Sunday, July 30, 2006 Update 17, LAST NEXT
We made it! I was finally discharged on Day +19 from Unit 57 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 after having spent two glorious days/nights at home on Sunday and Monday on 'day passes'. I had to be at the hospital early on Monday & Tuesday for bloodwork, etc and it was late afternoon by the time I could go home. I am certain that your prayers and positive thoughts have had a HUGE impact on how things have gone overall, which is turning out to be pretty good. I've been told at the hospital that I'm looking good and doing very well. It's the truth! I am finally starting to eat, I had been pretty slack in that department at the hospital, and generally speaking am feeling great!
The biggest issue is the edema in my legs. I don't think my calves could possibly get any bigger. It's a major workout just to get the support stockings on. Hopefully I won't need them much longer, today I could actually see and feel my knees!. It'll take a week or two, I expect, before that will be completely resolved. Although I am eating, it's not a whole lot, my taste buds have lost a lot of their sensitivity. My heart has been behaving itself and am having my meds gradually titrated to the regimen that I was on before being hospitalized. I haven't shaved for over a week and haven't needed to. So, the loss of hair due to chemo is happening. I have been very busy tackling my list of over 30 tasks, projects, activities, etc that I intend to accomplish over the course of the next several months. I have not been bored. Somehow I'm still getting by with less than four hours of sleep at night and a short nap or two during the day.
So, there you have it. It's all good. I will be going to the BMT, where the action is these days, on Monday for the usual bloodwork, etc, and another appointment with the wonderful Dr Chaudhry. Thanks to him I was able to get on the wonder drug, Kepivance, which resulted in no otherwise predicted mouth sores, pain, etc. On the way home from my visit to the BMT on Friday, Lisa and I ran into Dr Bahlis who commented that I could be a 'poster boy' for Kepivance! From Thursday on I will only need to go to the BMT weekly, not sure for how long, but I will soon be having the CVC line removed. Halleluiah!!
Once again I want to thank you all so much from the depths of my heart and soul for your support. As I've stated before, I don't intend to just survive this thing. I plan to THRIVE! I have posted some more pictures of my journey as a sort of scrapbook. CLICK HERE
That's it for now.
Much love,
BobbyPS: Click on this graphic of my chart while I was hospitalized. Brad, one of the nurses and a great guy, put it together. The guitar was a nice touch. I have circled the blood counts for the first day. From top to bottom the numbers mean the following : white cells, hemoglobin, platelets, potassium and creatinine.
