Memorial Day Weekend

As a sign of how much better he feels, Tyler is on a small road trip this weekend. He headed over the Sequim to spend the long weekend (with an extra day on each side) with his Mom and her husband, and just get away from home for a few days. I wasn't able to join them, as I had to work both Friday and Tuesday, but will take advantage of the opportunity to go visit my sister and baby niece.

Although it has been a few weeks since we last posted, life has been moving along well for both of us. I've been working full time, playing a little bit of soccer, and enjoying the sight of a happy husband. Tyler has been eating nonstop, knocking a few golf balls around, and getting stronger with increased activity and physical therapy.

Appointments with Dr. McGee have been good, as Tyler's blood counts continue to stay in normal ranges. Tyler is headed to the doctor about once a week initially, but will be dropping down after a month or so of good blood tests.

Tyler still is not showing signs of GVHD, and is continuing to decrease the amount of Tacrolimus that he takes each day. He's currently at 3.5mg per day, which is down from a regular dose of 5.0mg per day back in April. He actually was much higher when he was first released from his final hospital stay (in January), but the level of Tacrolimus in his blood was tested twice a week for the first 100 days and his dosing adjusted accordingly. I'm hopeful that he will continue to be strong and healthy as the drug is lowered further.

He is also continuing to take Tasigna, the leukemia attacker that he was on before the transplant. They estimate that Tyler will continue on this drug for at least 1 year to reduce the risk of a relapse. At the 1 year mark, they will let us know about continuing with the Tasigna or not. I kind of hope that he gets to stop that drug as well, but also don't want to risk a recurrence of the leukemia.

If things continue to go well, then Tyler may be able to resume his regular activities gradually between the 6 month to 1 year mark. We had purchased season tickets to the Sounders last spring, and Tyler has been unable to attend any of the games because of the risk of infection in large crowds and the fact that we stand for the entire game in most of the stadium. He's currently in training for the standing thing, but we are going to evaluate whether or not he can go to the June soccer games.