Carol is back home

This past Tuesday October 12^th. Carol was given the OK to return home after spending what felt like an eternity at the Moffitt Cancer Center, where she was given 2 chemotherapy treatments to condition her for her transplant which occurred on July 7th. 2010 and was done at a special wing of the hospital dedicated only to these types of transplants.

After the transplant she remained at the hospital for about 3 weeks, and only after reaching acceptable blood count levels, she was allowed to move into a nearby apartment. Nearby housing was needed to have quick access to Moffitt if anything unusual surfaced. The stay at the temporary housing lasted another 97 days.

In total Carol had (+/-) 6 months of continued treatment and by no means is she done yet. While at home (YEAH!!) she will visit her local oncologist weekly for lab work , and go to Tampa to have Dr. Tomblyn review her progress and adjust the multiple medications Carol takes.

She is getting back to her “new normal life” at home. She got back into her routines without wasting a minute. Cooking her special healthy recipes, going around the house putting things away, cleaning or doing some laundry. Already taking walks around the neighborhood and riding her bicycle on the trail. With Susan (her sister) arriving for a visit today, walks on the beach are already planned. Rowing could be happening soon too.

After all we went through for the past 6 months, we wanted to thank all of our friends and family for the enormous support we received since Carol was diagnosed with Leukemia in February. Without the help from so many of you, it would have been very difficult to handle.

Very special appreciation goes to the volunteers that took the responsibility to be Carol’s care givers. Many had to travel from far away, flying and/or driving long distances. Many stayed with Carol for days at the hospital and later at the apartment. All gave Carol the best possible care, physically and mentally. A few must have enjoyed care giving, because they came back for more. All that visited for just a few hours or days helped the time to go faster for Carol.
Most of the care givers know Carol pretty well, but some that didn’t know her that well learned what a spectacular women she is. Under such circumstances, Carol always managed to be upbeat and contagious at it too. Always with some type of activity or special meal planned, walks, yoga, cooking and arts & crafts, you name it. There was always something planned.
Every single care giver walked away amazed at what this little person was capable of doing. I am still amazed myself after many years of seeing it.
Daniel created this blog and named it “Keeping up with Carol” without knowing at the beginning that it was the most appropriate title. Any of the care givers can vouch that Carol made them keep up with her schedules.
Also many thanks to all of you that kept in contact with Carol via Skype (especially Isabella), phone calls, emails, texts, etc. all of which helped bring some normality to her days.
Thank you again.
Jaime