Home at Last

I'm home.

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon around 4:00. Here's a picture of me signing my discharge papers. That was a nice moment. =0)

I'm so happy to be home and able to sleep in my own bed and eat food I would typically eat. It's great to have my kids around me. When I got home, there were a bunch of "Welcome Home" signs from them. Probably the best part of being home is having Noelle around me (like she was in the hospital), but having her have the ability to do what she needs to do during the day. Oh, and cuddling with her as we went to bed last night was pretty nice, too. =0) I didn't get that in the hospital.

I've picked up a cold somehow. I've got the sniffles most of the day, and last night I was all stuffed up and had some pasty stuff in my mouth and throat. There's a minor cough, too, but gratefully I'm not coughing up a bunch of gunk and there's no fever. I'll just be careful and keep myself warm and comfortable so the cold can run its course but not get much worse...I hope.

As you might imagine, my bed is MUCH more comfortable than was my hospital bed in Room East 808. However, because they were pumping a sodium chloride "maintenance fluid" into me via IV the entire time I was there, I had retained some fluids. Last night I was up every couple hours to pee and shed those extra fluids. After shedding them, I decided to weigh myself this morning out of curiosity, and found that I've lost about 10 pounds over the 21 days since entering the hospital...down from 219 to 209. Cancer and it's related treatments are not meant to be a diet plan (I've been told that several times by my doctors and my Care Coordinator, Rachael), but there's not a lot one can do when they're nauseous and throwing up an average of once or twice a day for the better part of three straight weeks.

Noelle and I just took a walk around the block. It's just over 1/2 a mile walk. On Saturday, March 30th (Isaiah's birthday and the day before Easter), there's a 5K in Draper we're going to walk as a family. It's to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If any of my friends in Utah would like to walk it with us, the information is here: http://race2conquercancer.com/. Scroll down a little until you see the line that reads: 5K Fun Run/Walk - March 30, 2013 at 11 am. It will be fun and we'd love to have a whole "team" walking with us. Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to join us. Thanks for considering it.

Cancer is not a death sentence. It's an opportunity to dig deep and see what you're made of. It's an opportunity to lean on the friendships you've been privileged to develop over your lifetime. It's an opportunity to reach Heavenward and deepen your faith in our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and feel their love and strength sustain you. Whether a cure comes or not, cancer is an opportunity to become a better and more richly blessed individual. At least, that's been my experience.