Sunday ~ 25 October: Day 99

Wonderful news! Fabulous news! I AM HOME!!!!!!!

I went to the OTU clinic and had tests done all day Wednesday. By the time I got back to see the doc it was mid-afternoon and I was exhausted. But except for my cyclosporine levels being too high, all my counts looked great. I begged, pleaded, cajoled and the doc agreed I was ready to graduate from short term care to long term care. Actually, I am pretty sure he was going to let me go anyway, but he had to tease me a little.

Normally in long term you go in once a month for tests and to see the doc, but they want to see me this coming Wednesday to check cyclosporine as they decreased my dose of the medication. Hopefully after that I will change to once/month. If so, it means they will take out my Picc line. It will be nice not to have to worry about that anymore.

At the eye appointment, the doc discovered I do have the beginnings of ocular GvHD and she started me on Restasis. I have to go back and see her in 8 weeks. She also found I have the beginnings of cataracts. Glad to have found them so early. My pulmonary function was good and I haven't heard back from bone density and other tests yet. Perhaps this week.

Mike brought me home late Thursday afternoon. My whole extended family was here to welcome me. There were welcome home banners and balloons everywhere in and outside the house. Plus my sister and niece had decorated the front of the house for Halloween with all my tombstones, skeletons and a gazillion mums that they bought and planted. It looks fabulous. I started crying.

But the outside was nothing compared to the inside. You all know I had to give up the parrots as I can't be around them now. Well, when I left there was still lots of parrot dust around the house. Between my wonderful daughters, mother, sister and niece the entire house (including blinds, books in bookcases, dishes, etc.) was taken apart cleaned and put back together. This was a massive task. My dishes are all rearranged in ways I would have never thought of. I'll be making pics and posting them. And only one little p-86 bowl got broken. All the things I've been too tired to file and stacks of papers were put away properly. It's so wonderful. I still can't get over that they did all this for me. Even the guys got in on the act. They pressure washed the outside of the house, driveway, sidewalk and decks, plus they raked everything clean just before I got home. And we live in the woods. It's amazing! I have the best family in the whole entire world.

Saturday everyone but DD#2 and I went back to Nashville to move all our stuff home. Sally & Abbey also went to the Farmers Mkt to get me some pumpkins for decorating. Luckily it only took one trip to get our things back where they too belong. DD#2 stayed home to be my caretaker. She took me out for a drive and it was a beautiful fall day with lots of pretty foliage.

Thursday night I just lay in my bed thinking, "It smells like home." Dorothy was right, "There's no place like home."

namasté,