It's Good to Be Home

 It's been a little over a week now since my return home from the hospital. It feels great to be at home and sleeping in my own bed! It was also good to see my kids again-- I had missed them a lot especially our littlest one. The kids had helped their mom put up balloons in our front yard to welcome me home which was really touching but the welcoming didn't last too long as then they reverted to their normal selves and started bickering as normal siblings do. Ah- as hectic and loud as our household is with 3 kids, at least it was good to be home! 

This past Friday, I had a follow up appointment to check up on my counts and it went well. My WBC was at 5 and my platelets were at 164-- quite a significant improvement from where it was at .1 and 10 respectively a week prior! Since my counts were all good, the physician said it was fine to remove my port and that's how we finished the appointment. My port was removed- the whole procedure took less than 10 minutes- and it felt good to be free of the contraption that had been dangling from my chest the past two months. I'll still have to do blood draws as part of routine follow ups but they'll just go back to poking my arms again which I don't mind at all. Having my port removed was just another step towards getting back to normal again-- including taking a normal shower without having to seran wrap my chest. 

Ever since I've been home, I've still been keeping up with my daily exercising. However, as I can't go outside for the next month, I've been using my new Peloton treadmill that many generous, caring and supportive friends chipped in to get for me. It came the day after I got home which was perfect timing as I wouldn't have to miss any time exercising. I've been using it on a daily basis and have been walking 4-5 miles a day. It's an awesome treadmill and I highly recommend it if you're looking to get one. I only do the walking classes as I don't like to run but it's good enough for me. I don't always take the classes. Many times, I'll just choose a scenic walk to do and just listen to youtube music on my iphone. It's the next best thing to not being able to walk around outside. 

I do miss being outdoors. The day does go by a lot slower when you are just confined to being indoors only but I'd much rather be home than in a hospital bed. I think about the 17 days I spent in the hospital and wonder how I got through it all. I guess it all comes down to the true cliche of taking it one step at a time. I'll be able to go outside soon enough. Tomorrow I have a check up appointment to draw labs to see how things are progressing. But I know it will be good as I feel good. I'm getting stronger every day and I started doing push-ups again as of yesterday. Just little steps but each step is another step towards a full recovery.