DAY 171

We have resumed our remodeling project.

 In Multiple Myeloma lingo, Don is at "Day 171." That means the transplant happened 171 days ago, nearing a half a year ago. From the beginning they said it would take between six months and a year to recover from the transplant, and that is just what we have experienced. Our life seems almost back to where it was before Don began treatment. We are busy, busy, busy. For the last two weeks Don has worked hard most days to finish off the inside of the front entryway, a project began a year ago. He has wired in a new door bell, which involved work at both front and rear doors and in the basement, added insulation, put up new sheet rock and new window trim. Much of the trim he hand-made to match the window trim in the rest of the house.He painted the wall about three times, due to the fact that paint that was supposed to match what was there, did not. All that is left is to refinish the door.

Don has had some lower back pain, probably due to being so inactive for so many months. But that is lessening with the passage of time and exercise. Don can't push as hard or work as fast as he did before, but what the heck, there aren't many men his age (68) who can do so much as he does.

A couple of weeks ago we attended Don's 50th high school reunion. We led the group in dancing to some great 60s rock and roll. Last week we took grandson Oliver on a little trip to Enchanted Forest and the Oregon State Capitol.

We'll stop bragging now! Its enough to say that we are feeling marvelously blessed. Next week we will celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary with a motorcycle ride out to Edgefield and a couple of days of good food, music, and pampering. As Poo Bear wold say, "Life is nice and round."

Don and Oliver take a popcorn break from riding Salem's riverside Carousel.

P. S. we will post this blog entry to both this blog and our remodel blog, since it marks the return to our remodel project.  http://ourdoityourselfremodel.blogspot.com/

Best News Possible

We saw Dr. Godwin on Tuesday for a follow-up visit after the post-transplant bone marrow biopsy. He told us that the results show no detectable cancer. This is the best possible outcome for all of the treatments Don has endured. None detected, doesn't mean he is "cured," it just means that it has been kicked so far out of the ball park that it will be a long time retuning. Many people see 5 to 10 years of remission. For now Don can expect to see his energy continue to recover and get back to normal, or very near what it was before all of this happened. He will receive a maintenance dose of targeted chemo twice a month, and bone strengthener, monthly, for a year, or so. After that it is just monitoring his health.

We have added back in most of our regular activities and are feeling really busy.

And, of course, we are feeling really thankful and happy.

Nice crew cut, huh?

Hair Returneth

Day number “100” fell on Easter Sunday. We passed it with an Easter egg hunt with grandson Oliver and family, and in the afternoon a nice visit with Don’s brother Sam and his wife Marsha.

Don had his fourth bone marrow biopsy a few days before that. It was endured quite well with the help of headphones and Roy Orbison tunes blaring in Don’s ears (that distracts Don from the pain), and Sami holding his hand. Bone marrow biopsies are not pleasant. The doctor cuts a tiny incision into the lower back and drills into the pelvis bone to extract a quarter of a teaspoon, or so, of bone marrow. Although the skin and flesh are numbed with drugs the bone and marrow still have feeling. Oh well, these biopsies have become almost “old hat.”

We will know the results of the test in a couple of weeks. They will quantify the amount of cancer left in Don’s marrow. It will be measurable, but far, far less than when treatment began. Probably no surprises.

Don continues to regain strength and endurance. There are times he almost feels back to his old self.  The other notable progress is the return of his beard and hair.

Day 109 finds Don with a very short crew cut and almost a full beard

Moving On

Spring is here and Don has weed-eated, edged and mowed our yards

Don continues to get better and continues to bring activities back into is life that he had to set aside while he was in treatment. He has mowed lawns this week and worked on a building project. He has removed the rust from his guitar playing. Sami thinks he sounds great. His goal is to play a song or two at Clyde’s on April 10^th. A week ago Don was one of the “special guest stars,” playing harmonica with Sami’s new ukulele band The Fleas, at the Delta Cafe, for their debut performance. These activities leave him very tired, but he rests and then is back at it. Another sign of recovery is a rather patchy beard that is beginning to show.

We remind ourselves where we were at a year ago, and that adds to the satisfaction of today!

Steve Bradley, our uke teacher, and Don were our special guest stars for our first-ever public performance. The evening left us all both tired and happy. (The Fleas include, Jen Neitzel, Brenda Reddaway, and Sami)

Day 50

Today is “day 50,” that means it was 50 days ago that Don’s stem cells were re-infused into his body. The cancer doctors will count the days of Don’s life from that day forward, unless and until he has another stem cell transplant. Then the calendar gets set again at “1.” Second transplants do happen, and they used only half of the stem cells they harvested for this transplant. Enough cells were stored on ice for a second transplant down the road. However, right now we are focused on Don’s recuperation from the recent one. All is going well. Progress is consistent and steady. Don no longer naps in the day. He has added practicing guitar back into his days as well as small household projects. Yesterday he took the liner out of the back of the pickup and cleaned out the pickup bed. He beats Sami to the after-dinner dishes most days and has run a few short errands. His nights are becoming more settled. Life is looking more “pre-cancer,” although his energy level and physical stamina has a long way to go to be norm

The next big mile post is “day 100.” After then, Don will undergo yet another bone marrow biopsy, his fourth. The results of the biopsy will determine if he is in remission. After day 100 Don’s system is supposed to be good enough to be re-given all of the shots he has had over his life that provide immunity to various diseases; shingles, polio, measles, etc. The stem cell transplant wiped those immunities out. That is also when they begin Don on a maintenance regimen of a cancer-fighting drug, probably Revlimid.

Although we know the future holds all of these things, right now we are just taking it a day at a time and making no grand plans. We are happy with how things are going, even though the progress is slow. We look back on the day he came home from the hospital, and realize he has come a long, long way.

Valentines dinner at "our table" at Canazon Restaurant. Don is back to enjoying an occasional glass of wine. My perfectly wonderful drink is called "the bee's knees."

Care Giving

Sami's sister, Claudia helped out for ten days. She left just in time to miss this wild weather.

We were told that Don should not be alone for the first week after he returned from the hospital, so Claudia came to help with the care-giving tasks. As it turned out we enjoyed ourselves. We piled on the bed with pillows and blankets to watch Downtown Abby and old Agatha Christie Inspector Periot episodes, did jigsaw puzzles, and cooked and ate together. It was a very nice visit. No one told us that this whole thing could be enjoyable.

A Good Day

Hi all!
 
Since being home from the hospital for about two weeks, almost every day has been either the same as the day before or slightly better.  I don't feel I've had any significantly backsliding days.  Today, however, seemed noticeably better than yesterday.  I drove the car for the first time in about two months--a short run to Fred Meyer with Sami.  I even walked in to the store for a short time.  I walked around the block twice when we returned home.  We did the outing to get some necessary things (and to mail a bunch of paid bills) ahead of the snow storm we experienced later today.  I did have one short nap session, which is less than I have been having each day.  I remember clearly how weak I felt on the day home from the hospital--I have definitely progressed quite a bit from that base line!


Cheers!


Don