Day 80 and Homeward bound

Today I had my last appointment with Dr Nakamura--- at least for the time being. ( I return on May 27).  All is still on track and I can go home tomorrow. Phew. My platelets were a whopping 163k today which is well into the normal range. Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable. The next hurdle according to Dr Nakamura is to see what happens to my body when I stop taking the anti rejection drugs. But that is a few months away. For now I will revel in the idea of going home. 

Amazingly I feel sad about leaving the City of Hope and Dr Nakamura. Well maybe it's not surprising considering the amazingly fantastic care they have taken of me. And when you think of how I was when I arrived. I will always be grateful to Dr Cecchi for really pushing me to come here. After weeks of discussions about Stanford vs City of Hope He took me by the shoulders looked me in the eye and said. " Forget about your children and grandchild. This is your life. And I think you have a better chance of making it there. End of story". And a huge, big enormous thank you to Nora, Eoin, Ainate, Ralph, Jim and Frank for making the necessary sacrifices so that it could happen.

And all of you. I don't think I could have come through all of this without your presence. It could have been dreadfully lonely. But it wasn't. I felt close to all of you because of your notes, gifts, emails, texts, photos, cards and even old fashioned honest to goodness  letters! 

I arrive home tomorrow Saturday April 19 and look forward to seeing you all. Xxo

This is in the Rose Garden at the Ciry of Hope and is the foundation of their philosophy

Dr Nakamura and me

And here's Úna telling me to hurry home!