Daily dealings...

Every day, Ryan comes here:

Hallie was eager to see what her Dad does when he is gone at appointments. Unfortunately, due to H1N1, they wouldn't let her back into the clinic. She was still happy to come along- what a fun way to spend her Fall Break!

Back in the clinic they take lots of vitals:

daily blood draws

...and then on Friday, it was time to get hooked back up for a preventative antibiotic and some more magnesium

while the meds were infusing, we chatted with the nurses, ate and enjoyed the nice view:

(I know that view may not look like much, but it really is a pretty view of the mountains and trees. )

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Every day Ryan has to do his line care.

That means cleaning the site:

and daily flushes of this:

into ALL 3 cath lines:

and now we have to use this:

for ALL of this:

so if you need some medical supplies... we have a few.

We did bring home some empty sterile needle-LESS syringes for the kids. It has provided HOURS of entertainment:

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Then I decided to finally invest in some fancy gloves

because we have to clean everything on a daily basis.

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His feet hurt a LOT from the nueropathy and fluid retention, but he still manages to walk:

It is so nice to have Ryan home, to go for walks OUTSIDE and see Halloween decorations

and yes...

do this:

Love having you home!

***GO TEAM RYAN***

Q: How is Ryan feeling?

A: Ryan is feeling much better! The fact that he hasn't had to take ONE anti-nausea pill is a good sign. He is staying awake throughout the day and sleeping very well at night. Compared to two weeks ago, he is doing great. He is still VERY weak and tired, but his taste buds are coming back and he is eating quite well. He still has a lot of healing to do, but for now, he is grateful for each improved day.

HOME

Ryan has been home a full day now and is loving EVERY bit of it.

He went in for his daily post transplant appointment and things are looking good. His WBC is 1.8 today and his platelets and hemoglobin are all increasing...so what does this mean?

It means that Mitchell's stem cells are doing their job!

So now that we are all happy from all the good news, I will share the happy photos from yesterday:

Ryan wasn't sure if it was all the excitement of coming home, but he didn't sleep well that night. He woke up really tired but with a HUGE smile because he was COMING HOME!

Remember how I said that Ryan hated being re-hooked to get more meds?

As you can see, he HAPPILY sat while each and every drop of magnesium went in.

Then the "TEAM" came in to give their final assessment and answer any questions. We asked a lot about the future (I'll talk about that in a later post) and with grateful hearts, we said BYE

Dr. Mannipoti (far left)- SUPER nice, Dr. Yeager (far right)- AWESOME

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Then Ryan spent the next few hours waiting for discharge. He walked, watched a little TV, chatted with the nurses, let me take a photo or two:

And then, he watched the seconds tick by... the time went by REALLY slowly.

He even got in bed with his shoes on:

because he wanted to make sure he was READY to go when the discharge orders were in.

Then Noon rolled around, and these two sweeties came in to go over discharge

Here Ryan is signing his discharge papers

Look at that SMILE as he hands over the papers that make him a

FREE MAN

Goodbye Room 3713

Goodbye to Leah, Karissa and Laura

About to walk through these doors for the FIRST time in 5 weeks

You can cross that name right off:

Adios 3NW

About to smell FRESH AIR and feel WARM SUN for the first time

Had JELLO legs as he went down these:

AND

then it was time to get a few prescriptions filled

Then he came home and was given lots of love and followed EVERYWHERE

They were happy to have Daddy HOME

So glad to have you back home...

We LOVE YOU RY

***GO TEAM RYAN***

A FREE man

Ryan was finally cleared to come home today. He was SO excited to come home and the time did seem to go by really slowly. But, finally around 12pm, the discharge orders were in and it was time to GO HOME!

Here he is leaving the doors to the unit... it had been FIVE WEEKS since he last walked through these doors. Needless to say, there was a HUGE smile behind that mask:

There were lots of hugs, lots of smiles and a few happy tears. This was such an exciting day for Ryan and for our family. This is ONLY the beginning of a long road ahead, but how excited Ryan is to start this next part in his journey to remission.

