Day 16--All Good News

I apologize for not posting this past week, but I'm pleased to report that it's because of Torger's whirlwind engraftment! (Torger says there's something about telling jokes, having a reason to live, and having a wife who really loves you and does stuff for you that seems to help. I'd add a smiley face icon here to accentuate this point, but I don't know how to do it in this blog program.) He is now fully moved in with me at the hotel, and by all accounts, he is doing remarkably well post-transplant. His nurse coordinator even told us that when they called her to tell her Torger was being released from the hospital, her response was, "Who?!? You're kidding!" Another nurse told him she'd never seen a patient get through the initial transplant process so quickly and smoothly. He's still very sick and far from living a normal life, but Dr. Myint, who heads the CU BMT unit, said, "You have engrafted beautifully." Fewer than 2% of patients get through the hospitalization portion of the recovery process without even a fever, but Torger was in that 2%. He's had a rash from graft vs. host disease on his leg, arm, and face, but it has remained at level 1, which is beneficial. He had difficulty walking all weekend because of the pain in his legs, which the doctor says is from the new, healthy donor cells trying to escape from his bones. And eating continued to be a problem for Torger until just the last day or so. But his cell counts were high enough that yesterday they released him to my care. We're required to live within 20 minutes of the hospital for the 100 days after transplant, so we're ensconced in a hotel 5 minutes away where Torger has his own bedroom and bathroom, per the doctor's recommendations. We'll have doctors appointments at least twice a week, and a home healthcare nurse coming in to the hotel daily. But it's already been a huge improvement for Torger, who was going a little stir crazy in his hospital room. He got scolded earlier this week because he was hanging out in another patient's room visiting--a temptation that's tough to resist when you're all in there for treatment for weeks at a time.

One of the best parts about getting out of the hospital for Torger is being "off the pole." Every patient on the BMT unit (probably anyone being treated for any type of cancer) gets used to being hooked up to a pole getting IVs all day and night. If you want to go to the bathroom, take a shower, sleep, walk, change clothes--anything--you have to work around the pole, which is not exactly a graceful apparatus, especially when it's laden down with eight different bags of chemicals or fluids. So Torger felt a great sense of freedom as soon as he was off the pole, and it got even better when they pulled out the picc line from his chest, which has been in place since May 13. These were connected to the tubes ("lumines," technically) that hung from his arm. He still has the Hickman catheter in his chest, but now he's back down to three tubes instead of six.

We're just starting to establish our routine at the hotel, which is going to be a bit of an adventure. Having read "Eloise" as a kid, I've always thought living in a hotel would be kind of fun, but it actually takes a little getting used to. Finding a hotel with two bedrooms and bathrooms that wasn't just outrageously expensive was a challenge in and of itself, but we were fortunate that the nicest of all the hotels we explored also offered us the best rate. HUGE thanks to my friends Sarah and Coleman, who were here this weekend and got the room organized while I was with Torger at the hospital. The room has a little kitchenette with a fridge, microwave, and a two-burner stovetop, and we brought in a toaster oven and some of my stuff from home (crockpot, rice cooker, pots and pans). I've got to cook Thanksgiving AND Christmas dinners here, so I wanted a toaster oven that was big enough to cook a little turkey breast or a very tiny roast. One of the bedrooms is Torger's, and we've got all his medical supplies, books, and art materials in there. When he walked in the door for the first time yesterday, he headed straight for his bed, fell into it, and said, "This is heaven." The other room is mine, and I've also got my work office in here. Adam from the office was kind enough to come down and help arrange a nice computer set-up so that I can telecommute for the next three months. I have files and papers strewn about the extra bed in the room, so Torger says it looks pretty much like my office at CSU now! The staff at the hotel have been very welcoming and supportive, even bringing Torger a gift basket of candy and rootbeer when he got in yesterday.

So until the end of January, our address will be: Cara Neth and Torger Hougen, Room 226, Homewood Suites-Denver International Airport, 4210 Airport Way, Denver, CO 80239.