Day + 12 : Where's Tricia Antonini?

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. It's hard for me to believe, let alone report. Sunday night I didn't get a great sleep, probably because the hospital security system somehow started blaring "hold" music in the hallways at 4:30 AM and couldn't fix it for around half an hour! Anyway, Monday morning I thought the pain in my stomach was less, although the trips to the bathroom continued. I was able to get some pills down and my nurse unhooked my from my IV drugs to have a shower. When Dr. Chaudry came into my room, he looked around the room and said "where's Tricia Antonini?" in his joking way. I guess I looked a lot better than when he had seen my last Thursday. His examination of my abdomen definitely indicated the typhilitis inflammation was decreasing significantly. He told me to move to full fluid diet, and that if I wanted to go on a pass for a few hours in the evening, I could. Truly miraculous. I was able to rest on our sofa, watch TV with mom and play the Wii with Dad. Only 2 days after I was frightened by the good possibility I could be facing a dangerous surgery.

Last night at the hospital I slept a bit better (no hallway party music) and again felt a bit less pain and swelling. I had a cupful of pills this morning while eating oatmeal, the most solid thing I've had in weeks, and chatted with Tasha, who had stopped by after a hospital appointment she and Ryan had that morning. While the pill/oatmeal meal made me a little queasy and I had to rest again for a while, Dr. Chaudry opened my door for his daily examination. My blood counts also indicated that the new marrow had grafted and was starting to produce its own blood cells. My belly was a bit softer and the pain when he pushed the abdomen in various places was far less. He said as long as I could swallow all my medications by mouth, (my esophagus has a problem with swallowing and "over squeezes" things as they go down) I could go on an overnight pass.

It's hard to describe how I felt about the offer, as more than the enormous joy surrounding sleeping in my own bed, and hanging out with my family at home, it was an indication that I coming out of the dark woods. There is still a lot of risk and uncertainty about the coming weeks and months, depending on what Graft-Versus-Host-Disease(GVHD) arises (I'll explain that one later), and the typhilitis has to continue to heal, but it sure is good to be home on a pass on Day +12. So rest your Red and White fury, and pick any colour you like! Thanks everyone for helping me get here.