Home Again

Sujata is home once again after a few difficult days at Mount Sinai. The doctors took care of her infection rather quickly, stabilized her condition and started a series of intensive tests for two days, including CAT scans and endoscopies, and other procedures to rule out complications from the transplant. Most of the results were clean, but to be on the safe side the doctors made a several changes in her medication, primarily to step up the fight against GVHD.

Needless to say, we were very alarmed at this apparent setback. But the doctors assured us that this kind of infection is common for transplant patients and that there was nothing to worry about at this point. The next big test will come in a few days when they perform a bone marrow biopsy to determine how well the donor stem cells have engrafted, or, as a layman would say, have made themselves at home in their new surroundings.

The kids and I are overjoyed at having Sujata back at home. In one of our lighter moments during the ride back home from the hospital we told Sujata that we would make her sign a bond. If she left home again during the next six months we would levy a penalty-- no gift for her upcoming birthday!!

Getting ready for Sandy

The next few days will be challenging for reasons other than medical. Those of our friends who live in the North Eastern part of the US will know what I mean. Hurricane Sandy is barreling towards the Eastern seaboard and is expected to hit the New York area sometime on Monday, bringing with it gale force winds of 75 mph and more than 2 feet of rainfall. It is supposed to be one of the worst storms to hit the NY-NJ area in the last 30 years. If history is any indicator, there will be wide spread flooding, downed trees and power outage, including in our home area of Westchester County. It would be very difficult for Sujata to stay at home with no electric power, so we have planned to move to a hotel in Tarrytown on Monday afternoon. I am still working out the details on how to get her the right food and make sure that she stays safe and protected from infections during the course of the hurricane.