Day 8 ( 17 days in hospital)

It is kind of funny, but this hospital stay seems to be going by kind of fast. I am guessing once it hits 3 weeks that it will feel like forever and slow down. ( because 3 weeks is how long John was here for his auto).  But so far it has not been awful. Probably because we know what to expect and we know so much of the staff now. This hospital is amazing. Well, East 8 is amazing!  We love everyone here. It is so nice to feel so comfortable here. I love that it doesn't really matter who is John's nurse for the day. When I am in the halls any nurse that knows him will stop me and ask how he is doing. Then give advice too. Every one is family here. John has a new Dr. who is here helping out for a few months. We love her. She is from India but has spent most of her life in New York City. She is an oncologist and hematologist in India. She is great and we love sitting and talking stories with her. We will really miss her when she leaves.

John is doing ok. Nothing out of the ordinary. He is super tired and not eating a ton. But grateful he is still not on TPN. He is really hoping to avoid TPN this time. He is only eating about 1300 calories a day and has lost over 15 pounds. Unfortunately it is moystly muscle. He has not weighed this little since he got home from his mission. We are grateful he didn't come in here under weight.  He also is starting to get some mouth sores. Not too bad though. He has a few on his tongue. And now maybe a few down his throat. But still able to drink ok. Most of his calories are through drinks. A lot of Ensure drinks. John was having a pretty bad pain in his belly. Right above his belly button. They did a CT scan and nothing was found. So that was good. It is starting to get better on its own. We were worried it might be typhlitis again and we are glad that it isn't.

The other day a sweet lady came by John's room. She was a patient here and had an auto transplant 2 years ago. To celebrate her "birthday" she brought cute little gifts to all the patients here. It was the neatest thing. And now that is what John wants to do :)

The kids are all doing ok. Abby's last day of school was yesterday and for the other kids today is their last day of school. I can not believe how fast this year went by. I think they are all excited to not have homework :)  Last week John's mom was here helping out. This week my Aunt is here. It is so so helpful. They get kids to school and do laundry and shopping. They fix dinners. I am usually at the hospital from about 9 am - 5:30 pm each day. It is so nice to be able to spend time with John. We joke that we have our best dates here. We watch "Lost", play games, take walks, sit and talk. We never get to spend this much time together at home. John has had some pretty blah days where I do a lot of reading. In 17 days I have read all 3 Hunger Games :) Thank you Katniss and Peeta for getting me through these past few weeks :)

As long as there aren't any complications, John can come home when his counts come up to a certain level. My goal is still Father's Day.