Tuesday, February 14

Share the love - It's Valentine's Day!

As things return to "normal" around the Maca house, so too does the hectic and crazy schedule, at least when it comes to seeing the wnuczki!

Even though Julia had her Brownie Scouts meeting yesterday, we still got to Stefan and Daniella's house in plenty of time for dinner. It was the first time since the holidays that the eleven of us in the immediate family were all able to get together at the same time. Stefan, Daniella, Koy, Ela, Julia, Stevie, Steve, Karen, Maddie, Stefan JM, and myself - we had a sit down dinner and caught up a little with what's going on in our lives. Afterwards, we all drove over to Bo's house, to wish him a Happy Birthday and have some cake with him.

All in all, it was a good visit - everyone was in good spirits and good health. The kids still think it's a little funny to see their Dziadzia without a mustache. That is, until he pulls off his hat and reminds them that there isn't any hair up there either! But Stefan was smiling and happy to have his wnuczki come visit him.

His doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon went very well too. The head of the team told Stefan that he could discontinue the use of his antibiotics, as there was no evidence of any infection. His counts are looking good - they're where they're expected to be - steadily growing stronger.

The list of Do's and Don't's that Stefan has is quite lengthy, but the overall strength is that he's home. He's not hooked up to an IV pole, since his picc line was taken out before he came home - and that's made his life a bit easier. The chaffing and rash on his wrist is gone now. For his whole stay in the hospital, anytime he'd wash his hands, the medical info "bracelets" would get wet and the skin under them would chafe - but now that the bracelets are off, the rash is gone. He's got a healthy appetite, even if he doesn't have full use of all his taste buds back yet. He's still quite a bit tired, but he told us he naps often. As his body gets stronger, his energy will come back too.

For now, he's happy to be back home, able to see his family and wnuczki. Before we know it, he'll have his full strength back... and life will be back to Normal again.