We are thrilled to let you know that Dave was released from the hospital a few days ago. That was such an exciting day! It kind of felt like we were graduating. But then on the other hand it felt like we were breaking out of prison. The last two days we were in that room, we couldn’t see out our window because they covered it in preparation for painting the outside of the building. We actually missed seeing our block wall and our ugly parking lot!
Dave’s doctors are very encouraged with how he is doing, but Dr. Lopez wanted him to stay in the area for the first week so that they can closely monitor his progress. We have been staying at a hotel about a block from the hospital. Every morning we get up early and head over to the hospital where they draw Dave’s blood to see how he’s doing, and then they give him infusion treatments based on what his body needs for that day. Today was a long day. He needed a lot of magnesium and we spent over 8 hours at the hospital.
Paul’s wonderful and hearty stem cells are working overtime in Dave’s body, and his blood counts are showing great results. The doctors and nurses were actually amazed at how quickly his blood counts responded after the transplant. We KNOW that we owe that to all of your faithful prayers and God’s powerful intervention. He is with us in all of this, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.
We are tired, but we are very encouraged. This progress certainly teaches you patience… the only other choice is to make yourself miserable and go crazy. We want to be better now! But, unfortunately, that’s not how it works. They will soon be doing a test that will tell us what percentage of Dave’s stem cells are his brother Paul’s and what percentage are still Dave’s. We are rooting for Paul’s to win by a landslide!!
Thank you for your faithful and continual prayers. We are looking forward to being all the way home very soon.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
Many blessings to you all,
Carol Stoecklein