New dawn, new day, new life
Friends and accomplices: Peter Roy is out of the hospital!
It turned out that the extra bump of steroids was just what Sam needed to clear out all remaining fluids and alleviate the need for a chest tube. Freed from the need to be hooked up to any further medical devices, the hospital staff freed him from the hospital all together! Pop was released yesterday afternoon back to his temporary home in Durham. His first real meal was simple and delicious: steak and salad.
Landing back into “real life” brings with it realizations of what has changed and how much Pop has been through over the past month. He is physically very tired and sore, especially as the high caliber local anesthetics start to wear off—but at the same time very grateful to be at home and breathing.
With the Duke team however, there’s no rest for the weary! Pop had an appointment first thing thing morning at the rehab facility for a physical evaluation and more walking exercise. He was able to complete a 6 minute walk with no oxygen support, and the physical therapists were very pleased with his overall level of strength for a post-transplant patient. For the next several weeks, he will continue to have daily appointments at either the clinic or the rehab center to keep monitoring his progress and rebuilding muscle.
One new aspect of life that will certainly take some getting used to is the medication regimen. As awesome as Sam & Dave are, they will always have DNA different that Dad’s, so some level of immuno-suppression will be part of living happily together. To compensate for that, Pop will also have to continue to take anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal medications to pinch hit for his natural immunity. This morning he took 19 different pills at 8am, more at noon, more at 4pm, and then another 23 at 9pm to round out the day:
For the time being also, he can only drink water that has been completely sterilized and cannot take a shower as tap water is not sterile. So Pop is already looking forward to his next release date: June 20—hot shower day!
As Pop continues to become better friends with Sam & Dave, he has assured them that he will take good care of them and include them fully in all of his adventures to come. And he has also assured them that he is surrounded by an awesome tribe of friends and family they will want to meet—and without whom he certainly would have not made it this far.