I can’t believe I’ve been out of the hospital for almost 2 weeks now. Things have been going well, even ahead of schedule. Less than a week into my daily outpatient hospital visits, they allowed me to have the weekend “off”, and currently I only go into the hospital on Mondays and Thursdays for infusions and to check-in with the MD/APN/PharmD to address any concerns. When I don’t go into the hospital, I have my own IV infusions at home. They are nothing like the dreaded backpack I had last summer. Instead, each day I have two inflated balls that I hook myself up to that slowly deflate over 4-5 hours. As, strange as that sounds, it is so much better than going into the hospital daily.

The goal right now, is to balance my medications, watch for graft-versus-host disease, stay hydrated and nourished, track my blood counts, and soon they will test my stem cells to see if the donor’s stem cells are kicking out my old ones and becoming the majority. I will also have a PET scan on Thursday to scan my body for any increased uptake of glucose which could indicate lymphoma growth. We do not have any reason to suspect it is back, it is just time for a new check.

I keep thinking Amber is going to get on here and tell you what’s been going on from the kids’ perspective, but things have been so busy that I guess there hasn’t been time. The girls love school! It has been a HUGE blessing. Right now they are at a Houston Astro’s vs. Oakland A’s baseball game with their school. They are involved in track after school and tomorrow I hope to see them run at a meet. They’ve made friends, had a sleepover, went out for a celebratory dinner for a friend’s First Communion – their classes are very small and they have really felt welcomed and special.  They’ve also enjoyed going to the beach in Galveston (and eating lots of seafood), joining a welcoming local family for their Easter celebration which included a lot of fun for the kids, and the 7 of us took an impromptu overnight trip to the Hill Country last weekend where the kids saw beautiful scenery, wildflowers, alpacas, jackrabbits, antelope, etc – It felt a little like a safari at one point. Once, again our friend’s aunt and uncle opened up their ranch home for us to stay the night. I’m starting to think that this is going to be a highlight of their life instead of “that scary time when Mom was sick and we had to go to Houston.”

That is definitely God’s blessing in this. The kids are so resilient and love the excitement of each day – even Harrison loves trying the new playgrounds around here, eating lunch with my parents, grocery shopping, running as fast as he can through the apartment complex, etc. My body has been stronger than what is typical. Yes, I’m very very fatigued, but I can exercise some, hang out with the family, enjoy good food, and generally stay mentally strong – although it is all overwhelming at times. I really believe the power of prayer is being seen through the day-to-day within our family. This could all be so much harder. Instead, we actually can see the privilege sometimes in going through this experience.

Thank you for your love and support! Please continue your prayers – especially for good results on the upcoming scan.