Your assignment for the day

Okay, Team, I have a very specific assignment for you today. Here's what I need you to do: 1. Figure out what direction Cheyenne, WY is from where you are. 2. Go to the nearest window and stick your head out of it. 3. Incline your ear toward the aforementioned direction.

That sound you hear* is a large portion of the city of Cheyenne celebrating. And why, you ask, are they celebrating?

BECAUSE ERIC WEDELL IS COMING HOME TOMORROW.

Dad's body has been hard at work churning out white blood cells--his count is now at 4.8, which is considered in the normal range. His neutrophils, which are the kind of WBCs that do the most immunity work, are at 3.1, which is also normal.

So now that he can fight off bugs, Guy's Hospital is kicking him out (I can't imagine why; he's such a pleasant person to have around. You KNOW they'll miss him). He will board an air ambulance with two medical personnel tomorrow morning. The plane is so tiny it doesn't even have a bathroom! It can also accommodate very little fuel, so it has to make FOUR stops (one in Iceland, two in Canada, and one in the US) over a whopping 20 hours before touching down in Cheyenne. An ambulance will meet him at the airport and take him directly to the ICU to continue his treatment. He has already chosen an oncologist there and they've been in touch.

The plane is also too tiny to accommodate their luggage (and remember they were halfway through a month-long vacation, so they're pretty big suitcases), so they have decided that Mom will take a commercial flight. So she'll get home from this trying affair with lots of baggage. (HA! I'll be here all week. Tip your servers and try the veal!)

I will most likely not be able to talk to Mom or Dad tomorrow, so there will be no Team Eric Update. If you would, please send prayers and vibes for safe, uneventful flights for both of them. Cheyenneites, I believe it's family only in the ICU, but I'm sure Mom would love to hear from you.

I know I speak for Mom, Carl, Barbara, and especially Dad (not to mention Heather, Daniel, and the granddaughters) when I say that the words "thank you" seem completely inadequate in the face of what you have done for our family. If there was every any doubt in my mind about the sheer power of positive thought and prayer, this experience has shattered it entirely. I truly believe we would not have made it through this if not for the generous, kind, determined, HUGE group of people known as #TeamEric. GO TEAM!!

*The sound may be coming from inside your own house, in which case, it is YOU celebrating. Or crying with relief. Don't worry, my house sounds like that too.