Thank You!!!

Thanks to all who attended our party Saturday. I don't know about you, but I had a great time! Unfortunately, we'll be eating Italian sausage for about the next month. Anyone have any creative recipes you can share?

Special thanks to Kris & Jim, and Julie & Tom for coming early, helping set up, and mixing me that much needed first drink. I'm not breathing out of a paper bag anymore.

And, Honorable mention goes to Bob and Ellen, who DROVE all the way from Eastern Tennessee to be with us. It was great to see you! Thank you so much. It meant the world to Greg and he was really touched that you did that.

We spent yesterday recuperating. Thanks to all for making it such a success!

Love,

Greg, Ann, Eric & Matthew

The Welcome Home Bash!

Help Welcome Greg Home!

We're Having an Open House

Saturday, August 29, 2009

4 to 8 p.m.

Call us for the Address or Directions

(For obvious reasons I'm not posting them here)

There Will the Lots to Eat and Drink

(You Know Us!)

Please Drop By Anytime to

Help Welcome Greg Home,

And Give Us An Opportunity to

Thank You in Person for

All of Your Support

(Please, no gifts)

FREE!!!

From Greg:

It took 10 weeks but I'm finally home. I was checked in as the green flag was dropped at the Indy 500 on Memorial Day and fully expected to be in St. Louis until the end of the Jerry Lewis Telethon (almost made it!). I am weak, tired, and a little unsteady -- but I am now also a European woman. (I guess that explains the water retention). So, while there's still some recovery left, everything seems to be going fine. Both the GVHD (expected and necessary) and the CMV (dangerous and deadly) are under control. The CMV should be gone after my last dose of meds on Tuesday. Its now just a matter of recovery (and a bushel basket of meds). But I'm alive I'm happy and I'm home with my family. Thank you to all for your support.

Love,

Greg

P.S. Watch this site over the next few days for an important announcement regarding a welcome home bash.

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

We saw Dr. Vij on Friday. Everything is still going well. The labs are stable, for the most part, the CMV and GVHD seem under control, and, aside from tiring easily, Greg feels good. So, Vij said that if everything continues like this for the week, Greg MIGHT be able to come home this weekend!!! He wouldn't commit, but I don't think he would have said so if it weren't very possible. We go again to see him this Friday, and then he'll make the decision. So, keep your fingers (and everything else) crossed. He'll still have to go back about every 10 days to 2 weeks, but that's better than living there full time. Vij stressed that anything can happen. He said he could keep Greg there for 3 months and nothing could happen, or he could send him home tomorrow and the next day a new issue could develop. However, this is good news for now, and that's good enough. I'll post when I know more (probably not until Friday).

Thanks to all for the prayers and support. This is the proof that they are working.

Love,

Greg, Ann, Eric & Matthew

Still Going Well

I just got back from my weekend with Greg, and everything is still going well (knock on wood!). We saw Dr. Vij on Friday, and he's pleased with Greg's progress. His platelets rose from 31 to 35 (all by himself!) and the last ones they gave him weren't even HLA matched. Also, the tests Friday showed that his bone marrow is now 100% his donor's, which means he's completely grafted. The GVHD is still an issue, and they upped some of his meds, but he's improved. His skin is really scaly, but Greg assures me it looked worse last week. Also, the CMV (virus) is still an issue. They put him on the IV meds, which he gives himself, twice a day. He has this bulb about the size of a tennis ball with tubing attached. He hooks it up to his central line IV (it screws in) and puts the ball in his pocket. Over the course of a little more than an hour, his heart acts as a natural IV pump, and the medicine pumps into him through the line, deflating the ball. He can walk around and do normal stuff all the while its being administered. Its really an ingenious thing. I've never seen anything like it.

We had crummy weather all weekend, and couldn't do much, but we ate a lot (Hanging with a guy on steroids isn't doing much for my girlish figure!). The interesting thing is that Greg is still LOSING weight. The pants we bought him two weeks ago are getting loose. But, Vij says thats not abnormal and we shouldn't worry. Kacey and I are getting worried that our own clothes won't fit, though! Kacey seems to be doing OK but is getting a little homesick. I think she's going to try to go home for a long weekend in about 2 weeks, so that should help. Mark, maybe that would be a good time for you to come down? We'll have to talk about that.

That's about all for now. Greg goes back for labs on Tuesday, and I'll post with those results then.

Love,

Greg, Ann, Eric, Matthew and Kacey