  We will have a serious talk about that part later.

So, this is my very short good news post for today. 

I expect to leave Moscow May 10, hoping to be home by 11th, latest. A little shifting of airline tickets to maneuver. THAT will be the simplest thing I've done in 2 months. 

I've got this!  And my new immune system, though you and I can't see it - well, it is BEAUTIFUL!

Yes, I know there is a good 3-6 month period where I will still be healing, perhaps a blip or two might pop up. But I'm fully prepared to match those head-on, as I have with CIDP.  I'm strong, resolute, a VERY good patient, (though not a patient one) and I am a WARRIOR!  

Blathering,  but hopefully not ineffectively so:

Thank you for following my blathering the best you could. Know that my goals for this blog have been:

 1. A way to keep in positive touch with my family who worry from afar - give them good news and keep them informed in detail so they know I'm safe and all is going well. No sense letting even the grandkids worry, not a bit. Gram's doing great, and they've helped me all along. Together, we are a formidable force, my family and friends and I. I am so grateful!

 2. Account as closely as I can for the Moscow experience of HSCT, and help ease the way for you who are on your way here, or will be. 

 3. To focus on the greater issue of autoimmune illnesses that are being $farmed instead of cured. And to do anything I can to get that wrong righted.  

 4. To not be only advocate of Dr. Fedorenko (the Angel!) but to promote the changes that bring us each HSCT in our own locations, nearer our own families, safely and openly available.  I hope each of you will understand that the legacy of my blathering lies in this #4, and that you will ALL push push push until we get the wrong righted, and change the way healthcare stands. The business model is all wrong in the USA. There is no $$ in CURE, but tremendous profits taken from endless maintenance of people who deserve to know they do not have to live invalid or diminished lives. And it's economics 1 - it's cheaper by far to heal us than to endlessly treat us. ONLY the Big Pharma comes out ahead. STAY ON OUR SOAP BOXES, help me change things, please. 

5. To give glimpses of Russia, itself, and the experience of being amongst wonderful Russian people I have truly grown to love.  All Nations have their challenges.  For me, I have claimed PEACE from autoimmune WAR, here in Moscow. And I will forever love Russia for just that alone.  I can easily overlook her rough spots. It is the heart I see. Dr. Fedorenko and his entire staff have been wonderful.  I will blog one entry to show you more of them, attach a name as I have learned them. Be good to them when you come. They are angels!

It turns out I was tall enough to take on the city of Moscow (and HSCT), after all (slight edit to Gary Larsen's art, sorry). I have always loved this particular poster. I find some visuals to just be worth, well, 1000 words. So this is me, I came, I did battle , and I have WON PEACE from CIDP. I hope anyone who follows will have excellent outcome!  

Remember, I am the oldest to undergo HSCT here in Moscow, and the first (by only 7 days) treated for CIDP (Jamie Stewart is #2, and I think we co-share #1). Do not think that age is a barrier to HSCT. It is your biological age that matters. Try to get healthy as you can ahead of HSCT, then do it all the very best you can. Being a good patient is vital to your successful HSCT.

Oh, and:

One of the nurses (I think it was Olga) popped a Moscow magnet onto my fridge weeks ago. You KNOW this one will go right on my fridge at home. I am a fridge magent traveler. THIS one means amazing miracle-like things to me.

Okay, that's a wrap for today. I've got some reading and a nap planned. And my stem cells are non-stop machinery within. 

I am SO proud of my stem cells.