Heading Home Monday-Cured! And With Emmy Lou Harris Gray Hair!

Well, this sojourn in Houston is almost over! My younger brother Tom flies in tomorrow and he and I will be wheels up after my last appointment Monday afternoon.

They have really fast-tracked me. Last week I asked if they could remove the PICC line that has been in the inside of my upper arm since I got here. They pulled that out on Thursday. The nurse, aptly named Gabriel, said it all looked great. Really clean. I had to flush the two lines that were part of it every day with syringes filled with a saline solution. It's just to make sure the lines stay clear.. It's a simple procedure but iif you touch anything you have to start all over. So Sarah and Sam's garbage is FULL of syringes.

Anyway, I got up tap dancing yesterday morning, so happy to have those things out of me. That PICC line and Slim, the IV pole, have really helped me appreciate just being normal. Wow.

So, I am leaving with three key numbers back in the normal range: white blood cell count, hemoglobin and platelets. I am still immuno compromised, but things are headed in the right direction!

I am also leaving with a new hair color--not sure if you can really see the difference between platinum blond and Emmy Lou Harris gray. But I really like it.

I am also leaving with all of my Christmas cards written and stamped. I just sat in Sarah and Same's playroom listening to Christmas carols and wrote away. But I'm gonna mail them from Park City. I want that postmark on them.

And, I have made real progress in setting up the start of my memoir! Cured. It's been a structural challenge, that's for sure but I think I see how to do it! Who knew that MD Anderson and Sarah and Sam's would be the perfect writer's retreat?

Also, who wants to be a beta reader? It's months away--it is up for presale on Amazon but the pub date is July 31.

My one concern is my left hip, which has been a problem off and on for several years. And it is so uncomfortable now that it's sometimes destabilizing, so I have to fix it.

But, I've been doing 30 minutes a day on Sam's stationary bike which seems to be helping. And I will continue when I get back to Park City. I also have an appointment to see a new physical therapist. He specializes in running and has the perfect name for someone who helps injured runners: Andrew Fast.

And, for my holistic friends, I am also doing tapping!

Because I am a research project I have to return to Houston twice over the holidays--an overnight trip Dec. 18 & 19, and a whole battery of tests Dec. 26-28. The research team has to do different tests on specific days. But after that, I think I just have to come back every couple of months.

Meanwhile, looks as though I'll be a volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival! I have to get an okay from the docs, but I'm optimistic!

I am leaving full of gratitude. Not just for this cure but for this whole experience , my life and all of the wonderful people who are in it. They are you.

Sending you joy,love and laughter.

Kate