We got very good news yesterday from my blood counts. My White Count and Platelet Count were high enough to meet the criteria for discharge from the hospital. So today about 2,30PM I got to ride in the wheel chair through the hospital, out the lobby and into the parking lot so Joyce could pick me up. The hospital wants us to stay in the area for a few days, just in case, so they got us an apartment near the hospital for a few days. We are settled in the apartment and just finished dinner. We have an appointment in the Infusion Transplant Area for blood tests Thursday afternoon. if my platelet count is above 50 I might be able to get chest line taken out. More likely it will happen late next week when we come back for another blood test. The picture above is of us celebrating discharge with the unit nurses and staff. On the right the good news is announced on my room information board. Again, we are thankful for your prayers. We know they have been a big factor in this process. Sometime ask us about some of the things that have happened to us and we will talk about it.
I have to say that the transplant process was quite an ordeal. I have handled the past chemo treatments pretty well, but this one was way beyond that. The 3 chemo sessions in 5 days were far more concentrated and intense than all the previous ones put together. This is why I had to stay 3 weeks in the hospital while getting them. I heard quite a list of possible side effects and I know the strategy of this treatment is to almost kill the body in order to kill all the cancer. I knew this coming and was expecting to experience some of them. The 2 main side effects I had were a bad rash (left) and mouth sores. Of course, all my hair is gone too. The mouth sores were the worst because I could not swallow and they forced me to push the pain med button more than anything else. The rash was more annoying. Both of these are common side effects. it is amazing how fast they are going away after my blood counts have come up. The rash is beginning to fade and I was able to eat a bowl of hot potato soup with bacon tonight!
Finally, Our discharge was complicated a bit when Joyce tripped over a construction barrier in the hospital parking lot. She was moving some of our stuff to the van last night so we 
wouldn’t have so much to do today. They got her right into the ER and treated her. She is fine now with no broken bones. She has some soft tissue damage in her left knee and black left eye. She also broke her glasses but did bring her spare pair with her. So, last night she was a fellow patient with me in the hospital. The nurses told me that this is quite a common occurrence with caregivers.
So this process was quite an adventure for us. Now we are praying for the “cancer free” pronouncement in a few months. We should be back in Shingle Springs on Friday or Saturday. I’ll be quite restricted in diet and where I can go until December 15th. After that we’d love to talk about what God has done in our lives so far. Many blessings, like Clark and Deb who let Joyce stay with them while I was in the hospital even though they had never met us before! Thank you for praying.
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