(More pictures coming tomorrow)

Thank you all for your love and support that helped get Ryan through his transplant.

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We.LOVE.You

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***GO TEAM RYAN***

Still here...

Yes... Ryan is STILL in the hospital.

Ryan's ANC (absolute neutrophil count) is too low to come home. Each day it has come up a little bit and the doctors want his ANC to be at LEAST 500. Currently, Ryan's ANC is at 460. (Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell, they are the MAIN ones for fighting infection.)

Ryan continues to improve each day and is feeling really good. He is occasionally nauseas, but mostly tired. His WBC, platelets and hemoglobin (red blood cells) are all on the rise. Ryan's liver and spleen have shrunk a CONSIDERABLE amount and Ryan's transplant doctor is VERY pleased with all his progress.
Now that he is feeling good, he is trying to stay busy and prepare to go home.

Since he was unhooked from his IV he needed to start taking these again:

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Ryan has not been able to leave this unit for 5 weeks, so not having his IV was his one bit of FREEDOM. After his first day and night of being unhooked, he woke up to find himself reattached to his "ball and chain." He was low in potassium and magnesium and needed a little boost via IV:

He couldn't WAIT for the magnesium and potassium to be finished. Once complete and unhooked, he walked OVER a mile with a HUGE smile on his face. (He was always quite envious of other patients who walked around without a pole... he was NOW one of them) Each day he tries to avoid getting more IV meds, so he has been eating a lot of bananas to help with the potassium, but he has needed more magnesium EACH DAY. The highlight of each day is when he is finally unhooked.

Once free, he enjoys being able to get up and help make his bed:

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He has really enjoyed his walks without his IV pole. During his walk yesterday, he got nauseas and needed to take a break for some meds. We went back to his room where he went and laid down. I asked him why he had his shoes on IN BED? He refused to take off his shoes because he wanted to make sure that he got up again after the meds to continue his walk.

He sure is determined to get his mile in each day...GO RYAN GO!

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After walking a mile, Ryan was a little tired, so he took a break and caught up on this:

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I just had to take some pictures of him feeling so well. What a difference a week makes:

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Then today we got some EXCITING news...

Ryan is ready to COME HOME tomorrow!

So he stayed busy helping with this:

It was bittersweet taking everything down, but how weird it was to spend the rest of the day looking at the bare walls.

I tried to be funny as I modeled my new SensiCare "shoes"

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Much of the day is spent talking about this whole experience. Ryan does not remember a lot of what has happened and he enjoys hearing about it. He is so excited and grateful to be where he is at today. Saying he is excited and ready to come home is definately an understatement.

Through it all though, he just keeps on smiling...

***GO TEAM RYAN***

Q: What is a normal WBC? **What is a normal ANC?
A: A normal WBC for a healthy person is anywhere from 4 to 10. **A normal ANC for a healthy person is anywhere from 1,500 to 8,000

Q:What happens now that Ryan is home?

A: Ryan will go to the cancer center on a daily basis. At the cancer center, they will do lab work to check his levels. If needed, he will receive blood and/or platelets and they will change his immunosuppressant dosage if he is too high or low. Once his counts start to stabilize he will then be able to go in every other day, then every few days, then to once a week. It will be a couple more months of frequent office visits.

On day +28 (which is next Weds), Ryan will have another (DREADED) bone marrow biopsy. This will show how much of Mitchell's stem cells are engrafting into the marrow and how much or how little Lymphoma there is still in the marrow.

Q: What should Ryan expect over the next few months?

A: Dr. Yeager said the healing process after transplant will take months until he is feeling strong again. It is normal to still be nauseas, weak and tired. For the next few months, Ryan will NOT be able to be around people who have had live virus shots (like the H1N1) or around people that have ANY type of cold/infection. He should avoid large groups/crowded areas and should wear a mask ANY time he is in public. He shouldn't be around construction sites or outside when it is dusty and/or windy. I could go on and on...

But YAY for tomorrow... Ryan is COMING HOME!