Bye, bye Earl!
The hurricane went by us today but not without leaving us with a lot of high winds which are still swirling around us right now. The wind limited outside activities taking away some of the enjoyment of this lakeside day. But, still, any day here at the lake is a good day.
The real benefit for me was that my eyes responded well to the air passing over them. Previously, they would have become extremely dry and I would not have been able to stay outside at all. The medication is definitely working and its only been a few days! Needless to say, this has been a great relief.
Overall, with 15 family members here, it makes for a great time.
I'm forever grateful to be a part of it...
Bob
September 2, 2010 11:59 PM
Definite progress!
It seems that the increased prednisone dosage is having a positive affect on my dry eye situation. There was definitely less problems today than yesterday and the days before. However, we still have an appointment with a doctor to look at it next Wednesday. It's at 1:00 so I hope that we leave for Boston after the morning commuter traffic rush and leave for home before the evening commuter traffic rush. We'll see.
I did my second Zimmerman House tour of the week the afternoon and was nicely rewarded with someone saying to me that I conducted a nice tour. It's nice to hear that but it leaves 11 others on the tour who might think that I didn't conduct a nice tour. I'll never, never know and I'm probably better off for it.
Tomorrow it's off to the lake for the weekend and, hopefully, no encounter with Hurricane Earl. At present that does not seem to be the case. But hurricanes can sometimes be capricious so we'll have to see how it tracks tomorrow. In any case it would only affect us late Friday evening and be past us by the morning. Not a big deal!
So it was a good with the prospect of even better days ahead...
Bob
It seems that the increased prednisone dosage is having a positive affect on my dry eye situation. There was definitely less problems today than yesterday and the days before. However, we still have an appointment with a doctor to look at it next Wednesday. It's at 1:00 so I hope that we leave for Boston after the morning commuter traffic rush and leave for home before the evening commuter traffic rush. We'll see.
I did my second Zimmerman House tour of the week the afternoon and was nicely rewarded with someone saying to me that I conducted a nice tour. It's nice to hear that but it leaves 11 others on the tour who might think that I didn't conduct a nice tour. I'll never, never know and I'm probably better off for it.
Tomorrow it's off to the lake for the weekend and, hopefully, no encounter with Hurricane Earl. At present that does not seem to be the case. But hurricanes can sometimes be capricious so we'll have to see how it tracks tomorrow. In any case it would only affect us late Friday evening and be past us by the morning. Not a big deal!
So it was a good with the prospect of even better days ahead...
Bob
September 1, 2010 10:55 PM
Todays rundown!
From my first doctor's visit after 13 weeks.
1. The major interest was my eyes. As I mentioned before, the dry eye effect is the direct result of graft vs host disease(GVHD). The doctor said that I should have an appointment with an opthamologist which they will set up at Mass Eye and Ear. Their treatment regimen is drops. If this fails, there is a facility in Needham that uses special contact lenses as treatment. I hope that it doesn't come to this as I hate purring anything in my eyes - even drops.
2. The doctor noticed blotchy area on my stomach and, therefore, precribed a boosted dose of prednisone to bring any skin problems under control. Again GVHD. None of this is surprising or unusual as the disease usually rears its ugly head from 6 months to 2 years post bone marrow transplant. With any luck, the boosted prednisone will also diminish the dry eye situation as well.
3. While 1 and 2 sound like items of concern that certainly deserve to be closely watched to make sure that we keep them under control - there is underlying good news! It means that the bone marrow transplant is still actively doing its job and the doctor has no concerns or fears that there is any present danger of the leukemia returning.
4. This was corroborated by blood count numbers being the best ever. This also includes my blood pressure, oxygen level, etc. Certainly a cause to celebrate and remain positive.
5. No three months to the next doctor's appointment, I have to return in 4 weeks. That's no surprise and I wouldn't have expected anything else. As the doctor said, we have to be pragmatic about the progress and take active steps to see that everything remains on the path to full recovery.
Now tha September 1 has arrives, my wife and I are now covered by Medicare as well as a defense mechanism against the company terminating my health insurance at a moments notice as they have already tried to do. So, yesterday, I tried to terminate my company insurance to avoid having double coverage. No can do! It seems that while you are on Long Term Disability you are still considered to be a full time employee. In such a case, you cannot terminate your health insurance until January 1 of the next calendar year.
