August 10th, Day +25, Homecoming!

After a month since starting the BMT process and living in the hospital, Mike gets to come home. Obviously, Mike is thrilled to get out of that little hospital room. He was getting a little stir crazy and he'd had enough of the hospital food. I, too, am ecstatic to have him home but at the same time I'm a little nervous. At the hospital, you have this whole network of doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, nutritionists, physical therapists, and room cleaners--when you need any of them, they're just right outside your door. I could leave for a couple hours to run errands and know that he was in good hands. Now since Mike is discharged, it's just him....and me.

Mike met all the criteria for discharge: 1) his white blood cell count is slowly increasing (1.7 on 8/10) and his absolute neutrophil count is >500, 2) he is able to eat solids again and take his medicines orally (and not have them administered through IV), 3) and, he, in general, is feeling okay (able to walk, not disoriented, etc).

Yesterday, during his first night at home, he ran a low grade fever and had some minor diarreah. I have to take his temperature every couple of hours and around 11pm, it crept up to 100.7 F. If it goes over 100.4 F, I have to call the hospital and inform them. They recommended placing a cool towel on his head to help bring down the temperature. By this time, I was taking his temp every hour. By 1:40 AM, his temp had come down to 99.3 F and remained there until 5:30 AM. This morning, his temp is pretty much back to normal.

As his caregiver, I monitor his temp frequently, I administer his meds, monitor his urine and bowel movements, chart his intake of fluids and calories, remind him to do his mouth care (which he should do 4-5x daily) and some light exercises, keep the house as clean as possible, as well as conduct other household items (laundry, cleaning, bill paying, grocery shopping, cooking, etc). I sleep in the guest bedroom and use the guest bathroom so that the master bedroom and bathroom are solely for Mike's use.

Despite being released from the hospital, it does not mean that he is in the clear. His immune system is still slowly regenerating itself and he is still highly succeptible to infections for the next several months. So, unfortunately, no visitors to the house until later. But, Mike would love to hear from you, so phone calls (best time is in the early evenings) and emails are welcome though!

Pretty much every day we need to go back to the hospital--specifically, to the Infustion Treatment Area (ITA) at the Stanford Cancer Center. He gets his blood checked and if any levels are too high or too low, they will treat him accordingly. Today, for example, Mike's magnesium level was too low, so they infused him with magnesium. On Friday, they'll start giving him the drug DHPG intravenously for prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

Overall, Mike is feeling as well as can be (considering the circumstances). So far, he's ahead of the curve. He is a little fatigued and does not have a lot of energy, but that is to be expected after what he's gone through. Again, the nurses remind us that due to the complexity of his leukemia and the aggressive bone marrow transplant protocol that he's undergoing, it will be a yearlong recovery process.

He's one tough cookie and is on the road to recovery!
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P.S. Happy birthday to my sistah, Angie (8/10). Thanks for being a great, supportive sis...love you much.