HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After 25 days (the usual stay is 28+ days), I am finally home! Of course, I spread the good news earlier that I was going home. Well, it took over 5 hours to cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s before I could actually leave the hospital. I am to treat my stay at home as an extension of my hospital stay – no contact with crowds; no contact with children; if I get any infection, or feel a cold coming on, I am to contact a doctor immediately and go to a hospital to get antibiotics as my resistance to disease is still not quite up to normal. I can, however, eat and drink whatever I want so I had 1 glass of wine with my dinner. It capped off a fantastic day.
How long I stay at home, I do not know. I am to call the doctor on Monday to find out the next step in the process. I guess that the doctors decided not to do the next marrow biopsy – I didn’t ask. When I heard that I could go home, I did not want anything to jeopardize that decree.
My mother, sister, and brother-in-law came by this afternoon not knowing that I was going to be leaving. But it worked out fine since it took so long to finalize the discharge papers and we had a great visit.
So it will be a little R&R tomorrow and until I find out what the next step in the process will be.
Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers – you are all doing such a wonderful job!!!!!!!
Bob
November 29, 2008 12:20 PM
It’s happened!!!!!!
The doctor came in a few minutes ago and informed me that my counts were high enough and continuing to rapidly climb so that there was no reason that I could not go HOME TODAY!!!!!!!
Fortunately Nancy brought my clothes back from home this morning otherwise I would leave here in my johnny, those lovely pants, my bathrobe, and those lovely sox that they provide you! That’s a sight that people do not deserve to see!
I also was given the go ahead to shave as well. And, boy does that feel good – the scruffy look doesn’t do it for me. As for the hair on the top of my head, my wife likens it to molting as I have a few bald patches scattered around here and there.
Needless to say, we are both very excited!!! No more hospital food, my own bed, and no more urinating into a container – life is good!!!!
More news to follow.
Bob
The doctor came in a few minutes ago and informed me that my counts were high enough and continuing to rapidly climb so that there was no reason that I could not go HOME TODAY!!!!!!!
Fortunately Nancy brought my clothes back from home this morning otherwise I would leave here in my johnny, those lovely pants, my bathrobe, and those lovely sox that they provide you! That’s a sight that people do not deserve to see!
I also was given the go ahead to shave as well. And, boy does that feel good – the scruffy look doesn’t do it for me. As for the hair on the top of my head, my wife likens it to molting as I have a few bald patches scattered around here and there.
Needless to say, we are both very excited!!! No more hospital food, my own bed, and no more urinating into a container – life is good!!!!
More news to follow.
Bob
November 28, 2008 7:45 PM
It was a very pleasant day for me as friends and my son stopped by. The visits, as always, are much appreciated to help while away the time but, more importantly, to have the opportunity to reconnect with people and share what’s currently going on in our lives – though I think that most people have a pretty good idea what’s going on in my life!
The good news is that my counts are really starting to rise now and the prospect of going home soon seems to be just around the corner. I think, before I go home however, that they will do 1 more bone marrow biopsy just before I leave. This is to get an updated status as to where I stand. The results do not gate going home – in fact, the results won’t even be back before I leave here. However, the results are very important to the doctors as it helps them to best determine the next course of action.
When I do go home, I fully intend to keep this blog going to report to you all what is going on. I do not intend to make the entries of a “Dear Diary” nature telling you what I ate for breakfast, what TV shows I watched, who I talked to on the phone, etc. As you all know, this is a long process with more visits to the hospital on the horizon, more chemo, more testing, chances of relapse, etc. and, I am sure, there will be some ups and downs as I make my way along the road to recovery. As you can tell, I am being rather positive about the outcome, here. But, it’s the only way to be! And why not! Because of all of you – your thoughts and prayers - I have been given a great jump start that I see making the next steps go easier.
Bob
The good news is that my counts are really starting to rise now and the prospect of going home soon seems to be just around the corner. I think, before I go home however, that they will do 1 more bone marrow biopsy just before I leave. This is to get an updated status as to where I stand. The results do not gate going home – in fact, the results won’t even be back before I leave here. However, the results are very important to the doctors as it helps them to best determine the next course of action.
