Cruisin' Along ...

... that's what the doc said at our clinic appointment on Monday. Still moving in the right direction. After 4.5 hours getting labs, meeting with the doc, and waiting and waiting for med refills, we said, "Goodbye, Clinic" for another week. Did have a nice brunch break at the Northside and the sun even peaked out every once in a while.

And now for something completely different, polar bears "playing" with spy cams:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12070732

Happy New Year!

Had a nice low key evening, kinda like Arlo and Janis:

http://comics.com/arlo&janis/2010-12-31/

Happy New Year! All the best for 2011!

Take that, GVHD!

The GVHD was getting a little uppity, making the skin rash a Stage 3 on a scale of 4. So, we smacked it down with a big 3 day dose of steroids. At the Monday appointment, the skin rash was back down to a Stage 1. Take that, GVHD!

And, now for something completely unrelated ... 17 wonderful Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8up4Oj6l86Y

Merry Christmas!

Hope you're having the right blend of family, friends and festivities this holiday season. We had a wonderful time at the just-right Christmas Eve party hosted by Nancy (ably assisted by Marley) for the crew of great friends. Perfect combination of food, friends and silliness.

Today we took our ride-along-dog for a trip through deserted Ann Arbor and caught up with family by phone. Joe's making the pastry for the chicken pot pie right now. Yum. All's well.





Merry Christmas to you and your family!


--lmb

Without Chemicals, Life Itself Would Be Impossible

In 1979, Monsanto aired public announcements with this lame slogan to counter bad press about PCBs, which they produced. The phrase comes in handy every now and then. Like today. In order to keep the HVGD under control, Joe gets to take ... you guessed it ... more drugs! They're all in pill form, some huge horse pills, some teeny-tiny-take-seven-at-a-time pills. Yum. Gives Joe an excuse to break out the doctor's knife, a handy little tool that olde tymey doctors used to use to count out, cut and smash pills. Here's an example of one:

Food, It's a Beautiful Thing

After Joe had his first transplant a few years ago, dinners were sad affairs. He was very sick and his restricted diet consisted mostly of applesauce and peanuts. Not that he could even taste those since the chemo messed up the taste buds. My sister gave me some homemade frozen dinner modules with a lot of love baked in and they were a great solace.

This time Joe started cooking within a couple of days of returning home. It's so wonderful. He made terrific chicken and rice last night despite the fact his taste buds still aren't up to snuff. We're also generating more tasty leftovers to vacuum and freeze. Thanks for all your offers of food. To my great surprise, we're doing pretty well in the food department.

It's also been wonderful to go to our favorite markets and see our food buddies behind the counters. They're all so happy to see Joe. "How ya doin'?" "Great to see you. You're a tough old buzzard." And, today, "So happy to see you! When did you get out?!" Just a few weeks ago. Let me introduce you to my parole officer.

Oh, and we didn't stay up to watch the first lunar eclipse in 372 years to coincide with winter solstice, but here are some nice pictures of it:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/are-you-watching-tonights-eclipse/?scp=1&sq=lunar%20eclipse&st=cse

Day 31, Can You Believe It?

Joe had his Day 30 checkup today (actually it's Day 31 but who's counting). The nurse referred to Joe as one of the newly transplanted or something like that. When we said it had been 30 days, she said that, yes, he was still a newby. Seems like it's been a heck of a long time already. Ready for graduation. Doc said Joe was "doing well". Yay. For his prize, Joe got to get a bone marrow biopsy, an inhalation mist treatment to guard against pneumonia, and a total of 5 hours in the clinic. What a luckly guy. He's doing well enough that we can start the transition from IV to oral magnesium. Yay. It'll be a few weeks, but one of these days, we'll be able to kiss the pump, IV bags and worthless carrying packs goodbye. Good night.