Finally home!!!!

Ok, so I came home Monday afternoon. What a wonderful feeling it was leaving the hospital and walking into the arms of my two babies! I felt better than I had expected, so instead of staying with my dad for a week (the original plan) I decided to go straight home. I was just so homesick. It's been a rather quiet week, too. I had my doctor's appointment Tuesday, counts looked good so I had two days off and returned Friday. My platelets jumped from 42 to 172 in two days!! Because of that, I was able to remove my catheter Friday....no more wires hanging out of me!!! It was a very busy day Friday and I spent half my day at the hospital. But, the good news is I don't have to go back until Wednesday. And I was taken off two of my antibiotics, so that's only like 50 pills I have to take each day. j/k! I've been resting a lot, just taking lots of naps throughout the day and still tired by 9:00 p.m.! I have ventured out to some stores, of course I don't leave home without my mask. A couple of kids said "Look, mom! A nurse!!" It was pretty funny. At least it's better than scaring them. :)

I know I was spared from a lot of complications and I can only attribute that to having been blessed with a resilient body. I mean, look at my bones - it takes two people to break off a piece for my bone marrows!! :) I seem to have recovered quicker than normal too. My nurses were quite impressed with how well I've bounced back. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I keep waiting for the real suffering to begin, isn't that what I'm supposed to be going through? Don't get me wrong, I had a few bad days there but not nearly as bad as I was expecting or have heard others go through. I just can't seem to grasp the idea of getting off this easy and being cancer free. Maybe I'm just being too hard on myself. I do have a high tolerance for pain. Maybe that's why it wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. I just tolerated it better than others? Anyway, I have my CT/PET scans the last week in November. I will try not to let the scanxiety get to me. I have to remember I was clean in September and I will be clean again.

My dear friend and Pi Phi sister, Amy Smith, is running in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training Marathon in Nashville, TN in April 2008. She's running in my honor. I was so touched she would not only train intensely for this 26 mile marathon, but she would travel to a different state to run to help raise funds for the LLS and run in my honor. So, we need to make sure she reaches her fundraising goal of $3,400. This money is used by the LLS for all sorts of programs. I was amazed and grateful to learn that I could be reimbursed for mileage to and from the hospital, for my medical prescription co pays and for parking fees. These quickly add up when you are making numerous trips to the hospital on a weekly basis. Every penny counts when you are battling this disease and to get some reimbursement was a huge relief to our family. Here is the link, but I will also post it permanently on my page so it won't get lost in the archives.

Amy Smith's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training web page:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntil/tntilASmith

I also wanted to say Thank You to everyone who supported my family while I was in the hospital. Liz, I will never be able to repay you for everything you have done for our family. To our customers and work colleagues, thank you so much for the dinners. Your generosity continues to amaze me. To everyone who sent cards, thank you. They mean so much to us and continue to give us strength and some much needed smiles! Cindy - Thank you for the stamps, they were very much needed!! I know we have been blessed to know each and every one of you. You have made this difficult journey more tolerable and definitely less stressful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With much, much love,
Brandy