27th March - I can see the landing lights....

This is due to be my last full day in hospital!!!

It's unbelievable to think that I first arrived 4 weeks ago today, in some ways the time has flown by (pun intended) and in other ways each day has felt like a month, but here we are at check out  (landing) time! Although I'm very excited to be going home I have been told (several times) that I am not going home because I'm better but because I'm now stable enough that home is the safest place for me to be to continue my recovery - away from hospital bugs and possible infections.

I've just had my discharge meeting and told what to expect for the next few months. There was a long, long list of things not to do and things to avoid but we were also reassured that if at any time we have any problems or queries we can ring them 24 /7 - another example of how excellent the care has been here.

As well as my list of things to avoid (beer, cheese, public places, shell fish, cut grass, log fires...) I was also told my most recent blood results, which were described as 'beyond fantastic'. My platelet count was so high that the nurse double checked the paper work, twice!!! At my stage, after the chemo and the transplant, they would expect it to be around 50, with a healthy person being any where between 100 - 500 and mine is....  327!!!! My hemoglobin is also higher than it has been since the end of 2010 when I was first diagnosed.

We were also warned about graft vs host disease (GVHD) which will probably appear within the next 100 days, many people (about 40%) get this in some form so we've been told to look out for symptoms and deal with them as soon as possible. However we've been told that total graft failure is very very unlikely, especially as my match was such a close/ good one and that my levels are all so good now.

I really am very excited about heading home but have to remember that although this is the end of this flight this is not the end of my journey; I'll be at Addenbrookes every Friday for the foreseeable future (years!), the first 4 months are especially important/ dangerous as I'll be on immune suppressors so have to be very careful and then we'll have to slowly start reintroducing things into my life. My nurse Jo said that even if I don't look ill I need to remember that the equivalent of a nuclear bomb has gone of inside my body and it is going to take a long long time to get better, even years before I am back to me pre-MDS self.

Before I land this plane I want to thank you all for riding along with me. I believe that my fast recovery time and good mental health has been helped by your prayers, love, support and blog comments. Please continue to think of me and stay with me as I disembark this plane and continue with the rest of my journey.

As the landing gear is engaged and I can see the runway I realise that I probably won't be able to keep this blog up daily but will try for weekly, so you can know how I'm progressing and moving forward.

I'll blog tomorrow when the plane has safely landed and I've collected my baggage from the carousel (and no I'm not talking about Mary when I say 'my baggage'!!)

Good night and God bless,

John & Mary, Tizzy (& Chris), David (& Renata), Deborah (& Rich)
xxx