Today, I was once again released from the hospital. When I was readmitted this past Thursday for my round of consolidation chemo, the last thing I expected was that they were going to be releasing me when I finished my last dose today. They told me that as long as I was feeling okay, that I was going to be more than able to go back to my apartment. There was no way I was going to argue with that one. I would much rather spend time at my own place rather than the hospital room.
My dad came down on Friday and we spent the weekend together. We watched a whole bunch more of the Rome series from HBO and just hung out and spent some more time together. Each morning he brought me in a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel from McDonald’s with one of their apple pies…anything beats the food around the hospital. We also ate lettuce wraps from both The Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang’s. Amaaaazing! Food is one of the most troubling things as far as my treatment goes. With the treatment that I get, my digestive system goes through a hurricane of side effects. So naturally, I am very resistant to eating things that smell or look unappeasing; this pretty much includes everything that Froedtert dining has to offer. The combination of rough digestion and unappealing food makes for easy weight loss. This is where the McDonald’s and other brought in foods come in clutch. All of those extra calories have been just the little bit that I need to get me through each day. Even today, I felt completely drained. I could barely move my body around as me and my dad packed my belongings to be discharged from the hospital.
On Saturday, two co-workers/friends from SC Johnson stopped in along with a handful of cards sent by other co-workers and friends from the company. We sat around for at least two or three hours and talked about all kinds of things. Every time we talk though it all seems to revolve around information technology, and I could just see the look on my dad’s face as he sat there in the corner watching three nerds talk about computer programming and the sort. It was quite comical. Thank you two for the visit and thank everyone else for the cards as well. The support has been just absolutely incredible!
Sadly, today also marked the day where I probably won’t see one of my favorite nurses anymore, Ann. Ann started working on the unit maybe two years ago or so, so I never really got to meet her until I got diagnosed. She is also 23 years old and will now be moving to Chicago to work at Northwestern.
She is still going to be working in the medical field, but it sounds like the work she is going to be doing will be a bit more high-paced and intense. She is an amazing person and in the short time that I have known her, I feel that I got to be good friends with her. We exchanged e-mails and I will keep her updated as far as my status goes and to keep in touch.
I may end up heading up to Two Rivers tomorrow. I’m not certain yet. I am staying in New Berlin at my apartment and one of my roommates is sick. In the upcoming week, because of the chemo I just received, my white counts and everything else will drop. Once again, I will be prone to getting sick and fevers and all of that sort of bit. Fevers + low immune system = bad So my best bet would be to head up to Two Rivers just to be sure to avoid anything. I have an appointment at the hospital on Wednesday, so I might go up there for just the couple of days, head back down for the appointment, and then move back in. I don’t know yet…we’ll see.
Can’t really complain much about things over on my end. Things are going as well as they can be and I am out of the hospital. In a month or so, I will go back in to the hospital for the bone marrow transplant. This will include very high dose chemotherapy and possibly some radiation as well. The doctors tried to explain to me yesterday that they threw a nuclear bomb at me 4 1/2 years ago for my first transplant and now they are going to do it again. Meaning, the second time around is not going to go as easy as the first time. I said, “Bring it on.” 
Anyways, thank you all again for the amazing support. There’s really no way I can sit here and describe in words at how incredible it is to have so many people pulling for me. I hope that I am helping some of you with some of these blogs as much as you have all been helping me. Take care and I’ll write again soon.
Eric