Discharge day was last Thursday and what I was anticipating to be a smooth and easy day, turned out to be anything but. I started off with getting my catheter taken out. It was quick and easy, but it definitely stung like a bee sting thanks to all the alcohol prep and the fact that they had to put pressure on the spot of my neck where my clot is as they took it out....not pleasant. Then I came back to the cancer clinic to get my lab results back only to find out that I needed a blood transfusion. They were ready to access my chemo port but after several attempts poking me in the chest over an hour, they didn't have any luck. My port hasn't been used in about 2 months (it had been covered by the bandaging of the catheter) and it was quite tender being in the same spot as where my catheter had just been. In the end, I had to get a lovely jab in the arm with a huge IV. Again...not fun.
Finally, the day came to an end, and I was able to leave Baltimore the next morning. Part of me was relieved to finally be away from the constant appointments and being stuck in the tiny apartment for most of the day. Groundhog Day finally came to an end!! I'm happy to be around trees and greenery again instead of the cold grey buildings of the city. I love city life, don't get me wrong...it was just not ideal being in Baltimore of all cities. Still, I can't help but count my blessings that I was able to get such great care from Johns Hopkins...I can't recommend a better cancer center.
I'm taking things very slowly though as I am trying to readjust being back home. On the first day back, I managed to pull muscles in my legs, because I wasn't used to climbing 2 flights of stairs over and over while unpacking. Whoops. Now that my legs are recuperating, I'm looking forward to what the summer has in store for me. I'm taking a summer course starting next month and I plan to slowly build back my endurance so I can start working out again. It's still too early to go back to work though and I've been told I won't have my old energy back until probably next year. That's ok...if there's one thing cancer has seriously taught me, it's patience and just taking things one day at a time.
So, once a week for the next four weeks, I will be reporting to follow up appointments....and then once every other week following that for the next six months. At the end of discharge day, I got the results of my first CT scan which showed that I'm still in the clear and that there are no signs of recurrence (something that would be very rare at this early stage). Hopefully, it will last. If I make it to the one year mark, I'll be in a generally safe place...even better if I make it to 5 years with no signs of cancer. However, if I relapse between now and March 20th of next year, there's really nothing left for me....but I feel confident that all will be well. There's nothing I can do now but wait for the next scan. Only time will tell if the transplant worked. Time...something I hope to have much more of. There's gotta be a reason why I've made it this far and defied the odds.
