Doctors have always been crystal clear about staying physically active. The only way out of the hospital is to “walk yourself out.” So we walked – a lot. They have constantly questioned if Dave was eating enough and drinking enough water. His intake and output was measured and documented. So he ate soft, liquidy foods even when he wasn’t hungry. He drank water – as much as he could stomach. And even when his throat felt like a coral reef and the roof of his mouth looked like moon craters, he needed to be able to swallow all medications before being discharged. So he winced his eyes, curled his toes and swallowed them one by one – over 25 pills in a day. It wasn’t easy to be Dave the last few weeks, and it wasn’t easy to watch him be the determined man we all know him to be.

Goal driven to an extreme, Dave’s barometer was to be discharged from the hospital the same number of days as his first bone marrow transplant. He was out in 21 days last October. He made it home in time to take our grandkids trick-or-treating.

I, on the other hand, was cautiously warning him not to set his sights so high in order to avoid disappointment. Even Dr. Uberti warned that this would be tougher and would take longer. Denise, his nurse practitioner, dramatically warned it would be “rrrrrroufffffffer!” As you can imagine, Dave was not in the least bit intimidated by anyone’s predictions. His goal remained to be in and out in 21 days.

We are required to stay close to Karmanos, so even the slightest change in his health is addressed immediately. Once assured that we were staying just blocks away from the hospital, Dr. Uberti agreed it was time to discharge Dave. On Wednesday, the 21st day, he not only walked out of the hospital on his own, he walked up three flights of stairs to the apartment we are renting.

Dr. Uberti also gave us one last directive before being discharged. He told us that we are allowed to go back home for the weekend. So, we are going to relax, enjoy the lake and report back to the clinic on Monday. Doctor’s orders! We are more than happy to oblige. Because, we’re pretty good at following doctor’s orders.

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