The woman that I spoke to had a really brilliant idea. She said that I could termintae the insurance immediately if I chose to retire. In such a case, my Long Term Disability payments would be terminated immediately as well! It took me quite a while to ponder what my decision would be - double health insurance for 4 months or no more Long Term Disability checks!
In short, I'll gladly trade no leukemia for having some GVHD.
I can live with that...
Bob
From my first doctor's visit after 13 weeks.
1. The major interest was my eyes. As I mentioned before, the dry eye effect is the direct result of graft vs host disease(GVHD). The doctor said that I should have an appointment with an opthamologist which they will set up at Mass Eye and Ear. Their treatment regimen is drops. If this fails, there is a facility in Needham that uses special contact lenses as treatment. I hope that it doesn't come to this as I hate purring anything in my eyes - even drops.
2. The doctor noticed blotchy area on my stomach and, therefore, precribed a boosted dose of prednisone to bring any skin problems under control. Again GVHD. None of this is surprising or unusual as the disease usually rears its ugly head from 6 months to 2 years post bone marrow transplant. With any luck, the boosted prednisone will also diminish the dry eye situation as well.
3. While 1 and 2 sound like items of concern that certainly deserve to be closely watched to make sure that we keep them under control - there is underlying good news! It means that the bone marrow transplant is still actively doing its job and the doctor has no concerns or fears that there is any present danger of the leukemia returning.
4. This was corroborated by blood count numbers being the best ever. This also includes my blood pressure, oxygen level, etc. Certainly a cause to celebrate and remain positive.
5. No three months to the next doctor's appointment, I have to return in 4 weeks. That's no surprise and I wouldn't have expected anything else. As the doctor said, we have to be pragmatic about the progress and take active steps to see that everything remains on the path to full recovery.
Now tha September 1 has arrives, my wife and I are now covered by Medicare as well as a defense mechanism against the company terminating my health insurance at a moments notice as they have already tried to do. So, yesterday, I tried to terminate my company insurance to avoid having double coverage. No can do! It seems that while you are on Long Term Disability you are still considered to be a full time employee. In such a case, you cannot terminate your health insurance until January 1 of the next calendar year.
The woman that I spoke to had a really brilliant idea. She said that I could termintae the insurance immediately if I chose to retire. In such a case, my Long Term Disability payments would be terminated immediately as well! It took me quite a while to ponder what my decision would be - double health insurance for 4 months or no more Long Term Disability checks!
In short, I'll gladly trade no leukemia for having some GVHD.
I can live with that...
Bob
August 30, 2010 10:15 PM
Not much to say!
It's been a quiet few days just working around the house and going to dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night.
Yesterday was my wife's birthday so we spent the latter part of the afternoon and evening at my daughter's house.
Today I did another Zimmerman house tour and I'll follow it up with another one on Thursday.
I'm feeling fine but the proof of the pudding will be on Wednesday after I visit the doctor's office for the first time in three months. I would really like the numbers to corroborate the everything is going according to plan.
Almost forget! The battle still rages with my medicare provider as to whether or not I currently jave health insurance. It's unbelievable! One day I don't jave coverage and the next day I'll be covered twice. I've got three weeks to iron this whole thing out. Bureaucracy is just too much at times. Whatever you do, don't get involved with the government - they screw things up!
Enough ranting.
But, I admit, it makes me feel better...
Bob
It's been a quiet few days just working around the house and going to dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night.
Yesterday was my wife's birthday so we spent the latter part of the afternoon and evening at my daughter's house.
Today I did another Zimmerman house tour and I'll follow it up with another one on Thursday.
I'm feeling fine but the proof of the pudding will be on Wednesday after I visit the doctor's office for the first time in three months. I would really like the numbers to corroborate the everything is going according to plan.
Almost forget! The battle still rages with my medicare provider as to whether or not I currently jave health insurance. It's unbelievable! One day I don't jave coverage and the next day I'll be covered twice. I've got three weeks to iron this whole thing out. Bureaucracy is just too much at times. Whatever you do, don't get involved with the government - they screw things up!
Enough ranting.
But, I admit, it makes me feel better...
Bob
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