When I do go home, I fully intend to keep this blog going to report to you all what is going on. I do not intend to make the entries of a “Dear Diary” nature telling you what I ate for breakfast, what TV shows I watched, who I talked to on the phone, etc. As you all know, this is a long process with more visits to the hospital on the horizon, more chemo, more testing, chances of relapse, etc. and, I am sure, there will be some ups and downs as I make my way along the road to recovery. As you can tell, I am being rather positive about the outcome, here. But, it’s the only way to be! And why not! Because of all of you – your thoughts and prayers - I have been given a great jump start that I see making the next steps go easier.
Bob
November 27, 2008 8:05 PM
It was a good day for me. I hope that it was a great holiday for each of you as well. For me, breakfast was brought in by wife and one of my daughters and her husband. They left to go to my sister-in-laws for the day and then my wife returned along with my sister-in-law, one of my nieces, and my wife’s cousin bringing my Thanksgiving dinner – appetizers, dinner, and dessert. I’m stuffed!!!!!!
Last night around 9:00, the original intern assigned to me stopped by for a personal visit. As I mentioned before, they rotate off once a month. This man is a super doctor; his concern is always for the patient and this was only reinforced by his personal interest in following up on my status by stopping by last night. I only mention this because he brought up something that I had completely forgotten about. During the early stages of chemo when I was feeling no side effects and seemed to be unfazed by the whole process, I had made a definitive comment to him that I was going to defy the odds by not being overcome by any side effects and that things were going to go well for me. He reminded me of that comment and how prophetic it has turned out to be when he stated that, amazingly, I have remained unfazed by everything that has been thrown at me so far – most certainly defying all the odds! Of course, I am not undergoing this alone. A huge support system that is provided by each one of you certainly helps a lot – something of which he was not aware!
It looks like my counts are beginning to increase as they are supposed to while the hair on the top of my head continues to do what it is supposed to – slowly fall out! So going home for me may be just around the corner – yahoo!!!!!
As an aside, my wife’s cousin told me that his family in Greece is following my blog as well. So now I have gone international!
Well, its time to watch 1 more football game. In so saying, I’m being kind when I refer to the first 2 games as “games” – Detroit and Seattle were pathetic!
Bob
Last night around 9:00, the original intern assigned to me stopped by for a personal visit. As I mentioned before, they rotate off once a month. This man is a super doctor; his concern is always for the patient and this was only reinforced by his personal interest in following up on my status by stopping by last night. I only mention this because he brought up something that I had completely forgotten about. During the early stages of chemo when I was feeling no side effects and seemed to be unfazed by the whole process, I had made a definitive comment to him that I was going to defy the odds by not being overcome by any side effects and that things were going to go well for me. He reminded me of that comment and how prophetic it has turned out to be when he stated that, amazingly, I have remained unfazed by everything that has been thrown at me so far – most certainly defying all the odds! Of course, I am not undergoing this alone. A huge support system that is provided by each one of you certainly helps a lot – something of which he was not aware!
It looks like my counts are beginning to increase as they are supposed to while the hair on the top of my head continues to do what it is supposed to – slowly fall out! So going home for me may be just around the corner – yahoo!!!!!
As an aside, my wife’s cousin told me that his family in Greece is following my blog as well. So now I have gone international!
Well, its time to watch 1 more football game. In so saying, I’m being kind when I refer to the first 2 games as “games” – Detroit and Seattle were pathetic!
Bob
November 26, 2008 8:00 PM
The first thing that I want to do is to wish everyone a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. Obviously, I will not be home for the holiday; but the plan is to have some of the family stop by in the morning and bring me breakfast and then, later in the afternoon, return with my Thanksgiving dinner.
As for me, I consider myself blessed to have so many people who have taken the time to call, to send cards, to send e-mails, to visit, and to pray for me. You are all a blessing to me and I am deeply appreciative of the fact that you do take the time in your daily lives to think of me. Its times like these that most certainly bring home the message that the important things in life are people – not things! So when you give thanks tomorrow – give thanks for your family, neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. While the turkey and trimmings nourish your body its all those people who nourish your life!
The doctors continue to be amazed at my condition. One doctor said this morning that I must have great internal resources to feel the way that I do. We all know, of course, that the external prayer resources that all of you contribute certainly plays a major part in this as well.
Likewise, in the afternoon, someone from the nutritionist department (oh, that is such a misnomer – the food is barely edible, so how can anyone get any nutrition from it!) stopped by and asked how I was doing. Did I have any pain? Did I have any nausea? Was I able to eat OK? When I answered that I had no problems, she stated that I was very lucky! Again, I know that luck is not playing any role in my recovery.
