Coming Home: Part 1 The Written Account

Thursday, July 17th

What a great day, an emotional day, a very blessed day. Seeing Camryn so happy and excited was the payoff of her perseverance to do want she needed to do to go home. The morning went quickly as we packed up everything, and there was soooooo much to pack. Lee Ann had decorated the hospital room as though she were staging a home that was going on the market to sell. If you know Lee Ann, you know what I mean. But I will say this, the room did look awesome for those 30 days. Nice job babe. We also had many items to pack from well-wishers who had sent or dropped of items for Camryn to help her pass the time away during her hospital stay; those items will be put to good use again over the next six months. Once we had all of Camryn's medications, and Lee Ann had been trained on ALL of the directions for Camryn's care, since she will be the main caregiver, we were free to go. The kid was all smiles beneath that surgical mask she had to wear until we arrived home. I have to tell this story, its sad but its also so funny. As we were pulling up to the house, Casey and Jaime Shae were out on the front lawn holding holding a "welcome home" sign for Camryn. Camryn was so excited to get out of the car to hug her sisters, that I had to stop the car in the driveway because Camryn wanted to jump out. Now, keep in mind that for the last 30 days the only exercise that Camryn has had was walking the halls of the 6a unit a couple times per day, if she felt well enough to do so. Camryn attempted to immediately run full speed to her sisters which caused her to "blitz it" (trip and fall) on our aggregate driveway. You can guess what the end result was: bruised knee, bloodied toe, bloodied ankle, crying Camryn. All Lee Ann and I could think of in that moment was just how anti climatic the welcome home turned out to be, and the possibility of infection. I immediately helped Camryn into the house where she was quickly administered first aid by her paranoid parents fearing infection in the girl with the new immune system. The entire episode really was a remake of a scene from ANY of the Three Stooges movies. Once Camryn calmed down and her panicked parents calmed down, we actually had a pretty good laugh at it all, well, except for Camryn, of course.

Let me explain what life will be like for Camryn over the next 3-6 months. She is basically home bound. There will be no movie theaters, no grocery stores, no restaurants, no school, no church, no crowds, or visitors. She may go outside, but must wear a mask at all times if there are people present, such as her twice weekly trips to Vanderbilt and must keep her distance from people other than family. The routine at home will change as well. We will be washing our hands the moment any of us walk inside the house and before touching Camryn. Her immune system is "quite young" and will take time to be fully developed. Despite the list of "don'ts, Camryn can still do a lot of things, especially playing with our two cats that Camryn adores, Boo the most. Camryn is on a drug regimen that her taking about a dozen doses of oral meds per day, plus her IV which is mainly for nutrients, which really isn't too bad to manage. Camryn has done amazingly well through this entire transplant process. Today she has been as active as she ever was prior to being hospitalized. As I have said before, she is still in recovery and has a long way to go before she can be fully integrated back into society. For now though, we count our blessings, appreciating each one, and humbly recognize the source from whence they flow. More info on Sunday...