Tuesday, February 12, 2002

Dear Friends and Extended Support System,

Just a quick update. I have finished my Day +80 workup and so far the results have been good and nothing unexpected has turned up. But all the results and the wrap-up conference will not occur until next week. A tentative discharge date has been set for 2/22. My medical team has made it clear that anything can change, right up until the day I am supposed to be discharged, but they thought we should go ahead and make reservations, so we got tickets to return on 2/23. If all goes according to plan, we will be home in less than two weeks!! Steve will fly back to VT with us and stay a couple days before heading back to his new home in Rockville, MD.

Coizie Bettinger, an old friend from Vermont who now lives in WA, was our last scheduled caregiver, leaving yesterday. She was with me for some of the medical evaluations and has helped us begin to pack up and ship some things (those we can live without IF we end up needing to stay awhile longer). We are getting help with meals from my folks and Gary and Joanne. And we have a number of people tentatively lined up to help with the tasks of leaving (packing boxes, cleaning out the food from the kitchen, getting to the airport, etc). I continue to be amazed at how well taken care of we have been and continue to be.

I took my last dose of prednisone two days ago, and so far no sign of GVHD. And, I am sleeping at least eight hours a night regularly, which is absolutely heavenly. And some of the other side effects have begun to disappear (NOT the Buddha look, but. . .), but without the prednisone, I really feel the overall fatigue from the transplant and everything seems to take a lot more effort than it did before.

I really feel that I have been lucky. I have had no serious transplant-related complications throughout and I have been able to appreciate so much every day. And this week, the sun has been shining every day and the views of the mountains have been wonderful. I am so grateful for the care I have had both in Vermont and here in Seattle and for the incredible support from those of you I know well and those that are part of that web that connects us as caring humans.

With much love and appreciation,

Ellen