Back to the present!
There's nothing to report from a year ago as we were now in waiting mode to see what the results from my first(unbeknownst to me at the time) bone marrow biopsy would be.
So, what am I currently doing now? Still working on my basement workshop is what! I finally have the time and by recycling a lot of already existing elements in the area and using electrical supplies that I've had around for years - I am finally moving forward to make the area as practical as possible for me.
We were invited to a late afternoon cocktail party at a friends house where they wished to introduce all of us to their first grandchild. Certainly an exciting time and an occasion well worth celebrating. For me, obviously, it did not not involve too many cocktails - like none. Also, in somewhat cramped quarters, it quickly began to get overcrowded as our friends had invited a large number of their friends.
Not being able to run around and shake hands with everyone, I would have appeared to be both rude and anti-social. I'm lucky - now I have an excuse for acting that way! So we only stayed for a little while and came home. Another bummer. But, at least it was a chance to get out for a few minutes.
At all costs, I wish to avoid getting any of the flu that is going around or any other contagious disease for that matter.
So far, so good...
Bob
October 23, 2009 11:30 PM
Defeated!
On the morning of this date a year ago, the doctors at the hospital had no idea what was wrong with me. All tests had come back negative. They admitted to me and my wife that my situation was beyond them.
At a complete loss, they threw out the lifeline to our local oncology facility as a last resort. However, they firmly stated to us that it was not because they felt that there was any reason to suspect cancer in any way - but that it was intended more to eliminate another possible cause of my problem!
After lunch that day, a short Indian woman entered my room. I have to admit that I fell victim to the first impression syndrome that often affects us. She did not look like that conventional knight in shining armor! But it took only a few minutes before we realized that that is exactly what she was. She sat down with me and thoroughly explained everything that had gone on over the past few days and why testing had progressed the way that it had. She was the one who enumerated the 3 possible reasons for my hemoglobin to be so low(see post of 2 days ago) and she explained what was now going to take place - a bone marrow biopsy!
A bone marrow biopsy sounds like a daunting procedure and I do not intend to downplay it because I have since had some unpleasant ones. I think that I have detailed the procedure before. You lie face down on a bed. They give you a series of local anesthesia injections to numb the area at the back of your hip bone on one side. Unable to actually see the procedure(thank God!), they then use a device to extra a tiny portion of your bone material and also some of your bone marrow. Because I was an in-patient in the hospital, they gave me a mild general anesthestic as well and it made the procedure painless.
Once this was completed, I was released from the hospital under the agreement that I would make an appointment to see this doctor the following week to go over the results of the biopsy. Processing the samples takes a few days so there was no point in starting in the hospital any longer.
When I got home, I phoned my boss to give him the update as to what was known and what was going to happen. He, in his own inimitable fashion, said to work from home until I had a definitive answer to the source of my problem. Unbeknownst to both of us, my last full day of work at the office had occurred two days earlier.
I was now at home and still not worried about the situation. After all, a few blood transfusions in the hospital got me up to snuff - how bad could it be?
My wife and I heard later how others who had had my doctor raved about her professionalism and bedside manner. I didn't need those endorsements - I had seen it for myself. Over the past year, I have seen her a few times and my admiration for her only increased after each visit.
Angels don't always wear white and have wings - but they are always people of God...
Bob
On the morning of this date a year ago, the doctors at the hospital had no idea what was wrong with me. All tests had come back negative. They admitted to me and my wife that my situation was beyond them.
At a complete loss, they threw out the lifeline to our local oncology facility as a last resort. However, they firmly stated to us that it was not because they felt that there was any reason to suspect cancer in any way - but that it was intended more to eliminate another possible cause of my problem!
After lunch that day, a short Indian woman entered my room. I have to admit that I fell victim to the first impression syndrome that often affects us. She did not look like that conventional knight in shining armor! But it took only a few minutes before we realized that that is exactly what she was. She sat down with me and thoroughly explained everything that had gone on over the past few days and why testing had progressed the way that it had. She was the one who enumerated the 3 possible reasons for my hemoglobin to be so low(see post of 2 days ago) and she explained what was now going to take place - a bone marrow biopsy!
