There's No Place Like Home

I was mistaken when I wrote earlier that we were done with the appointment. Bolstered by the great news of her platelets sustaining, Krista really wanted to show the doctor the improvement in her rash hoping that he would let her go home. I thought it was a long-shot, but Krista really wanted to try. Since it wasn't busy in the transfusion suite, they let us stay in the comfortable chairs until it got busy. That was long enough to get in a short nap to help my groggies.

The doctor had told us that he was going to be there between 10 am and noon. The transfusion suite needed more space around 10:30 am. We went out the general waiting room hoping to get a visit in with the doctor. We didn't have an appointment, so we were at the mercy of the schedule -- which is generally very full. While we were waiting, I called my insurance transplant coordinator to find out what the deal was with this "universal coverage". The coordinator told me that there was no problem with the insurance, and that any treatments that happened after leaving would be covered as "follow up", which is just a different category with the same coverage. She further told me that they don't interfere at all in the decision making process, and that it was completely up to the doctor as to when to let us go home.

While I was talking with my insurance, we saw Monica -- our friend from Paso Robles -- checking in her husband Terry. They got called in quickly, but after their blood-draw they came out and sat with us in the waiting room. They were planning on going home today. Krista shared with them her progress and our insurance news, and they became excited to think that we might both be done with that phase. They even offered to share their doctor appointment with us if it would help.

Just after they were called in for their noon-time doctor appointment, one of the doctor's assistants came out to ask Krista about why she wanted to see the doctor. This assistant happened to be the same one that helped me change one of Krista's anti-nausea medicines yesterday when she was dealing with the worst of her nausea. She went away sounding dubious about the chances of leaving, but said that she would arrange for us to see the doctor.

We were shown to an exam room to wait for the doctor, and Krista walked in without her wheelchair just to show her capabilities. We eventually saw Monica and Terry go by, saying that they were going home. Krista was bursting with excitement. The doctor finally came in, accompanied by the transplant case manager. He asked, "What can I do for you?" and Krista said, "I want to go home." He took a look at her platelet levels and was impressed. He took a look at the improvement in her rash and was impressed, too. We shared with him and the case manager what the insurance transplant coordinator said, too. After all that, the doctor didn't see any reason to keep her there any longer. We were free to go, only needing to come back weekly for labs/doctor visit on Fridays. They are also going to arrange for a home-care nurse to visit on Tuesdays to test her blood and administer the IVIG.

Whoo-hoo! If I wasn't so tired I would have been jumping up and down. We rolled back to the hospitality house in a bit of shock over the news. After thanking God, I finally got the nap I so needed, and after that I felt much better. We talked about what to do next and decided that it was better to go today than wait until tomorrow, so I packed up our stuff, checked out, and drove home. The traffic wasn't too bad tonight, so I am now writing this entry from our living room!

By the way, the house is so clean! The Steffen's left a note for us, so I suspect that they had something to do with it. Thank you so much! Looking forward to a good night's sleep in our own bed!

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
(Psalm 100)