Great news…after JT’s photopheresis treatment this afternoon, we are homeward bound.  It’s been a pleasantly uneventful few days – some card games, some TV, some tossing the football around the hospital room, lots of talking.  He’s been so great – brave and cheerful to the end of this long stay.  Our night nurses have been good so though we’ve stayed up late, we’ve slept well, and that makes a big difference in terms of how things go during the day.

As for his left arm – he’s moving it around well, lacking only 10 degrees of motion, and the Occupational Therapist believes he will regain this as well with time.  The biopsy site is healing more slowly and we change his dressing twice a day but the healing is steady.

 He’s going to need IV antibiotics around the clock for the next couple weeks – Jodi does a great job with his home care and I’m sure I’ll be scrubbing the line and hooking up the pump before it’s all over too.  He’s on an every-8-hours schedule and that’s a lot better than every-6 so we’re thankful for that.  It’s great that he can receive this care at home and get out of here.  He’s talked a few times about wanting to knock this hospital down and I tell him I’d probably feel the same way if I were him.  Mostly he speaks of wanting to be “together, as a family.”

 So – lots of Thanksgiving is in order for today for JT’s recovery.  Living on the children’s Oncology floor is very sobering.  Many of these little ones  will not be going home anytime soon, and some maybe never.  I’m loading up the car and taking my son home, and that is the dream of all of these parents.  So we know enough to be very, very grateful.  We are blessed and lucky.

 Jodi will be bringing him back to Cincinnati on Sunday night for a Mon/Tues treatment schedule.  That means we’ll have four whole days as a family at home together before school starts (for JT too this year!) and another chapter begins.  Thanks for checking in with us and for remembering JT in your prayers.  Please pray that he does well at home with us.