Day 86. I was released from the hospital over the weekend, and it is a great relief to at least be at home. It is a more stimulating environment to sit around in, there are more foods I can eat, and it is good to see more of Denise, Kaitlyn, and the animals.
I can eat small meals- we are trying to jump start my GI tract after almost two months of intravenous feeding. I still will be on the intravenous feeding for about a month, using a home portable IV unit, until we taper off. I also do one other IV infusion at home which will end June 3.
One of the side effects of the drugs and the IV food is the extreme edema in my feet and legs. I estimate I have about 15 extra pounds of body weight. When we got home, Denise went up to Nokomis Shoe Shop and bought a cheap pair of size 16 New Balance shoes so I would have something on my feet other than Ace bandages. Climbing a flight of stairs takes considerable effort.
All in all, I have probably about two more months of recovery from what was a very severe case of GVH (see other posts for details) as well as the quarantine period, although I can go outside if I wear the breathing mask.
More soon, I hope.
-Andy
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4 comments:
Hurrah!
I was thinking of finding you a pair of size 13 from the store. 16! Wow!
Hope that gets smaller and your strength gets stronger.
Good luck at home. Hope to see you walking around and eating everything in sight soon. And finessing some orders at the store.
Rudi
Hi Andy,
What a warrior you are! Hang in there. I briefly met you two years ago at your Spring '07 "Cancer Clouds My Horizon" talk. I came up to you afterwards and told you I had just had a nephrouterectomy for bladder cancer. I'm still fighting the fight and you are an inspiration.
All the best in your recovery,
Genevieve Johnson,
long time Midwest Mountaineering patron
It's wonderful that you're at home again and walking around the block. Sorry I haven't been communicating more, I've been out on the trail with limited communications. Please let me know when you can have visitors. Rod
Some thoughts on home...
"You are a king by your own fireside, as much as any monarch in his throne."
Miguel DeCervantes
"A man's home is his wife's castle."
Alexander Chase
"We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us."
Winston Churchill
"Home -- that blessed word, which opens to the human heart the most perfect glimpse of Heaven, and helps to carry it thither, as on an angel's wings."
Lydia M. Child
"There's no place like home."
Judy Garland, Dorothy - Wizard of Oz
Thinking of you often.
your friend,
Ray
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