Back To Duke

Late this afternoon, we'll be driving back to Durham/Duke for a few much anticipated appointments for both Tricia and Gwyneth.

Tricia will be having her follow up appointments with the cancer team to discover if the past four rounds of chemo have been effective. The expectation has been that the treatments will have wiped the lymphoma out of her system, so we're keeping our hopes up. She'll also be seen by the transplant team again, and we're also hopeful for continued good news. What we're unsure of is how the cancer and post-transplant issues will continue to balance themselves, particularly with her meds and the efforts to ward off rejection. Some good news...Tricia has been told that she'll have her feeding tube, which she has had (and which has been incredibly helpful) for the past 18 months, removed...she is very excited.

Gwyneth will be seen again by the special infant care doctors. I have been very optimistic over the past few weeks, as it appears to my untrained eyes that her breathing and development seem to be progressing very nicely. She continues to be on and off the oxygen as needed, but I can really tell a noticeable difference in her work of breathing. She is also eating more and more, with greater ease and stamina, and she is beginning to discover that she can suck/lick on her hands and fingers if she can hold them still in front of her mouth for long enough.

All of this will be taking place from Tuesday to Thursday, and, without any major surprises, we should be back home by Thursday night. We'll be making good use of the time outside of the clinics to get some things done in the "big city" that we can't do on the OBX, and we hope to see a few friends as well.

BTW, I simply have not had any time to work on pics from the other evening, but I promise they'll be on there way in the next day or so!

Thanks!

Nate