Day +22

It's hard to believe that Ori has been in the hospital for almost 5 weeks.  The time has gone by quickly, but with December here and Christmas approaching, we are all feeling a bit anxious to get home, especially Ori.  When we switched the calendar to December 1st he was a bit sad not to be at home decorating the house and putting up Christmas lights.  We are waiting to do those things until he comes home, but we're still not sure when that will be.

And even though being in a hospital room is not the ideal place to be when the Christmas season begins, it's where we are now, so it's where we'll celebrate for now.  It took some convincing, but Ori said it was OK to decorate his room and turn on the Christmas music.  He's feeling conflicted, as are we.  He wants to wait until we are home to "begin" the Christmas season, but he also knows that we may be in the hospital for most of that time.  He doesn't want the time to pass without enjoying it, and neither do we.

So we're doing our best to enjoy the Christmas season here.  We've put up a tree and some decorations, and we're listening to Christmas music and feeling festive.  But we're also being careful not to mention all of the beautifully decorated Christmas trees that are in the lobby of the hospital or the light displays we see in the neighborhood at night.  We're focusing on what we have in front of us, not what we can't enjoy.

Ori is feeling alright about it all, and his body is working hard to heal itself.  He's had a few symptoms of host vs. graft disease, but he is still making good progress.  His ANC is rising each day, and we are hopeful that he will be fully engrafted within the next week.  Then we can focus on preparing him to come home, hopefully in time for Christmas.