Just a quick entry for the day.
The newspaper interview took place this afternoon from 3 to 4. I thought that it went very well so we'll see how it all translates into the final article. He took some pictures as well. From my point of view, none of them were very flattering - but, then again, he did not have much to work with.
Time for another hair update. The hair on the top of my head continues to slowly fall out but even though I have what appears to be bald spots here and there; there is still some fine hair covering my scalp.
Since I shaved last Saturday, I have not needed to shave since. My facial hair is very slowly growing back. When I'll have to shave again - no idea.
Bob
December 5, 2008 10:00 PM
Certainly not much to go into today.
Probably the most exciting thing was that I was mentioned in an article in one of our local newspapers in reference to the bone marrow drive that is to take place next Saturday(12/13). The drive is very important. My inclusion in the article only served as an introduction to that key message and that is the way that it should be. I'll gladly be the messenger to get the word out about how important it is to step up and offer to help save someone's life.
Of course, tomorrow is the newspaper interview and I will again reinforce the message.
As usual, things are going very well. I feel fine and I will continue to be on the mend as I go forward into next week with the bone marrow biopsy and the results on the schedule.
Once again, I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Even after having spent a month combatting this disease, your cards and gifts still continue to arrive and continue to inspire me. Thank you so much!!!!!
My wife has been asked by several friends if I am starting to get cabin fever having basically stayed in the house for the past 6 days. Believe me, after spending a month in the hospital, home is like heaven on earth! I can't say enough about the food(my wife is an excellent cook)! People do stop by to visit. I am not teathered to an IV pole. I do not have to urinate into a container. I am not required to be awake at 5 AM to get blood drawn and have my vitals taken. I can actually brush my teeth. I do not have to wear the designer clothes that the hospital provides. The TV selections are much better and they are in HD.
Life is good!!!!!
Bob
Probably the most exciting thing was that I was mentioned in an article in one of our local newspapers in reference to the bone marrow drive that is to take place next Saturday(12/13). The drive is very important. My inclusion in the article only served as an introduction to that key message and that is the way that it should be. I'll gladly be the messenger to get the word out about how important it is to step up and offer to help save someone's life.
Of course, tomorrow is the newspaper interview and I will again reinforce the message.
As usual, things are going very well. I feel fine and I will continue to be on the mend as I go forward into next week with the bone marrow biopsy and the results on the schedule.
Once again, I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Even after having spent a month combatting this disease, your cards and gifts still continue to arrive and continue to inspire me. Thank you so much!!!!!
My wife has been asked by several friends if I am starting to get cabin fever having basically stayed in the house for the past 6 days. Believe me, after spending a month in the hospital, home is like heaven on earth! I can't say enough about the food(my wife is an excellent cook)! People do stop by to visit. I am not teathered to an IV pole. I do not have to urinate into a container. I am not required to be awake at 5 AM to get blood drawn and have my vitals taken. I can actually brush my teeth. I do not have to wear the designer clothes that the hospital provides. The TV selections are much better and they are in HD.
Life is good!!!!!
Bob
December 4, 2008 8:15 PM
Last night, in my zeal to fully explain and get out the news from my doctors visit, I neglected to mention one other thing that happened at my mother-in-law's birthday dinner. My son-in-law who is a volunteer fireman for the Milford, NH fire department presented me and my wife with a generous gift of gasoline gift cards made possible from contributions made by the members of the fire department. Needless to say, they will certainly come in handy with the many upcoming trips that we have to take to Boston.
Also, needless to say, we were both taken aback by the thoughtfulness expressed by a group of individuals who do not even know who I am! Words cannot adequately express how grateful and appreciative we are for the gift. We hear so much in the news of the bad things that befall us in life - the good things that people do just seem to get little or no play! For sure, firemen certainly fill a vital role in our communities. And here is another way that they show it and I know that it will never be mentioned!
So.... if they won't mention it, I will.
To the Milford, NH fire department - thank you so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness!
Bob
Also, needless to say, we were both taken aback by the thoughtfulness expressed by a group of individuals who do not even know who I am! Words cannot adequately express how grateful and appreciative we are for the gift. We hear so much in the news of the bad things that befall us in life - the good things that people do just seem to get little or no play! For sure, firemen certainly fill a vital role in our communities. And here is another way that they show it and I know that it will never be mentioned!
So.... if they won't mention it, I will.
To the Milford, NH fire department - thank you so much for your kindness and thoughtfulness!
Bob
December 3, 2008 10:30 PM
Sorry for the late post today. But, I was out to dinner with the family celebrating my mother-in-law's 91st birthday. She had not been told that I was going to be there - so my appearance was a most pleasant surprise. At her age, we do get concerned somewhat that some surprises may be a little too much to take - but she was fine. Tonight's outing was (and will be) the highlight of my stay at home because I am limiting my exposure to crowds and people as the doctors have ordered.
Let's cut to the chase at this point. What transpired at the doctor's office this morning! The first thing that occurred is they drew blood and got the results to the doctor. These results definitely gated the course of the rest of the visit. My counts are rising as they should be and everything is on target.
Before I continue though, it's time for a quick lesson on how the body makes blood cells. Starting in the bone marrow from stem cells, the body starts differentiating the stem cells into several different paths. These individual paths end up being the various kinds of blood cells that we all have in our bodies. Each path has a number of steps that it goes through before the cells reach their final stage - at which point they are released into the body. Unfortunately for me, at one stage on one of the paths, all further progress stops! The stage in which it halts is the blast stage. Normally, because everyones cell development goes through this stage, the percentage of blasts in the body is about 5%. Of course, before the chemo, my blast count was higher than that - I have no idea what it was. After the chemo, the blast percent was 0.
OK, where am I going with all of this. Today, my blast percentage was around 2%. The doctor has no idea whether I will continue to generate the blast cells and stop around 5% or whether I will blow right past the number because the cancer is still present. She wanted a little more time to see what my body was doing. Therefore, it was decided to postpone the bone marrow biopsy, once again, until Monday and to schedule a follow up appointment for the following Friday to discuss the results. Bottom line - so far, so good!
Also, we mentioned to the doctor that my discharge papers from the hospital said that I could go back to work after staying home for 2 weeks! Her immediate response was, No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! I have probably done an injustice to the number of no's that she said as she seemed to go on for quite a while. Perhaps if the timeframe was 3 weeks she might have looked at the matter in a more reasonable light.
We also asked if it would be OK for me to go to the restaurant tonight. She said that there would be no problem as long as I did not order sushi or steak tartare. It was obvious that she did not know me very well!
Lastly, on Saturday, I am going to be interviewed by one of the local newspapers. To be honest, I do not think that there is much of a story with me. There are many others who have walked in and are walking in my footsteps who, I am sure, have a much better story to tell. However, if I can get the word out to the community about the upcoming bone marrow drive in Milford on the 13th and how important it is to be able to give each leukemia patient a chance for survival then the interview will be well worth it. Just think about it - the finest doctors in the world employing the latest advances in modern medicine cannot cure those leukemia patients needing a bone marrow transplant if no match is found in the bone marrow bank! How frustrating that must be!
Bob
Let's cut to the chase at this point. What transpired at the doctor's office this morning! The first thing that occurred is they drew blood and got the results to the doctor. These results definitely gated the course of the rest of the visit. My counts are rising as they should be and everything is on target.
Before I continue though, it's time for a quick lesson on how the body makes blood cells. Starting in the bone marrow from stem cells, the body starts differentiating the stem cells into several different paths. These individual paths end up being the various kinds of blood cells that we all have in our bodies. Each path has a number of steps that it goes through before the cells reach their final stage - at which point they are released into the body. Unfortunately for me, at one stage on one of the paths, all further progress stops! The stage in which it halts is the blast stage. Normally, because everyones cell development goes through this stage, the percentage of blasts in the body is about 5%. Of course, before the chemo, my blast count was higher than that - I have no idea what it was. After the chemo, the blast percent was 0.
OK, where am I going with all of this. Today, my blast percentage was around 2%. The doctor has no idea whether I will continue to generate the blast cells and stop around 5% or whether I will blow right past the number because the cancer is still present. She wanted a little more time to see what my body was doing. Therefore, it was decided to postpone the bone marrow biopsy, once again, until Monday and to schedule a follow up appointment for the following Friday to discuss the results. Bottom line - so far, so good!
Also, we mentioned to the doctor that my discharge papers from the hospital said that I could go back to work after staying home for 2 weeks! Her immediate response was, No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! I have probably done an injustice to the number of no's that she said as she seemed to go on for quite a while. Perhaps if the timeframe was 3 weeks she might have looked at the matter in a more reasonable light.
We also asked if it would be OK for me to go to the restaurant tonight. She said that there would be no problem as long as I did not order sushi or steak tartare. It was obvious that she did not know me very well!
Lastly, on Saturday, I am going to be interviewed by one of the local newspapers. To be honest, I do not think that there is much of a story with me. There are many others who have walked in and are walking in my footsteps who, I am sure, have a much better story to tell. However, if I can get the word out to the community about the upcoming bone marrow drive in Milford on the 13th and how important it is to be able to give each leukemia patient a chance for survival then the interview will be well worth it. Just think about it - the finest doctors in the world employing the latest advances in modern medicine cannot cure those leukemia patients needing a bone marrow transplant if no match is found in the bone marrow bank! How frustrating that must be!
Bob
December 2, 2008 6:50 PM
A very quiet day today. Several friends came to visit with some of them bringing lunch. One of them even called me a fraud because I looked so good! However, they did see me in the hospital, which lends some credence to my situation.
Of course, the big deal is the doctors visit tomorrow. Gotta get up at 5 AM to beat the traffic into Boston. Ugh - I am so not a morning person!!!!!
There is one thing that I have forgotten to mention since I got home is that when I first got on the bathroom scale - I found that I had lost about 20 pounds! So, once again, I am approaching that Adonis look that I had when I first got married. I must confess, however, I don't know whether Adonis had hair or not!
Much more info tomorrow after the doctors visit.
Bob
Of course, the big deal is the doctors visit tomorrow. Gotta get up at 5 AM to beat the traffic into Boston. Ugh - I am so not a morning person!!!!!
There is one thing that I have forgotten to mention since I got home is that when I first got on the bathroom scale - I found that I had lost about 20 pounds! So, once again, I am approaching that Adonis look that I had when I first got married. I must confess, however, I don't know whether Adonis had hair or not!
Much more info tomorrow after the doctors visit.
Bob
December 1, 2008 5:20 PM
Wow!! It's December already! Hopefully, I get to enjoy it a little bit more than the month of November.
Finally connected with the doctor's office today. I go in for an 8:00 appointment on Wednesday at which time they will check my blood counts and do that bone marrow biopsy that they have threatened me with for the last week or so. I assume that the biopsy results will be the major determining factor as to how we proceed from here. Obviously, I'll let you all know what transpires at that time.
As for today, my wife had scheduled people to come in and steam clean all the rugs to make them as disease free as possible. This was originally scheduled with the thought that I would be coming home a little later this week. But, no matter what, with the future prospect of a bone marrow transplant the place should be as disease free as possible. So even though I jumped the gun this time, it's still an important part my overall recovery program.
Now that I am home and they are not pumping me up with fluids - the evening bathroom calls are far less frequent and I can finally get a good night's sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!
Also looking forward to having a few friends stop in during the week as well.
Not much to say as I don't have daily contact with the doctors anymore. Thank God! But, as we all know, this journey still has a long way to go and I continue to need each of you at my side each step of the way.
Bob
Finally connected with the doctor's office today. I go in for an 8:00 appointment on Wednesday at which time they will check my blood counts and do that bone marrow biopsy that they have threatened me with for the last week or so. I assume that the biopsy results will be the major determining factor as to how we proceed from here. Obviously, I'll let you all know what transpires at that time.
As for today, my wife had scheduled people to come in and steam clean all the rugs to make them as disease free as possible. This was originally scheduled with the thought that I would be coming home a little later this week. But, no matter what, with the future prospect of a bone marrow transplant the place should be as disease free as possible. So even though I jumped the gun this time, it's still an important part my overall recovery program.
Now that I am home and they are not pumping me up with fluids - the evening bathroom calls are far less frequent and I can finally get a good night's sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!
Also looking forward to having a few friends stop in during the week as well.
Not much to say as I don't have daily contact with the doctors anymore. Thank God! But, as we all know, this journey still has a long way to go and I continue to need each of you at my side each step of the way.
Bob
November 30, 2008 6:00 PM
Just a couple of things for the day.
I found when I got home that my legs were a little rubbery so I will definitely need to walk around and go up and down stairs to get them back to where they ought to be.
I guess that my hair has stopped growing all together because after shaving yesterday, I find that my face is still baby butt smooth tonight. So I guess that I won't need to shave for a while - so there is some benefit to all this chemo!!! Even my wife says I'm baby butt smooth!!!!!
Lastly, we had a visting critical care nurse stop by this afternoon to bring us supplies and to be informed as to when I needed to have the dressing changed on my catheter. The catheter still remains because it will still be needed when I go back to the hospital. But, the interesting part of the visit was that she said that she had been doing this for 20 years and had never seen anyone in the great shape that I am in. Of course, I was holding a glass of wine in my hand when she arrived so that might have further added to the image.
Tomorrow, I call the doctor to see what's next. I'll fill you in when I get the details.
Now gotta go back to the Patriots game!
Bob
I found when I got home that my legs were a little rubbery so I will definitely need to walk around and go up and down stairs to get them back to where they ought to be.
I guess that my hair has stopped growing all together because after shaving yesterday, I find that my face is still baby butt smooth tonight. So I guess that I won't need to shave for a while - so there is some benefit to all this chemo!!! Even my wife says I'm baby butt smooth!!!!!
Lastly, we had a visting critical care nurse stop by this afternoon to bring us supplies and to be informed as to when I needed to have the dressing changed on my catheter. The catheter still remains because it will still be needed when I go back to the hospital. But, the interesting part of the visit was that she said that she had been doing this for 20 years and had never seen anyone in the great shape that I am in. Of course, I was holding a glass of wine in my hand when she arrived so that might have further added to the image.
Tomorrow, I call the doctor to see what's next. I'll fill you in when I get the details.
Now gotta go back to the Patriots game!
Bob
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