A bone marrow biopsy sounds like a daunting procedure and I do not intend to downplay it because I have since had some unpleasant ones. I think that I have detailed the procedure before. You lie face down on a bed. They give you a series of local anesthesia injections to numb the area at the back of your hip bone on one side. Unable to actually see the procedure(thank God!), they then use a device to extra a tiny portion of your bone material and also some of your bone marrow. Because I was an in-patient in the hospital, they gave me a mild general anesthestic as well and it made the procedure painless.
Once this was completed, I was released from the hospital under the agreement that I would make an appointment to see this doctor the following week to go over the results of the biopsy. Processing the samples takes a few days so there was no point in starting in the hospital any longer.
When I got home, I phoned my boss to give him the update as to what was known and what was going to happen. He, in his own inimitable fashion, said to work from home until I had a definitive answer to the source of my problem. Unbeknownst to both of us, my last full day of work at the office had occurred two days earlier.
I was now at home and still not worried about the situation. After all, a few blood transfusions in the hospital got me up to snuff - how bad could it be?
My wife and I heard later how others who had had my doctor raved about her professionalism and bedside manner. I didn't need those endorsements - I had seen it for myself. Over the past year, I have seen her a few times and my admiration for her only increased after each visit.
Angels don't always wear white and have wings - but they are always people of God...
Bob
October 22, 2009 10:25 PM
A conundrum!
A year ago when I entered the hospital, my hemoglobin was low. When your hemoglobin is low - it means one of three things.
1. Your body is destroying it
2. Your body is losing it
3. Your body is not making it
With my apparent good health, the focus was on options one and two. All kinds of tests were done during the day and on into the night with nothing conclusive being being terminated. The day ended with the medical staff being baffled.
A year later, we had a much better day. Obviously, as the year has unfolded, the medical bills have been mounting. Though our insurance has covered the lion's share of the bills, we were still left with a five figure balance. However, today we received a large set of statements from my health insurance company covering just about every visit to Dana-Farber over the past year. Each visit was listed as being paid in full with our now owing no additional fees! A phone call to Dana-Farber confirmed this status. They had found an additional way to bill the insurance company based upon my illness such that all of the outstanding balances were now covered by the health insurance company!
Hallelulia! Praise God! To have those daunting medical bills removed was beyond our wildest dreams.
But a year ago, with no definitive results being generated from the days effort, we awaited the results from more tests done later in the day.
And pption three remained out of consideration...
Bob
A year ago when I entered the hospital, my hemoglobin was low. When your hemoglobin is low - it means one of three things.
1. Your body is destroying it
2. Your body is losing it
3. Your body is not making it
With my apparent good health, the focus was on options one and two. All kinds of tests were done during the day and on into the night with nothing conclusive being being terminated. The day ended with the medical staff being baffled.
A year later, we had a much better day. Obviously, as the year has unfolded, the medical bills have been mounting. Though our insurance has covered the lion's share of the bills, we were still left with a five figure balance. However, today we received a large set of statements from my health insurance company covering just about every visit to Dana-Farber over the past year. Each visit was listed as being paid in full with our now owing no additional fees! A phone call to Dana-Farber confirmed this status. They had found an additional way to bill the insurance company based upon my illness such that all of the outstanding balances were now covered by the health insurance company!
Hallelulia! Praise God! To have those daunting medical bills removed was beyond our wildest dreams.
But a year ago, with no definitive results being generated from the days effort, we awaited the results from more tests done later in the day.
And pption three remained out of consideration...
Bob
October 21, 2009 10:45 PM
Somethings wrong!
That was the verdict a year ago after I went to work and my wife, during the day, convinced me to go to the doctor after work. One little number was wrong! That's it - just one number! After undergoing blood tests and chest x-rays, the doctor homed in on my hemoglobin number which was 6.8. Normally, for me, it should have been at least 13.
And, since it is the hemoglobin that carries the oxygen that we require to all parts of the body, it seemed that the source of my breathing issues had been uncovered. But why was it so low? That was a question that could only be answered by a visit to the hospital. Figuring that I could do it at my convenience, I asked the doctor when I should check myself in. He emphatically responded, "immediately"!
