Monday, December 19, 2005:
Zack called this morning and told us they wanted to get him out of the hospital by noon if possible, so Ginner and I headed in. The fun part right now is trying to get a parking spot in the garage. For some reason lately it has been harder and we end up following people to their cars as they leave

.
Zack was sleeping when we got to his room. He had already gotten palettes and they were waiting for one bag of blood to come up to give him and then we could head home. Ginner and I packed up his room and took two loads to the car and then we were ready to take him. Vicki
& Dr. Tsai went over what Zack can and can’t do and what would bring him back in.
Dr. Tsai said for him to go home, rest, walk and eat, a lot. The goal is to get him rested and his strength back to be able to face the next phase. Zack’s ANC is low right now still and that needs to come up of course. The last number we had was 31, so it had dropped down from 65,
which isn’t uncommon for it to go up and down at first and then at some point it should climb steadily.
Once he was done getting the blood and his IV medicine we did a last check around the room and headed out. After a lot of hugs and good byes to the nurses and staff we were on our way to the garage. It is hard to leave them. They mean so much to us for all they have done and how much they care.
We got home around 5 pm and it wasn’t long before Zack was on the couch sleeping again. Everyone headed out to get some errands done before dinner so I got everything unpacked while Zack still slept. Then Kelly brought us dinner (Thanks!) and we all sat down to have
dinner togther. That was nice and a lot of laughter also. We had a good evening.
Tuesday morning: These first few days are a big adjustment for us all, especially for Zack. He did not sleep too well last night. Maybe if we go in every 4 hours to take his temperature and blood pressure it would help
. We are getting ready to head into the Reading Hospital for blood work to be done. The visiting nurse could not come today so we need to go there so that they can get the counts done today and faxed to Dr. Luger. Then Thursday we head back to Penn Towers for a visit with Dr. Luger.
Prayer:
*That Zack would be able to sleep at night and the adjustment to being home would go smoothly for him.
*For strength to face whatever is coming next.
*That Zack’s ANC would start to rise and get stronger so his body can fight infections.
Note: Some of you have said that we had not mentioned that Zack had pneumonia before. It is a “fungal” pneumonia that they have been watching since his first stay in the hospital. In some of the early chest x-rays and CAT scans Zack had back in August and September they could see some small spots but they were so small they did not think they were a problem at that time (though they still treat it to keep it in check). Then during this hospital stay and after his 4th round of chemo one of the tests showed that the fungal pneumonia had grown and so they started treating it. Instead of an antibiotic they have “antifungal” medications (I had never heard of this before). The first one, and the best one they have, gave Zack bad side effects when they tried it during the first stay and he had to change to a different one after a few days. So, this time they did not try it and went with a different one. The second one also gave him side effects, but not like the other drug. After a few weeks of trying that and it not seeming to make any difference on the pneumonia they decided to try the first one again and see if Zack would have the side effects again. Ok, after that long explanation, it ended up that he has tolerated it well and they think that the side effects were because of the combination of the antifungal and another drug Zack was taking at that time (1st hospital stay). The pneumonia has gotten better but it will not completely go away until his body can fight it along with the drug.