We met with one of the doctors at LDS hospital for Robert's "exit" interview yesterday. Exit simply means they are turning over his care to his regular oncologist until the 100 day mark. (Where he will have more tests and determine next steps.)
The good news is that his numbers are great. He's at low normal or closeish to normal in most categories. A few of them are not normal yet i.e. red blood cells (tiredness - tendency to take long naps daily), but generally if you were around Robert, he would seem like his usual self. Even the numbers that represent his immune system appear to be normal, but according to the doctors those cells aren't normal yet. Apparently, it takes at least a year to get your immune system back and right now his immune system is similar to that of a newborn, thus the seclusion that is currently our life.
In the next few months, when his nausea starts feeling better and he doesn't need to rest as often, he'll probably go back to work. I'm pushing for a couple of weeks of working from home so he can clock out occasionally if he needs to rest and especially so he can stay away from anyone at work that might be sick.
Overall, his exit interview went really well! The doctor was very impressed that he'd already been on a hike and a bike ride. He did get shut down a little though when he wanted to do yard work (any yard work) this summer. The doctor reminded him that his body couldn't take the mold and fungus in the dirt and grass and that he really didn't want a case of fungal pneumonia (yuck). I guess not.
Oh, and he's not allowed to drive on one of the medications that he sometimes takes for nausea. (Oops, he drove us to the hospital for that meeting). I'm not surprised he isn't supposed to drive. He tends to be chatty and a little goofy when he's on it. He told the doctor that he drove really well when he was on it. She said, that's what people say after they've had a couple of drinks. :)
Anyway, we are happy to have him around. We've had a kids movie night about twice a week lately and Slate thinks he's in heaven.
Here's a completely unrelated to this post picture of the boys bathing tonight.