He was also so concerned about my health that he refused to let me drive myself to the hospital even though I had driven to the clinic. I was forced to call my wife who was with a friend at the time and she came and brought me there. I also called my boss and told him what was happening. Always the caring and thoughtful man, he told me not to worry about work and to just concentrate on getting back on my feet again. Who knew it would still be going on a year later?
At the hospital, step 1 was to get me a bed in the cardiac ward. They thought that with my lack of oxgen that my heart would be beating extra hard and that I was a possible candidate for some sort of cardiac irregularity.
Step 2 was to give me a transfusion of 2 pints of blood to get my hemoglobin back up to an acceptable level. For someone who had never even given blood to get to get 2 pints was quite disturbing because they sit you down and run through the litany of all the things to look out for while it is occurring and all the things that could possibly go wrong. To a large extent, in my total ignorance of such matters, I thought that it would be somewhat of a non-issue. Unbeknownst to me I was now starting on a path that would get a lot more precarious than that before it would could be considered completed.
Since it was no getting late, step 3 would have to wait until the next day. They would need to start conducting tests as to why my hemoglobin was so low. In the meantime, my priest arrived, and annointed me with the oil of healing. It was the first of several times that he would do this over the past year. Say and/or believe what you will, I have never had any problems as you are all aware.
My wife and priest left and I went to sleep thinking - how bad can it be when the infusion of 2 pints of blood can "restore" you?
How bad indeed...
Bob
That was the verdict a year ago after I went to work and my wife, during the day, convinced me to go to the doctor after work. One little number was wrong! That's it - just one number! After undergoing blood tests and chest x-rays, the doctor homed in on my hemoglobin number which was 6.8. Normally, for me, it should have been at least 13.
And, since it is the hemoglobin that carries the oxygen that we require to all parts of the body, it seemed that the source of my breathing issues had been uncovered. But why was it so low? That was a question that could only be answered by a visit to the hospital. Figuring that I could do it at my convenience, I asked the doctor when I should check myself in. He emphatically responded, "immediately"!
He was also so concerned about my health that he refused to let me drive myself to the hospital even though I had driven to the clinic. I was forced to call my wife who was with a friend at the time and she came and brought me there. I also called my boss and told him what was happening. Always the caring and thoughtful man, he told me not to worry about work and to just concentrate on getting back on my feet again. Who knew it would still be going on a year later?
At the hospital, step 1 was to get me a bed in the cardiac ward. They thought that with my lack of oxgen that my heart would be beating extra hard and that I was a possible candidate for some sort of cardiac irregularity.
Step 2 was to give me a transfusion of 2 pints of blood to get my hemoglobin back up to an acceptable level. For someone who had never even given blood to get to get 2 pints was quite disturbing because they sit you down and run through the litany of all the things to look out for while it is occurring and all the things that could possibly go wrong. To a large extent, in my total ignorance of such matters, I thought that it would be somewhat of a non-issue. Unbeknownst to me I was now starting on a path that would get a lot more precarious than that before it would could be considered completed.
Since it was no getting late, step 3 would have to wait until the next day. They would need to start conducting tests as to why my hemoglobin was so low. In the meantime, my priest arrived, and annointed me with the oil of healing. It was the first of several times that he would do this over the past year. Say and/or believe what you will, I have never had any problems as you are all aware.
My wife and priest left and I went to sleep thinking - how bad can it be when the infusion of 2 pints of blood can "restore" you?
How bad indeed...
Bob
October 20, 2009 11:10 PM
Kinda like Christmas!
I've been unpacking boxes and stuff in my basement that were packed over 3 and a half years ago. Every box either reveals items that I didn't know I still had or generates that "Aha" moment when I finally find something that I knew I had. I find that I have enough enough screws and nails to sell back to Home Depot or Lowes. Of course, ever since we got here, I've always run off and bought new ones whenever they were needed because I had no idea where my stash was.
I once knew a man who would do that with tools. If he couldn't find a tool that he knew he had then he would go out and purchase a new one! He admitted that it was somewhat costly but it had two things going for it - it saved him a lot of time and he could complete it! How can you argue with logic like that!
