University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh returned to his Veazie home last weekend to attend the funeral of his wife Lynne’s grandmother, Claire Vickery, and he is hoping to return for good very soon.

Walsh, who is suffering from a form of kidney cancer known as renal cell carcinoma, underwent a stem cell transplant 55 days ago and recently spent 15 days at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., suffering from side effects caused by the transplantation.

“I’m doing fine. I got out of the hospital a week ago Sunday and I’ve gained 13 pounds since then. I played 18 holes of golf this past Sunday. I was shocked at my energy level,” said Walsh from his brother Kevin’s home in Annandale, Va., Tuesday. “The graft vs. host is under control. I hope to get back to Maine as soon as possible.”

Graft. vs. host refers to the battle between the transplanted stem cells from his brother Kevin and the cancerous cells still remaining in his body. That results in side effects.

He said his return to Maine last weekend was “easy.

“It didn’t tire me out. It was great to see the kids. Even though I was returning for a funeral, landing in Bangor after being gone 70 days reminded me of landing after we won our national championships [1993 and 1999]. The drive up 95 to my house was wonderful,” said Walsh. “I spent a couple of hours in my office and saw some of our players [who are working at the hockey clinic].”

Walsh said because he was here for the funeral, he “didn’t want to tell anybody.”

He said he won’t have his normal strength for another month “because of the immunosuppressive drugs” he had to take in order to clean out his immune system to make way for the stem cells.

“But they will be finished by mid to late August. The timing is perfect,” said Walsh.

Walsh indicated that once he returns, he will still have to fly down to the National Institutes of Health for checkups.

He will fly down every two weeks at first but it be less frequent in the future.

He said he won’t know for four or five months if the stem cells have destroyed the cancer cells “and the doctors have told me there’s no reason not to coach [in the meantime]. Unless I have major setbacks, I’ll be all set.”

Walsh, who has had his cancerous left kidney and left lung removed, has led Maine to two national championships, seven Frozen Fours and 11 NCAA Tournaments in his 17 years.

He has compiled a record of 399-214-44.