Big day today!

Wow, lots of news today. First, Mina Brigitta's total white blood count went from 800 to 2300, and her neutrophils from 280 to 1200. So they sprung us loose! The girls left the hospital at about 7:00, went and got takeout Indian food, and then we all drove home! Mina Brigitta is now sleeping comfortably in the bed with Mama and Bubba, and I'm writing this from the home computer in the office. It's soooo nice to be home...

This morning after I got the news, I asked Mina Brigitta if she wanted to go home. She kept saying "No!" Or more like "Noo-oooh." I don't think she believed it. I was a little sad at first, but really, she'll be spending a lot of time in the hospital over the next several months, and I'm just glad she's comfortable and secure there. But Keri says that she didn't want to go back to the room when they were out today, and by the time they left the hospital she was good and ready. She kept saying "Sissy, yome!" all the way home, and she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off once we got here.

I really feel like she's made a ton of progress over the last few weeks, high-dose chemo or no. Physically and mentally, she seems so much stronger, and she's doing things now that she wasn't doing when we were home just a couple weeks ago. She's been eating like a horse the last few days too. It feels like she's finally fully recovered from the RSV and first round of chemo. We'll just try to keep that going for the next two weeks, to try to fatten her up and get her in as good physical condition as possible going into the transplant.

The other big news is that we signed a lease on a flat back in our old neighborhood, and we're going to try to move before the 23rd. We were sort of missing the city anyway, but it was the daily drive from Berkeley and search for parking that was making Keri miserable. We hadn't really been looking at places, but we came across a two-bedroom flat that met most of our requirements. It's on the second floor and has central heating, which will help keep it dry and prevent the molds that can cause problems for immuno-suppressed people. It also has a washer and dryer in the unit, and is nearly the same size as the house we're in now, though with a more challenging layout. Best of all, it's around the corner from our old apartment, a five-minute walk from UCSF. The only bad news is that it doesn't have parking, but that's a secondary concern at the moment. It's kind of bittersweet because we like the house we're in, and we really like our landlords. But with all the time we'll be spending at UCSF over the next several months, I think this is a good move for us.