One year ago to the day was the last day that I thought that there was nothing really seriously wrong with me. It being a Monday last year, I went to work after returning from our cruise and didn't bother to make an appointment with the doctor. Why bother? There was nothing really wrong with me! Being tired and running out of breath was just because I'm getting older and that's what happens with age! And, let's face it, I'm a guy, and we don't run off to the doctor unless we think we really have to!
As I said before, the one year anniversaries are going to start coming fast and furious now. I've already shared my thoughts as to why I ignored everything once I got home from the cruise.
Tomorrow, I'll share what happened when I finally went to the doctor. I have never really divulged all that happened leading up to my entrance to the hospital for chemotherapy before. So, hopefully, the entries for the next week or so won't be as boring as I am sure that they have been for the past few months.
stay tuned...
Bob
I've been unpacking boxes and stuff in my basement that were packed over 3 and a half years ago. Every box either reveals items that I didn't know I still had or generates that "Aha" moment when I finally find something that I knew I had. I find that I have enough enough screws and nails to sell back to Home Depot or Lowes. Of course, ever since we got here, I've always run off and bought new ones whenever they were needed because I had no idea where my stash was.
I once knew a man who would do that with tools. If he couldn't find a tool that he knew he had then he would go out and purchase a new one! He admitted that it was somewhat costly but it had two things going for it - it saved him a lot of time and he could complete it! How can you argue with logic like that!
One year ago to the day was the last day that I thought that there was nothing really seriously wrong with me. It being a Monday last year, I went to work after returning from our cruise and didn't bother to make an appointment with the doctor. Why bother? There was nothing really wrong with me! Being tired and running out of breath was just because I'm getting older and that's what happens with age! And, let's face it, I'm a guy, and we don't run off to the doctor unless we think we really have to!
As I said before, the one year anniversaries are going to start coming fast and furious now. I've already shared my thoughts as to why I ignored everything once I got home from the cruise.
Tomorrow, I'll share what happened when I finally went to the doctor. I have never really divulged all that happened leading up to my entrance to the hospital for chemotherapy before. So, hopefully, the entries for the next week or so won't be as boring as I am sure that they have been for the past few months.
stay tuned...
Bob
October 19, 2009 10:50 PM
Starting to relive it now!
Yes, a year ago the events were just starting to unfold that led to my diagnosis and to where I am today. It seems like such a long time ago with all that's happened since then and, yet, it's only been a year.
Time flies when you're having fun, I guess, But this has really been no fun. Yes, I feel great and that's certainly a God given blessing. But, not being able to get on with any semblance of a normal life is downright (I don't want to say depressing because that's too strong a word) exasperating(I guess that that's a better choice).
Of course, I guess it's better to be exasperated than possessing other feelings of not being well or just plain not being at all.
We had some friends over for dinner tonight and it's always nice to have company. I never have much to say because I don't get out much to interact with other people and to have interesting stories to tell. But, then again, there are those who would say that I never had anything to say anyway - so, what's the difference!
Now the holidays are just around the corner. I know for sure that Thanksgiving will be better this year since I was in the hospital on Thanksgiving day last year. Christmas, too, will not be spent here at home either. So, without a doubt, progress has been made.
Still keeping the faith...
Bob
Yes, a year ago the events were just starting to unfold that led to my diagnosis and to where I am today. It seems like such a long time ago with all that's happened since then and, yet, it's only been a year.
Time flies when you're having fun, I guess, But this has really been no fun. Yes, I feel great and that's certainly a God given blessing. But, not being able to get on with any semblance of a normal life is downright (I don't want to say depressing because that's too strong a word) exasperating(I guess that that's a better choice).
Of course, I guess it's better to be exasperated than possessing other feelings of not being well or just plain not being at all.
We had some friends over for dinner tonight and it's always nice to have company. I never have much to say because I don't get out much to interact with other people and to have interesting stories to tell. But, then again, there are those who would say that I never had anything to say anyway - so, what's the difference!
Now the holidays are just around the corner. I know for sure that Thanksgiving will be better this year since I was in the hospital on Thanksgiving day last year. Christmas, too, will not be spent here at home either. So, without a doubt, progress has been made.
