Cathy has now been home two and a half weeks after a miraculous last few days in the hospital. Three days prior to discharge her ANC count (a measure of her immune system and the number that dictates your fitness to fight any potential virus) was 0. Normal is >1,500. The next day it was 100. The day before discharge it jumped to 600. And the following morning it spike to 3,500! All of this means the stem cell transplant was a success and she could move on to the next phase of recovery in the comfort of her home.

Ahhh the taste of mask filtered freedom

While her counts look good and have continued to climb steadily over the last two weeks, that didn’t immediately contribute to physically feeling well. In fact, quite the opposite given that she is regenerating an entirely new immune system. The last two weeks have seen a bad reaction to an antibiotic, crushing fatigue, no appetite, constant nausea, and the list goes on and on. On top of this, a steady isolation protocol needed to be followed including a strict diet and cleanliness rules to eliminate any interaction with possible germs. This needed to be taken so seriously that Cathy required a live in caretaker. So we called in our secret weapon:

Wonder Woman: The Return of Christy Blaze

Cathy’s sister Christy once again put her life on hold, drove up from Tennessee, and took care of Cathy for the last two weeks. She made sure the house was clean, the laundry was always done, the mini pharmacy of pills was consumed on time and in the right order, the doctors and nurses were notified if anything seemed off, and the food was bought and prepared inline with Cathy’s strict dietary guidelines. But even more important than these incredibly time consuming, day-to-day tactical items, was the comfort that she provided not only to Mom, but to Lindsay and I as well. She was a tireless advocate, a helpful counselor, a caring nurse, and a literal safety net for us all. Saying “thank you” seems incredibly inadequate, but given that in this moment I can only deal in words, I hope that it conveys a small portion of our infinite gratitude.

A big shout out also goes out to Lindsay and Rob, who opened up their home to Owen for the last five (!!!!) weeks. Owen had so much fun that he actually didn’t want to move back home (sorry, Mom)!

So what’s next? Luckily, over the last four days Cathy has seemed to turn a corner. She’s still tired, but has felt better than she has in the last month. Tomorrow we have a follow up appointment with the Doctor and if everything goes according to plan, we think he’ll give the all clear to rejoin the world, so to speak. If that’s the case, you’ll find us at this time tomorrow enjoying a delicious steak at Outback. Fingers crossed!