I had the best day yet, yesterday. I felt great! I went to my Dr appt. I am happy to say I am fully hydrated again and my kidney function is now in the normal range. My blood levels and platelets dropped a little, but no worries. The Dr said this was normal at this stage. I am at day 42. Day 100 is getting closer.
I have been very fortunate to be as healthy as I have been with no signs of graft verses host disease. That is where my immune system tries to fight against Ron's that was given to me through the BMT. This can be very serious and no fun at all. Personally I believe I am doing so well because of all the prayers. My family takes awesome care of me and I do what I am told. Which isn't always easy. Some days get harder than others to always be at home under 24/7 care. I am holding up good though. I still feel like I have alot to be grateful for. Thanks for all your love and support.

I made it around the block to today! It felt great to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I had my doctor appt yesterday. Everything looks great. I'm just a little dehydrated, so I had to hook up to fluids at night for a week. It's the weirdest thing, but I can't drink water without throwing up. I drink Gatorade and other flavored beverages. Just can't handle the water. Which is weird cause I've always been a big water drinker. I'm sure it will pass in time.
I continue to get better each day. Thankfully we have had no complications. By the way now would be a great time to thank you all for your prayers in my behalf, I truly appreciate them.
I look forward to being able to spend Christmas with my family and talk to my son on Christmas day. I couldn't be happier.
I wish you and all your families a very Merry Christmas!

Went to my first Dr. appt. after being released from the hospital yesterday. All my blood levels look good. The Dr was happy with all my test so far and said I am where I should be on this transplant. I feel very happy about that news. Now if I could just get rid of the nausea and my taste buds were back. I just take a day at a time. It's still strange for me to feel so fatigued all of the time. I also look forward to the day I can go out into public and socialize again. I just have to be patient. My family is great and they are taking such good care of me. I am very grateful to them all and love them lots. Again I thank you for your continued prayers in my behalf. I love you all!

I got to come home Friday afternoon! All of my hard work and pushing myself further then I thought possible paid off. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I truly am to be with my family. Once I got to walk out of those double doors that I had been forbidden to leave for the month on the BMT unit I bawled my eyes out all the way home. I did it! This has truly been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But with those dark times I was not left alone. I am forever changed because of the tender mercies of prayer. I was not alone and I truly was blessed. I thank all of you who continue to pray for me and my family. Prayer does work and I do feel those prayers. It helps to give me the strength to fight this with everything I have.
We are not out of the dark yet. We still have a ways to go. I have a home health care nurse who comes in once a week. I also have dr visits once or twice a week and I have to have someone care for me around the clock. I still have no immune system so germs are my biggest enemy. For the most part I am feeling pretty good. I still have nausea and get very fatigued. But I seem to be dealing with all of that much better now that I am home!

I just talked to my Dad and got the update.  So today is day 14, and for some reason we thought that today would be the day they would be able to tell if the bone marrow en-grafted or not. Well unfortunately we were wrong.  We have to keep waiting.  The nurses said we should know by day 20 so another week.  The good news is the nurses said things should start turning up at this point.

There are a few things that are required before Denise can go home.  Those being the bone marrow has to en-graft, she has to be able to consume and keep down 1/2 of her normal calories, exercise, and she can have no signs of any kind of sickness. Denise fights hard everyday to try her best to complete each of these things.  It is a big accomplishment for her to be able to walk the halls, keep food down, etc.  I am so proud of how hard she is fighting against this cancer.  I know it is beating her up.  She suffers a lot of pain, and it's not easy what she is having to live through.

My dad mentioned that Denise's mouth was starting to feel a tiny bit better.  Today on the walk in the halls Denise had a craving.  This is the first craving she has had in over two weeks!  She felt like eating cereal so for dinner she had Frosted Flakes and surprisingly she ate the whole bowl, and was able to eat it pretty fast.  Considering that her mouth is in tremendous pain and it is very hard for her to swallow.