He's Home

 Tony was finally able to come home today. It's day +73 from his transplant. They let us know they he'll be getting a bone marrow biopsy in 2 - 3 weeks so they can see if there is any detectable cancer. So far, all his blood counts have been looking pretty good, so we're expecting/hoping for good news. 

He's Coming Home

 The doctors gave the ok for Tony to come home Thursday after his appointment. He'll then have one appointment every week at Huntsman for the next long while. We're very excited for this phase of his treatment to be over and for him to be home with us full time. 

Oh the Irony

 The ironic part about my last post is that Tony ended up in the hospital a day after I posted. He came down with a fever Saturday morning and went up to the hospital. They started him on antibiotics and gave him some fluids, and then did a bunch of tests on him. They found out he had a bit of bacterial sinusitis and the Metaphneumovirus. The fever actually broke on Saturday and he didn't get any more fevers after that. The antibiotics seemed to really kick the sinusitis. They held him over the weekend because his blood pressure was pretty low, especially overnight the first two nights. He was able to leave the hospital this afternoon and is back at the hotel now. 

No Update means Good News

I know it's been a minute since I've posted an update, but in this case, no news is good news. There's been very little to report. Tony's counts are all coming up. His platelets and White blood cells are actually in the normal range and have been for about a week. His red blood cells are coming up slower, but are definitely upward trending. So everything seems like good news. 

What a Week

 It's been a busy week. Jack turned 11 and Tony moved from the Hope Lodge to the Marriot Residence Inn. My awesome uncle works here so we're excited to get to see him more. He made sure we made it into a great room for our 2 month stay. We're super grateful for him. Now that we're at a hotel, the kids can stay with us through the weekend. We're working on catching up on the Mandalorian now that we can all watch it together. Tony and I laughed this morning because the Residence Inn has an amazing hot breakfast every morning. We took the boys down to breakfast this morning and they all picked cereal. 😂 But Tony and I enjoyed omelets, sausage, potatoes, and waffles. We did all agree on the fresh cut cantaloupe though. I'm especially grateful that I don't have to go down to a shared kitchen to prepare food and Tony's grateful he can eat in bed when he's not feeling well. 

Tony's blood counts are all coming up on their own. The doctors are feeling very confident in his progress. We're happy to be that much closer to Tony being able to come home. 

I think I didn't update here, but Kevin broke his arm on March 3rd. He has an appointment with a specialist tomorrow to double check that he doesn't need surgery, and then change out his splint for a cast. He's one brave little dude and has taken this whole thing quite well. But he is absolutely ready to be done with the splint and sling.  

Another Rhino

 Tony's had a few low fevers, a bit of a cough and the sniffles. His doctors did a few tests and found out he has the rhino virus again. It's basically the common cold. They aren't super worried about it, as his white count is high enough to fight it off and he's already feeling quite a bit better today. 

We found out today that once his white count reaches 2 (2,000) and his platelets are at 100 (100,000) then they will start giving him an oral medication that will target the FLT3 mutation that he has. He'll take that medication for the next 3-5 years. It was good to hear that they had a plan to fight against that particular mutation, as it can make relapse more likely. 

Freedom

 Tony was finally able to leave the hospital yesterday. He's having a very rare complication called CIPS. It's caused by the immunosuppression drug that he is on. It causes severe nerve pain in his lower legs. They can't pull him off of the immunosuppression drug so we, for now, just have to manage the pain with pain medication until they test his tacro levels on Monday.

We were able to stay with my Aunt Michelle. And Tammy brought Jack and Kevin down to stay with us. (Cody is out of town with my brother and parents). We have watched 3 of our favorite animated movies with them (Emperor's New Groove, Mitchell's vs. the Machines, and Big Hero 6) and we're working on our third puzzle. 

Tony's been able to eat some really great food that Michelle has made for us. It's much easier to take 12 pills in the morning when you're eating some delicious crepes.  (He has to take 23 pills a day and he's already very sick of all the medication). He's also been able to get some really good sleep. Michelle is letting him use a heating pad to help with his sore legs.