On Parole

We are at home. They let us go, but it was an unofficial release.  Jon's platelets are up to 20,000 but they are not satisfied until he is all the way to 50,000 (and then he can go back on the blood thinners...he has a history of blood clots that they don't want to forget ).  So we have to go back again on Saturday morning for another check-up and then again on Monday. On Tuesday he is scheduled to have his line taken out, and then he will presumably be a free man.

Originally Amber said, you can have tomorrow off and then we will see you again on Saturday. Jon asked for clarification about what it meant to have a day off. Amber hedged. Jon asked directly, can I go home? She asked where home is. And then she said well maybe that's okay, but don't tell any other patients about this. "We never had this conversation." By which she meant that she really does believe that it is safe to go home, but that this is not according to the rules.

She definitely did not want us to move out of Hackerman. There is always a chance that there would be a reason for Jon to be nearby again. He is not truly excused yet.  So we just took a few things out of the apartment with us and left most of our stuff there, just in case.  We may spend a few more nights there, in between appointments. 

Everything looks glorious and green and fluffy in Virginia. The farm is mowed and clipped (we are still waiting for warmer weather, so there is a lot of tidying up going on). It was cool enough when we got home that Jon lit a fire in the woodstove.  Then he went out and got a big many-dish Vietnamese dinner because it is our anniversary.  Root beer floats for dessert.

We attended a Zoom class that was all about what kinds of careful we need to be after we leave the IPOP. As the teacher said, we all know how to behave with COVID so there isn't so much to learn there. The hazards that immunocompromised people might not think about are the fungi that float in the air when dirt is disrupted (like on farms and construction sites). The bottom line is, Jon will be wearing an N95 mask a lot more than most people for the next few months.  While the rest of us can fend off fungi and bacteria and viruses without even thinking about it, he will need to gradually rebuild his immune system. It will take about six months since he is starting from zero. 

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