Day +41

Some days I felt like I would never be able to write this post, the one that says we are officially going home, the transplant is done and we're on the road back to a new version of our former life. Today after a quick trip home to drop some things off we got back to the hospital and ran into our nurse practitioner... she said "there had been a development"... I must have looked panicked because she quickly said, no, no a good development.. the hospital needs your bed so we are sending you home tonight! Ha, I thought, after so many days wondering if we'd ever get home they were kicking us out! We happily agreed to be out by shift change this evening. We took a walk with our buddies Channel and Hunter - I think Georgia knew we were going home, she was cruising the halls with her walker grinning from ear to ear.
We still have a long way to go, but being on the other side of transplant feels good. It all started with numbers, when we were taken from xray to the emergency room 148 days ago they did a blood draw and looked at her numbers... white cells were too high and we began to hear words like tumor, oncology and chemotherapy. Everyday that we've been in the hospital we've reviewed Georgia's numbers, we've watched them fall and rise again.. during this most recent stay I have taken note of some other numbers...

50 days in the hospital

8 days of chemotherapy

1 bone marrow transplant

2 red blood cell transfusions

20 (approximately) platelet transfusions

1 bloodstream infection

1 case of late VOD

6 days in the PICU

3 different heavy pain medications - morphine, diloted and methadone

2 liver ultrasounds

10 cm lost around Georgia's belly from fluid retention

1 bone marrow aspirate

6 different rooms within Children's Hospital

5 chest xrays

6 days in isolation

6 new teeth - two molars are completely through, all four eye teeth have made their way to the surface.

I've been told there is a high likelihood that we'll spend another night or two at Children's due to fever or infection so although I told Georgia that we'll be back to say hello but not for sleepovers I know it's possible... all we can do it the best we can do.

As we packed up this evening I got words of encouragement from several nurses. I remember our first nights in the hospital back in October, looking at these same nurses wanting nothing to do with them and now I find myself knowing that I will miss many of them - they have been my sanity check, sounding board and occasionally a shoulder to cry on, it would be impossible to have made it here today without them.
Georgia's TPN is running, tomorrow we have our first post transplant appointment at the SCCA, and I am looking forward to sleeping in my bed. There is a huge part of me that can't believe we are here, I always knew we'd make it but it feels surreal to close this monumental chapter.