Everything is still going according to plan which, hopefully, translates into going home in another week or so. They say that it’s usually 28 days from when the chemo started which would make the day be next Wednesday.
The hair on the top of my head continues to fall out at night as my head rubs on the pillow. So far, there does not seem to be any other loss of hair.
Tonight’s dining “delight” was the meatball sub. It was edible, but it had little or no flavor. I think that the first thing that they teach them at institution cooking school is to avoid the spice rack at all costs! I can hardly wait to get home, to actually eat real food 3 times a day, and to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner!
Enjoy the holiday everyone!
Bob
As for me, I consider myself blessed to have so many people who have taken the time to call, to send cards, to send e-mails, to visit, and to pray for me. You are all a blessing to me and I am deeply appreciative of the fact that you do take the time in your daily lives to think of me. Its times like these that most certainly bring home the message that the important things in life are people – not things! So when you give thanks tomorrow – give thanks for your family, neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. While the turkey and trimmings nourish your body its all those people who nourish your life!
The doctors continue to be amazed at my condition. One doctor said this morning that I must have great internal resources to feel the way that I do. We all know, of course, that the external prayer resources that all of you contribute certainly plays a major part in this as well.
Likewise, in the afternoon, someone from the nutritionist department (oh, that is such a misnomer – the food is barely edible, so how can anyone get any nutrition from it!) stopped by and asked how I was doing. Did I have any pain? Did I have any nausea? Was I able to eat OK? When I answered that I had no problems, she stated that I was very lucky! Again, I know that luck is not playing any role in my recovery.
Everything is still going according to plan which, hopefully, translates into going home in another week or so. They say that it’s usually 28 days from when the chemo started which would make the day be next Wednesday.
The hair on the top of my head continues to fall out at night as my head rubs on the pillow. So far, there does not seem to be any other loss of hair.
Tonight’s dining “delight” was the meatball sub. It was edible, but it had little or no flavor. I think that the first thing that they teach them at institution cooking school is to avoid the spice rack at all costs! I can hardly wait to get home, to actually eat real food 3 times a day, and to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner!
Enjoy the holiday everyone!
Bob
November 25, 2008 7:30 PM
The really good news of the day was that yesterday they sliced deeper into my bone marrow sample that they had from last week and redid the test and once again there was absolutely no sign of cancer cells. The bottom line from all this was that I now do not need to have a second bone marrow biopsy done – a relief for me as they are literally a pain in the ass!
So now I am literally in waiting mode until my counts go up so that I can go home. They continually feed me the antibiotics as I said before but that is it!
Well, it was another adventure in dining tonight! I branched out and ordered the “grilled sirloin burger”. On the menu it states that, “Brigham and Women’s hospital Food Service cooks raw meats well done”. I think that what this means is that they start cooking all the hamburgers at 5:00 in the morning and leave them on the grill until someone dares to ask for one. When the hamburger arrived, it was completely devoid of any juices, whatsoever, and hard as a hockey puck. Feeling courageous, I took one bite anyway and told my wife that I couldn’t eat it. I then offered her a bite to prove my point. With some reluctance, she took her bite and immediately commented, “That’s gross!” So each time that I order something new, I get the opportunity to scratch another item off the list of options. Pretty soon we’ll get down to PB&J as the only edible option outside of breakfast.
Unfortunately, during the bone marrow transplant portion of the program, you are not allowed to eat any food from the outside. When you juxtapose that with the fact that you cannot eat the inside food either – its going to make for some pretty rough times! However, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Bob
So now I am literally in waiting mode until my counts go up so that I can go home. They continually feed me the antibiotics as I said before but that is it!
Well, it was another adventure in dining tonight! I branched out and ordered the “grilled sirloin burger”. On the menu it states that, “Brigham and Women’s hospital Food Service cooks raw meats well done”. I think that what this means is that they start cooking all the hamburgers at 5:00 in the morning and leave them on the grill until someone dares to ask for one. When the hamburger arrived, it was completely devoid of any juices, whatsoever, and hard as a hockey puck. Feeling courageous, I took one bite anyway and told my wife that I couldn’t eat it. I then offered her a bite to prove my point. With some reluctance, she took her bite and immediately commented, “That’s gross!” So each time that I order something new, I get the opportunity to scratch another item off the list of options. Pretty soon we’ll get down to PB&J as the only edible option outside of breakfast.
