Day 100 - Free at Last!!!

We had our FINAL appointment at SCCA today and we're still in shock! Tyler, Andrea, and I met with Jackie (his nurse for the entire time we were there) and Maria (his doctor this month) to discuss whatever details they had for us. The biggest thing they warned us about is to watch for signs of GVHD as the Tacrolimus level is being tapered off over the next 3 months. Apparently chronic GVHD occurs in about 60% of transplant patients during months 4-12.

Then they pulled his Hickman line out. It's strange to think that Tyler will no longer have direct access into his veins. In fact, he will have to get poked for his blood draws from now on, rather than having the blood drawn from his line.

Tyler had been nervous about this procedure, as they had to insert the line with a surgical procedure, directly into his vein. But everything went really smoothly. The doctor felt along the line (just barely visible under his skin in the picture above) and basically just gave a few tugs to get it out. It did hurt as they pulled it out, but Tyler held strong anyways.


In a few days, I'll be able to hug him without worrying as much about smacking his line with my naturally klutziness. He's developed a technique of guarding against any sudden moves that I might make.

We are incredibly thankful that this phase of the Battle is over and are looking forward to embracing "normal" life again! We'll continue to post, as the blog has become a great way for us to share both highs and lows and we don't really know what comes next in this battle we are fighting. It's been 9 months since we began this journey towards transplantation at full steam and we're delighted to announce that the outlook is good today!

Thanks for celebrating with us!! We'll try to touch base again over the weekend.