Why the Redwood Forest slideshow?

Judy had always loved trees, and in 2008 we spent some time among the California Redwoods. Some of the ingredients in Judy's chemo cocktail were derived from trees (not Redwoods but Yews). We always knew that Judy loved the trees, and the trees got their chance to repay her affection.



Friday, October 17, 2008

We are HOME!!!!!

At 9:40 a.m., Judy left the hospital after 22 long days! You can tell from her gesture when she got out of the wheelchair and into our neighbor Irene's van how elated and victorious she felt.

Just minutes beforehand, Vanessa, who had been our intake nurse on day one and with whom Judy developed a special, very deep relationship, stopped by the room. Once again, the photo (at the bottom of this post) speaks volumes.

On the way home we stopped by Dr. Howell's office to get an in-service on how to administer a daily dose of liquid antibiotics. Judy will stay on the antibiotics for about 10 to 14 days. It will only be one bag a day, taking around 30 minutes to administer. We learned how to do so by using her central line.

When we got to the house, Judy was beaming. "My house," she kept repeating several times. Now she's sacked out--after all, the three hours between discharge and finally arriving home were significantly more than she had been up for the entire last week!

So now starts the second big stage of our race: Home recovery before the onset of chemo. I think that in many ways things will be easier, but we also realize that we can't fall back on the nurses. But I am sure that our local friends will want to continue to pitch in and sit with Judy when I am in school, need a break, or run off to the last mountain bike race late next week. And we hope that some of you have some good movies that we may borrow so that Judy is not going to become bored and will do things around the house that she's not supposed to do!

Whatever this next stage will bring, we're ready. We've been looking forward to this day, and now we can go on with renewed energy. I would assume that in the next few days Judy will write a few things here on the blog herself.

We'll keep you posted in regard to her progress. All of you can pat yourselves on the shoulder because without you the past three weeks would have been much, much harder, on both of us.

Jürgen

8 comments:

aka Kathy said...

The 1st stage is now complete and deserves a victory salute across the finish line!

Next comes the long, flat easy stage (but it still has some steep rollers). Ride the wheel of your domestiques and let them do their jobs so you can recover and be well rested when you hit the next mountain stage.

We miss you at the races Judy and I hope that Jurgen has passed on the hugs that I have given you.

Kathy J

MTB_Chik said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MTB_Chik said...

Wow! I can't believe it's been that long already.

Enjoy the first night in your own bed!

Love you guys!
Cath and John Jett

Unknown said...

Very Welcome Back Home, Judy!!!

We love you,

Andrea&Bux

Nana (Deb Stevenson) said...

PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE! Welcome home Judy. Yea Jurgen, no more sleeping at the hospital. I know this had been one heck of a fight but this battle is won! Rest, take care of yourself for the next battle! I'm here if you need me! There's nothing like being at HOME!

Anonymous said...

Like Dorthy says,"There's no place like home!" Ain't it the truth?!

Ok, so rest,rest, rest. I think we're coming next week sometime and I'll bring by some movies that I think you'll like.

Good luck Nurse Jurgen. You can both do this...it's gotta be easier than 3 wks in the hospital. Use your bell Judy. See you soon.
Love, love, love, WayneLorane:)

Anonymous said...

Awesome news! Congratulations! Home sweet home...

The prize of coming home can never be underestimated! Enjoy!

We love you guys!

Priscilla, David, & Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

I am so glad you are home and i miss you so much litle bit and may God continue to bless you in your recovery.
Cynthia S