Unfortunately, during the bone marrow transplant portion of the program, you are not allowed to eat any food from the outside. When you juxtapose that with the fact that you cannot eat the inside food either – its going to make for some pretty rough times! However, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Bob
November 24, 2008 7:40 PM
Well, it was another quiet day here in paradise. I had 2 sets of visitors – in the morning a friend was here and in the early afternoon my boss and his wife stopped in. Both visits were very pleasant and much appreciated as every day portends another full day of boredom and the visits do help so much to make the time go by.
The bone marrow biopsy did not occur today – so I can look forward to possibly having it done tomorrow – we’ll see as it has still not been formally scheduled.
Tomorrow marks 3 weeks in here – time flies fast when you are having fun! And, right on schedule, it looks like some of my hair is beginning to fall out. Here and there on the pillow you can see whiskers or hair from the top of my head – you can’t tell the difference because both are about the same length!
Still have no idea when I will go home but I’m hoping that it happens some time in the next 2 weeks. I must admit that I am beginning to get antsy at this point and home seems mighty appealing right now. For sure, I will spend Thanksgiving here. As one of the doctors said we are not looking at this year’s holidays – we are looking at next years!
Not much more to share. No little stories to tell and no new details as to what’s next as I sit here every day waiting for my counts to rise. Looking at the bright side of things, I hear that the weather has been very cold lately. And, of course, I do not have to go out in it! I do, however, fully expect to freeze my butt off when the time comes that I can go outside – especially since I have not been exposed to the weather and have not had the luxury of gradually getting used to the beginning of winter! Hopefully, discharge day will be a warm day.
Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers as they seem to be working very, very well!
Bob
The bone marrow biopsy did not occur today – so I can look forward to possibly having it done tomorrow – we’ll see as it has still not been formally scheduled.
Tomorrow marks 3 weeks in here – time flies fast when you are having fun! And, right on schedule, it looks like some of my hair is beginning to fall out. Here and there on the pillow you can see whiskers or hair from the top of my head – you can’t tell the difference because both are about the same length!
Still have no idea when I will go home but I’m hoping that it happens some time in the next 2 weeks. I must admit that I am beginning to get antsy at this point and home seems mighty appealing right now. For sure, I will spend Thanksgiving here. As one of the doctors said we are not looking at this year’s holidays – we are looking at next years!
Not much more to share. No little stories to tell and no new details as to what’s next as I sit here every day waiting for my counts to rise. Looking at the bright side of things, I hear that the weather has been very cold lately. And, of course, I do not have to go out in it! I do, however, fully expect to freeze my butt off when the time comes that I can go outside – especially since I have not been exposed to the weather and have not had the luxury of gradually getting used to the beginning of winter! Hopefully, discharge day will be a warm day.
Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers as they seem to be working very, very well!
Bob
November 23, 2008 8:25 PM
Well, any day that the Patriots garner a win is a good day isn’t it?
A day for visits by the kids – my daughter JoAnne and son Steve in the morning and my daughter Jennifer and her husband Mike in the afternoon. Jen and Mike brought me my lunch – a turkey dinner from Boston Market. Very tasty! My son brought me letters that my 8 year old granddaughter, Marisa had written for me and they are always a great pleasure to read and very uplifting! All in all, had a good time with both visits.
The doctor stopped by this morning and basically stated that they would like to do the next marrow biopsy tomorrow as there is no reason to wait. So we will see how that works out as time goes by because no one has formally stated that it is going to happen for sure on Monday.
So that was the day, very quiet and nice!
Bob
A day for visits by the kids – my daughter JoAnne and son Steve in the morning and my daughter Jennifer and her husband Mike in the afternoon. Jen and Mike brought me my lunch – a turkey dinner from Boston Market. Very tasty! My son brought me letters that my 8 year old granddaughter, Marisa had written for me and they are always a great pleasure to read and very uplifting! All in all, had a good time with both visits.
The doctor stopped by this morning and basically stated that they would like to do the next marrow biopsy tomorrow as there is no reason to wait. So we will see how that works out as time goes by because no one has formally stated that it is going to happen for sure on Monday.
So that was the day, very quiet and nice!
Bob
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