Well I made it home for Halloween! I came home yesterday afternoon and surprised the kids. They were very excited, Ty especially since it was all he kept asking for. We had a great night trick-or-treating (so great to run into Amy and the family!). I was so glad to be here for it. As we made our way around the neighborhood, Ty kept telling people “mommy just came home from the hospital TODAY!” A little embarrassing, yes, but his enthusiasm and joy was heart-melting. Today I just took it easy with reading, resting and light housework. I will be staying in the house for the next couple of weeks, avoiding crowds and germs. I’m supposed to wear a mask whenever I leave the house so that’s further incentive to hibernate for a little while. My counts are also still in the process of recovering and my platelets were only 13,000 when I left. I don’t go back to the hospital until Thursday at which point I’ll be eager to see where things stand. I’m still taking my “vitals” every four hours and fortunately no temperatures. Last night I was a little anxious but I read a fantastic article about meditation today and it really helped me to use meditation as a better tool to relieve the anxiety and the worries. Although I say I have been meditating for the the last few months, my mind is a wandering mess and it’s been hard for me to find true peace in it. I have to say that today may have been the first time that I started to reach a true state of calm.

Before I sign off, I want to thank my mother-in-law, Ginger, for coming and staying this past week. It was an enormous help to the entire family and very much appreciated. I may blog a little less frequently over the next few weeks, which is indication I have far more to do than sit around all day! However, I do plan to continue this as I move through the next phase of this. Right now I am focusing on recovery from the transplant. Sometime in the next month or so I am so supposed to start a maintenance phase that involves a low-dose outpatient chemo every six weeks for about a year. In the meantime, getting well for the holidays – and the long haul – is all that I am thinking about.