Coming Home

Well, after 4 very long months, it looks like we may be able to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Claxton thinks that Jeff is in pretty good shape for Day +32, and he gave us the go-ahead to go home...on Thursday, after one more round of blood work. Of course, there will be lots of follow-up. We'll have to come back to Hershey every other week to see the doctor, and have labs drawn at home on the opposite week. Jeff has to be extra careful for the next few months to avoid sick and recently vaccinated people, or else we could easily end up back in the hospital. Like I've mentioned before, Jeff's immune system isn't going to be fully functioning for quite some time.

This whole ordeal has been our worst nightmare, and sometimes even though I'm living it, I don't believe that it has happened to us. That being said, I also am completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends, families, and also plenty of strangers. I'm sure that without all of the help, our nightmare could have been much worse, and for this, I am very thankful. I know we could never pay back all of the gifts and favors that we received, so at the risk of sounding a little cliche, we'll just have to 'pay it forward.'

I know that being home will help Jeff begin to heal in ways that he can't here in Hershey. I also think that I might be able to let go of some of the bitterness that I have been harboring all of this time. We'll also be able to feel a little more normal, and at least some of my maternity leave will feel like it's about the baby.

JD at 24 Days Old

JD gets bigger and more lovable everyday. I can't wait to bring him home and show him off!

Blood Counts

Jeff's white and red blood counts are nearing normal, but his platelets still have a way to go. While he hasn't needed any transfusions, and Mark's cells are making some platelets, they haven't yet showed a complete recovery. Although this isn't all that unusual, it is still frustrating for us. Hopefully, there is nothing out of the ordinary causing the problem, and the cells will recover on their own...in the mean time, we wait and hope that Jeff's body is healing the way it is supposed to.

Visits to Day Hospital have been reduced to every other day, and on Monday we'll go to clinic to see Dr. Claxton. If he thinks that Jeff is stable enough, visits will be reduced even further, and we may be able to commute back and forth from home.

A Trip Home With JD

JD made his first trip home this weekend, and was greeted by not two, but four dogs. Yes, my Dad brought Hallie, Chance, Brady, and Oz to my house to meet the baby. Being in house with four dogs is pretty crazy, so you can imagine four dogs plus an infant. After getting over the excitement of being home for the first time in month, Hallie and Chance eventually started to wonder about the smelly little creature that their Mom was holding. They both gave him the smell-over and a few licks. Neither of them showed any sort of aggression towards JD, and both managed to sit on my lap (at the same time) while I was nursing. This only lasted a few seconds, but was quite comical. I figured out that if Hallie sits at my feet, and Chance by my side, I can pet one of them with my free hand, and the other with my foot. I can't let my first two babies feel too neglected!

Overall, it was a successful trip home...but I really couldn't enjoy it too much. It's hard being away from Jeff, even if only for a day. Hopefully, all three of us will be home together within a few weeks.

Day +22

Jeff was discharged yesterday and is feeling much better. His counts are on the rise again...hopefully, they'll stay that way this time. Although he is feeling okay, he is still pretty weak and can't help much in the area of diaper changing. Oh, well...there's lots of time for that.

JD and I are probably going to make a trip home this weekend. Unfortunately, it will be a short trip, and Big Jeff can't come with us. The bright spot of the weekend will be Hallie and Chance meeting the baby. I'll report on that later!

Re-Admitted

Jeff was re-admitted yesterday because of continued diarrhea and vomiting. His counts also dropped, but the docs say that this is nothing outside the norm. They aren't sure yet whether or not his symptoms are due to the C-Diff, GVHD, or something else. They may scope his stomach and bowels tomorrow to find out.

On the bright side, the IV fluid seems to have helped him out, and he's feeling much better today. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring some good news.

JD weighed in at 8 lbs, 12 ounces today. That means he's gained about 2 ounces/day for the past week...the doc says this is excellent and that JD is perfect. I agree.

Day +17

Jeff's counts are all on the rise, which means (knock on wood) that he shouldn't need any more blood or platelet transfusions. As of now, it looks like Mark's stem cells are doing their job. Graph vs. Host Disease probably won't manifest itself in clinical symptoms until around Day +30. We just have to hope that nothing too serious crops up.

Unfortunately, Jeff still feels pretty badly. His body is working overtime to heal itself...the transplant coordinator compared it to running a marathon every day. We can expect him to lose 15 - 20% of his body weight over the next month or two (in addition to the 25 lbs he has already lost).

Discharged

After 25 hellish days in the hospital, Jeff has been discharged. He is still very weak, but his counts have recovered to a level that gets him out of the danger zone. We'll have to follow up in Day Hospital until his white count, red blood and platelets are all at normal levels. They'll also be measuring lots of other stuff and keeping an eye out for symptoms related to graph vs. host disease.

JD is really, really glad that his Daddy is home....Mom is pretty happy about it, too.

More Pics of JD

Big Jeff

Jeff caught a hospital-borne infection called C. Diff, which causes some nasty vomiting and diarrhea. This delayed his discharge by a couple of days, but he's feeling better now, and we're hoping for tomorrow. I'll be very happy when he comes home...the trips to the hospital with baby in tow are exhausting.

White Cells

Jeff's counts are on the rise and he feels substantially better today. He has been taken off just about all of his IV fluids and medicines. As long as he is able to eat, drink, take pills orally and doesn't have a fever, he'll be discharged tomorrow. I can't tell you how excited we are about this. We'll be in Hershey for a while for follow-up at Day Hospital, and most transplant patients end up back in the hospital for a fever, but that's all just stuff we'll have to deal with for a while.

JD is doing great...I am just thrilled with being a Mom, and Big Jeff is loving his job as Daddy. (I can't wait till Jeff gets to change some diapers in the middle of the night!) As unorthodox as this whole situation is, we are making the best of it, and I am enjoying every second of my new baby.

Discharged (Jamie this time)

Thanks to Danielle for keeping the world updated! I think she did a great job.

Okay, so here's what happened...

Early Wednesday morning around 2 am, I awoke to my water breaking. This occurred without any other warnings that labor was imminent, so I was quite surprised and wasn't even really sure what was happening. Anyway, I managed to get myself checked into the hospital, and called Jeff in his room to let him know what was up. Luckily, Jeff was feeling okay and managed to make his way down to the delivery room. I pretty much breezed through the first 10 hours of labor and was fully dilated by about noon. Unfortunately, after 2 hours of pushing, Little JD was stuck in my inadequately sized (from front to back anyway) pelvis. The doctors decided that with a little more pushing, they may be able to get him out with the vacuum, but after 2 more hours it was obvious that Little Jeff wasn't going to fit through. So, off we went to the operating room, where Jeff and I heard for the first time, "it's a boy, and he's a big boy!"

Oh, what a feeling! After 3 months of the worst stress you can imagine, we finally have something to feel amazing about. Little JD is the most beautiful little thing I've ever seen. I don't think that we realized what sort of emotions we would feel after the baby was born, but I know that I am still not down off of the high that I've been on since Wednesday night.

Jeff has had a couple of pretty rough days...he's now on a morphine drip and being fed intravenously, but the next couple of days should see his counts rise and his body will start feeling as good as his heart.

Pictures

Danielle again:

I present to you, Jeff David Eckert Junior!!

1 Jeff, 2 Jeff, red fish, blue fish

Danielle here:

I'm proud to inform you the baby has a name, Jeff David Eckert Junior!! Jeff Junior, or JD as Jamie likes to call him, is a wonderful addition. He brings a smile to everyones face that looks his way. He's the talk of the Hospital, a heart-breaker in the making. Due to some technical difficulties, pictures will not be posted until late tomorrow. Check back, you do not want to miss these pictures.

Jeff Senior is feeling the effects of the transplant. He is at the lowest point right now, but not for much longer, a few more days should bring him more strength. I'm not up with all of the scientific jargon like Jamie, but Jeff (Senior) has a bad sore throat and a slight fever that is being controlled. So far, this is all par for the course. As always, he is still has a stellar attitude.

BIG news

First things first....To settle any confusion on bad grammar, this is booger (Danielle) typing, I'm doing a bit of a celebrity post.

Jamie got a jump start on things today. She gave birth to a very big baby boy this evening. Some may say he resembles a gorilla with the size of his hands and feet, but upon further inspection this is indeed Jeff Eckert's child.

If I may say so myself, baby Einstein (Eckert) takes home the most adorable baby award. As long as I'm giving away awards, I would like to name Jamie Mrs. Iron Woman. She had to go through countless hours of painful contractions and unsuccessful efforts to push giant Einstein out. In the end, a sea section was performed. Having Jeff in the delivery room with Jamie made all the difference.

Jamie and Jeff are now the proud parents of an 8.0 pound (20.5 inches long) baby boy. He is yet to be named, and as far as I know Einstein is still a possibility.

Happy New Year

Hopefully, 2008 will prove to be a better year than 2007, but I'm not going to get all philosophical today. Jeff just wanted me to let everyone know that the spot in his eye is completely gone. Enjoy the bowl games and have a great day off!