Day +15 and we are headed to our ~temporary~ home!
To catch you up on the last 10 days: Brad continued to battle a skin rash and mouth sores, but we slowly saw improvement as his neutrophil count began to recover around day +10. However, a few days prior, he had several days of on and off fevers, which triggered his care team to order a CT scan of his lungs. They saw what they referred to as "early stage pneumonia." It was a small nodule in the base of his left lung. Ultimately, they were working to determine if it was bacteria or fungi, but in either case the number of antibiotics he was taking would clear it up. He will follow up with the infectious disease team in 5 or 6 weeks.
Brad had to have oxygen at night as his oxygen saturation levels would fall while he slept. Aside from this minor hiccup, he would tell you he could have gone home on Sunday.
Day +15: overall he is feeling good considering all his body has endured over the last 23 days. He is still really tired, but that is to be expected for the next several months. His mouth is slowly getting better and he has been able to try solid food again. The new issue is that food just doesn't taste good. He tried to eat a Chick - Fil - A nugget (the Lord's gift to mankind) and he said it tasted like ashes. This is also to be expected. He was told that he will have to continue to try foods until he finds something he can manage and then just eat the heck out of it!
We left the hospital today with a bag full of medications and a bunch of notes so I can help keep them all straight. As I mentioned earlier, we will be staying just down the road from the hospital in a furnished apartment for the foreseeable future. There is a chance we can go home in about 30 days, but that will be determined by Brad's physician. He will have almost daily blood draws and clinic visits to monitor his medication, electrolyte and blood levels.
To say we are excited to be out of the hospital would be an understatement, but nonetheless we will be even more excited when we get to go to our home and sleep in our own bed!!
Now - the countdown begins and another day to look forward to!
Prayer request: that his blood counts remain steady and keep on climbing. One risk is a thing called Graft vs. Host disease. We need that to stay far, far away. Please pray for that!
Look for another update soon!
Natalie
