HOME

Michael arrived home on Friday night! Oh, happy day! It was wonderful seeing him walk towards us after he exited the monorail at Tampa International Airport! Michael, Jill and I were all smiles and our 3-way hug reunion melted away time and made everything right again. I felt an immediate feeling of relief and happiness to have him home again, he had left on November 8th, just shy of being away for 2 months. Michael arrived home on January 6th. If you are Hispanic, you might understand the meaning of January 6th and the wonderful gift I was given this day! In Cuba and possibly most Hispanic countries, children get up and open their Christmas gifts on this morning. The gifts are delivered by the Three Kings. We call it El Dia de Los Reyes. The Day of the Three Kings. This holiday celebrates the Three Kings who Christians believe followed a star to find baby Jesus in the town of Bethlehem, where he was born. The Three Kings bear gifts and leave them by your bed as you sleep as they did when they laid gifts in front of baby Jesus. Though my family was too poor to celebrate this day when we lived in Cuba and the Three Kings never left me a gift, this year I believe the Three Kings outdid themselves! Michael did not know until Friday afternoon that he would be able to come home. As soon as he found out, while still at the Transplant Clinic, he took out his IPhone and made his reservations to come home that very night. His parents helped him pack up and drove him to the airport to catch his flight. We would like to thank Harry and Anne for being with Michael these past weeks post-transplant helping him recover from this immense surgery and recover from the effects of the chemo and radiation. We understand how difficult it was for you both and appreciate the time and love you put into helping Michael during his recovery. Michael is feeling much better but still has a while to reach total recovery. His appetite is increasing each day but he still struggles with sleep. The neuropathy is acting up at night, causing him severe pain and hot/cold sensations making it impossible for him to rest. Tonight, as I sit across from him, I can see he is doing better than yesterday and looks good. I'm saying this even knowing that he had two fainting episodes today. The first was when he was out in the lanai getting some beautiful Florida sunshine. He was only out there about 15 minutes laying on a wicker sofa when all of a sudden I heard from the kitchen a sound that is unmistakably bone hitting concrete. I ran outside and asked him what happened, he couldn't remember but did remember getting dizzy after standing up. After making sure he was okay except for a very sore bum, we walked back inside and he laid in bed for a while. Scare number two came after dinner. My niece Christine and her husband Joseph and their baby Julian came by this afternoon with a Chocolate cake for Michael, I had been making a pot roast and we asked them to stay and have dinner with us. After we all had a nice visit, dinner and some delicious cake, Michael laid back on his recliner and slept for about an hour. When he woke, he asked me to get him a glass of water and he stood up to go into our bedroom. As I turned away from the refrigerator, I noticed that he was swaying and before I could catch him he fell. Again, he had no idea what happened and just remembers getting up from recliner and then feeling dizzy. He laid on the floor as I took his blood pressure which was 125/80 (which is low for him). Michael texted Dr. Leventhal who instructed Michael to stop taking his blood pressure medicine, drink additional fluids and increase his salt intake. I go back to work tomorrow and I have mixed feelings knowing he will be home alone the rest of the week. Our daughter will be with him tomorrow and will be taking him to get his lab work (which he will need to do 3 times a week) but she will have to go to work or school the rest of the week. I pray that being off the blood pressure medicine will fix this issue. As he continues his recovery, I hope that he will continue to have better days and that the struggles he has gone through become a faint memory as he enjoys his health.

Coming "home" text!

Wearing a mask just for the plane flight home.

Almost home! That little plane couldn't move fast enough for me!

Finally "home", so good to have him by my side!

Catching up as we wait for his luggage.

Welcome "home" pot roast dinner. YUM!

Julian helping out in the kitchen. :)

38 Days Post Transplant. Making each day a better one, so great to have a "full house" once again. I hope that you are enjoying your time with your family and friends and though its normal to feel alone at times, know that you are not alone and neither are we.

God's Blessings, Lilly :)