On the other side of the street

I found out yesterday at one of my appointments that I almost broke the record for fastest stem-cell transplant discharge on day +14. After being discharged I spent 4 days at the hotel connected to the hospital. My cousin Gary and his wife Diane came for two days and they were fabulous company. Of course Stephen traveled back and forth as much as he could and Alana came too. I had a mini-fridge and microwave so breakfast and lunch were covered: instant oatmeal and bagels with lox spread. Even though we were minutes from a multitude of restaurants, I was too weak to walk that far and so took advantage of the courtesy mini-van which will take you anywhere you would like to go. I have always enjoyed Udon noodle soup and we found a Japanese restaurant close by and it surely hit the spot!

On Friday Stephen and I moved into the apartment across the street - and I must say it is great looking back at the hospital! Stephen spent the weekend procuring and preparing a wide variety of foods to have at hand for several days which has been a great help. He also managed to get me outside so I could start to discover a few blocks around the apartment. My weekend goal was to be able to cross Forest Park Ave in the 30 seconds provided by the crosswalk - goal achieved on Monday morning on my way to an appointment!

My mom arrived Wednesday and Thursday I was able to walk from the apartment, albeit quite slowly, north on Euclid as far as the Chase Park Plaza Hotel on Maryland Avenue. This was great because I so enjoyed looking at the hotel illuminated each night from the hospital and now I can walk to it. Speaking of walking slowly; Stephen was a bit concerned that I would surely be a potential target for purse snatchers in the Central West End but I assured him that with my aqua mask and head wrapped in a colorful scarf I will probably scare off any potential offender.

The apartment is comfortable and although the traffic is audible from Forest Park Ave it quiets down at night and I would say sure beats listening to the click and hum of the IV pump all night. The great thing is that I can still hear the helicopters coming in to land at the hospital. I always smile and think perhaps they are delivering somebody's stem cell donation.

So, at this time my counts are starting to go down, entering a "valley" as they said. There will be an eventual leveling off but it will take a bit of time. Next week on day 30 I will have a bone marrow aspiration (I think it will be my eighth since June, but who's counting?) and the expected results should be that all the cells are the donor cells, which would mean they have engrafted successfully. I will cross my fingers and toes! Speaking of bone marrow aspirations, my last one, just prior to my conditioning chemo for the stem cell transplant was performed by a first year Fellow who mentioned that of the dozen or so that he had done, I was the fourth patient who only used a local anesthetic, the other three were Marines at the VA - I guess I am part of an elite corps!

Thank you to everyone for great Blog posts, phone calls, emails, running errands, bringing over beautiful meals, etc. Your friendship and support continues to enrich our lives and brighten each day.

We wish everyone a wonderful holiday break filled with family, fun and beautiful candlelight. Speaking of candle and "match", I just watched the Maccabeats New Chanukkah video and was pleasantly surprised to see that they have teamed up with The Gift of Life Donor Program (although a separate organization, works with The National Marrow Donor Program) to raise money to process cheek swabs to help find a "match" for patients in need. Here is the link, check it out and enjoy the music too!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MaccabeatsChannel