April 15, 2009 11:20 PM 43 days to go

I find that writing Wednesday's entry is a little easier as at least something of interest happens when I visit the clinic. I hope it's of interest to you - it certainly is of interest to me.

I find the trip to Boston to be fairly easy. Traffic moves at 5:30 in the morning. Whether it's because of the early hour or because of less traffic due to the economy or a combination of both I don't know. But it always seems to be a straightforward trip with no hassles - much appreciated.

Today's visit did not run quite true to form because even though they took my labs in plenty of time to have the results back for the doctor's visit - they weren't. Since my counts have always been fine, the doctor was unconcerned at the turn of events and said I could stay until they were ready or just have them e-mailed to me - we chose the latter so that we could leave ASAP. It's always a pleasure to minimize the time.

However, the visit was not without some some substance to it. As I mentioned yesterday, I did have a few questions that needed to be addressed. The first concerned my love for rare steak. I asked if that was going to be a possible delight at the end of the 100 days and he said that there was no reason why I could not have a rare steak now! This was a most unexpected response as we were told up front before we left the hospital that rare meat was a no-no! I have not had a steak in over 2 months so I am looking forward to this treat in the near future.

Rare hamburgers are still a not on the acceptable list and he launched into a few personal stories of people being affected with meningitis by eating rare hamburg. He said that no one should ever consider eating rare hamburg no matter what the status of their health.

The next question evolved around earlier comments that they were looking for a little graft versus host disease as part of the recovery process. I asked him why. He further qualified the comments by saying that, ideally, they would like none. However, a little can be handled and is not to be unexpected. Anything more than a little is cause for concern and can result in extended stays in the hospital. Let's all pray that that does not happen in my case.

Visiting others outside my home is still of concern to him at all times during the first year. I can understand the avoidance of crowds during this period but I think that controlled and limited visits outside while I'm being weaned off the immuno-suppressants would not be out of the question. This one we'll just have to play by ear as events unfold. The weaning off the immuno-suppressants will commence around the 90 day timeframe and he alluded to the fact that the dietary restrictions may start to be relaxed at that time as well.

The weaning period is probably going to be a little longer than initially thought. The reason for this is that my counts were e-mailed to me as I requested and, fortunately, were great as always. However, the results did show that the reading for one of my immuno-suppressants was a little low and it was recommended that I double my dose from 1 mg twice a day to 2 mg twice a day. This I have already started to do.

So, a rather long entry for a rather short visit - we left the clinic about 8:15. But, hopefully, it was as newsworthy for you as it was for me.

Just as aside here. Last week my wife and I commented to one of the nurses that she never seemed to sit still and was always on her feet walking from here to there. We asked if she had any idea how far she walked in a day and she said that she had no clue. So my wife picked up an inexpensive pedometer and gave it to her this morning. We're going to be very curious, when we go back next Wednesday, to see how far she travels in a day. I'll let you know.

Time to bring this entry to a close...

Bob