Still keeping the faith...
Bob
October 18, 2009 11:50 PM
Ugly!
That's the only word to accurately describe today's waether. Cold and rainy. So cold that it was even snowing for part of the day. This is November weather - not October weather!
Needless to say, we did not venture out to the soccer game. A big disappointment, but there was nothing that one could really do. So we stayed inside all day. Certainly a harbinger of things to come as winter is just around the corner. From the looks of taoday, maybe it's here already. Where is global warming when you need it?
So, I'm just marking time until the next doctors visit. Ten more days to go.
Last year at this time we just got home from our cruise and everyone was "highly recommending" that I go to the doctor to see about my shortness of breath problem. Of course, I assumed that it wasn't anything serious and I kind of poo-pooed the "helpful suggestions". Kind of! I basically ignored the suggestions and went of to work on Monday as usual. What did everyone else know? I was going to be fine.
Stay tuned...
Bob
That's the only word to accurately describe today's waether. Cold and rainy. So cold that it was even snowing for part of the day. This is November weather - not October weather!
Needless to say, we did not venture out to the soccer game. A big disappointment, but there was nothing that one could really do. So we stayed inside all day. Certainly a harbinger of things to come as winter is just around the corner. From the looks of taoday, maybe it's here already. Where is global warming when you need it?
So, I'm just marking time until the next doctors visit. Ten more days to go.
Last year at this time we just got home from our cruise and everyone was "highly recommending" that I go to the doctor to see about my shortness of breath problem. Of course, I assumed that it wasn't anything serious and I kind of poo-pooed the "helpful suggestions". Kind of! I basically ignored the suggestions and went of to work on Monday as usual. What did everyone else know? I was going to be fine.
Stay tuned...
Bob
October 18, 1:00 AM
Somewhat of a screw up!
For some reason the computer posted my empty entry before I could even type anything. That's never happened before. But, as they say, there is always a first time for everything.
We recovered well at bridge tonight. Started realllll slow and then picked up steam to come from a 1000 points back to win by 900. For those of you who aren't bridge players I know that that doesn't mean anything but it was a robust recovery nonetheless.
I have spent the last few days putting together a CD that we would listen to tonight. It's not just any CD, it's in mp3 format so it contains over 200 songs - all of them from the 50's which our friends really like. I fully intended to give it to them at the end of the evening - even burning their name into the CD label that I designed to go on the disk. The funny part of it all was that the music had only just begun when they asked me if I could make a copy of the CD for them! The pleas became even more passionate as each song was played. So, needless to say, they were very pleasantly surprised to receive their gift at the end of the night. What else do I have to do with my time?
I'm still feeling fine and looking to go to a soccer game tomorrow(today!) to see some of the grandchildren play. Weather may be an issue, I'm not going to stand outside in a cold, fall rain. One of the advantages of being a grandparent! We've certainly paid our dues by doing just such things when our kids were growing up!
Gotta stay healthy...
Bob
For some reason the computer posted my empty entry before I could even type anything. That's never happened before. But, as they say, there is always a first time for everything.
We recovered well at bridge tonight. Started realllll slow and then picked up steam to come from a 1000 points back to win by 900. For those of you who aren't bridge players I know that that doesn't mean anything but it was a robust recovery nonetheless.
I have spent the last few days putting together a CD that we would listen to tonight. It's not just any CD, it's in mp3 format so it contains over 200 songs - all of them from the 50's which our friends really like. I fully intended to give it to them at the end of the evening - even burning their name into the CD label that I designed to go on the disk. The funny part of it all was that the music had only just begun when they asked me if I could make a copy of the CD for them! The pleas became even more passionate as each song was played. So, needless to say, they were very pleasantly surprised to receive their gift at the end of the night. What else do I have to do with my time?
I'm still feeling fine and looking to go to a soccer game tomorrow(today!) to see some of the grandchildren play. Weather may be an issue, I'm not going to stand outside in a cold, fall rain. One of the advantages of being a grandparent! We've certainly paid our dues by doing just such things when our kids were growing up!
Gotta stay healthy...
Bob
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