An anniversary day - check that two anniversaries!
Today is the weeding anniversary of one of my daughters. Unfortunately, it is tainted by the fact that it is also the two year anniversary of my diagnosis of leukemia. Even though things have worked out for the best, you just cannot forget how that day went two years ago.
For me, the moment came when the doctor told me that they had found the cause for my lowered hemoglobin level. In so doing, she gently placed her hand on my forearm and told me that I had leukemia. She offered counseling, told me and my wife how her mother coped with the disease(she wanted to do nothing about it and passed away about six weeks after her diagnosis), and offered me the choice of Boston or Hanover, New Hampshire for my treatment. I chose Boston as Dana-Farber is world renowned and I wanted nothing but the best.
The next day, I went into work for the last time and said my goodbyes - temporary or forever - who knew? My odyssey had begun. A story that most of you have lived with ever since and I am forever grateful for your support.
Today, I see(pardon the pun) an improvement in my eyes(actually my right eye, the left one is fine) which will, hopefully, be officially confirmed on Wednesday with my next visit to Mass. Eye and Ear.
Meanwhile, I keep busy working on my wife's friend's bathroom doing some plumbing, painting, electrical, and other stuff that would just be too expensive to do if the "professionals" were called in. It's simple work(righht up my alley) but it feels good that I can provide a service for someone. Admittedly I'm getting paid, but it's an agreed upon fair wage - not a ripoff.
Win-win for everyone - the way that things should be in life...
Bob
October 27, 2010 11:30 PM
Tears on my pillow!
I should start looking each morning as I wake up because for the first time I actually registered something on the osmology test. That's a new word that I learned today for the test that they do to see if you have any tear lakes in your eyes. Does it mean that I'll ultimately be crying like a baby once again? Probably not! But it does signal noticeable improvement in both eyes - though my left eye is far superior to my right one. And, looking at the bright side, it means that I can most likely look very macho at tear-jerker movies no matter how I feel at the time.
The problem with the right one is that scratch on the cornea which, the doctor said, is about 75% healed and should be completely healed in a week. Unfortunately for me the scratch is right in the middle of the eye so it is the major contributor to the bluriness that I have. According to the doctor, when it's completely healed then the bluriness should vanish. I'm counting on it!
Meanwhile, the directive is to stick with the current eye regimen for another week and revisit them to take the next step. So, mext Wednesday we have two doctor's visits. Dana-Farber at 7 AM and Mass Eye ad Ear at 9:30. Might as well just do the back-to-back and get them over with.
The bottom line is that the doctor was extremely pleased to see the progress that's been made in a week and looks for more of the same in the week to come.
As for my current day to day living I have added on the task of redoing a friend's bathroom which starts tomorrow. Truthfully, if I didn't have this to do, I'd be sitting around for the next several days with absolutely nothing to do and it would drive me nuts. Next week is somewhat taken up with jury duty on Monday, the doctors on Wednesday, bridge on Thursday, and a Zimmerman House tour on Friday. For Tuesday, all I have to do is vote!!!!
A busy week ahead, a busy life in general, a far cry from two years ago...
Bob
I should start looking each morning as I wake up because for the first time I actually registered something on the osmology test. That's a new word that I learned today for the test that they do to see if you have any tear lakes in your eyes. Does it mean that I'll ultimately be crying like a baby once again? Probably not! But it does signal noticeable improvement in both eyes - though my left eye is far superior to my right one. And, looking at the bright side, it means that I can most likely look very macho at tear-jerker movies no matter how I feel at the time.
The problem with the right one is that scratch on the cornea which, the doctor said, is about 75% healed and should be completely healed in a week. Unfortunately for me the scratch is right in the middle of the eye so it is the major contributor to the bluriness that I have. According to the doctor, when it's completely healed then the bluriness should vanish. I'm counting on it!
Meanwhile, the directive is to stick with the current eye regimen for another week and revisit them to take the next step. So, mext Wednesday we have two doctor's visits. Dana-Farber at 7 AM and Mass Eye ad Ear at 9:30. Might as well just do the back-to-back and get them over with.
The bottom line is that the doctor was extremely pleased to see the progress that's been made in a week and looks for more of the same in the week to come.
As for my current day to day living I have added on the task of redoing a friend's bathroom which starts tomorrow. Truthfully, if I didn't have this to do, I'd be sitting around for the next several days with absolutely nothing to do and it would drive me nuts. Next week is somewhat taken up with jury duty on Monday, the doctors on Wednesday, bridge on Thursday, and a Zimmerman House tour on Friday. For Tuesday, all I have to do is vote!!!!
A busy week ahead, a busy life in general, a far cry from two years ago...
Bob
October 26, 2010 12:15 AM
A quiet day, but a great Sunday!
Yesterday we went to a birthday party for 2 of our granddaughters and had all five of our granddaughters together for the first time in a while. It was a ot of fun and the kids just seem to grow up soi fast. To think that I could have missed all of this if things had not worked out as they seem to have.
Meanwhile, two years ago, we were sitting around and waiting for the diagnosis of my ailment without too much concern as a simple blood transfusion seemed to fix all the problems. My boss would not let me return to work until the diagnosis was in so I was looking forward to three days of working at home before returning to work and life as we thought it was going to be. What fools these mortals be!
As for today, we simply await ourWednesday trip to Mass Eye and Ear to see how well my cornea has healed. I can say that I have stuck to the regimen of drops and pills so it better do the trick as I don't think that they have much more left in their toolbox down there that would serve to improve things.
Today we purchased some kitchen cabinet rollouts that I have to install tomorrow. It's always something and my wife has wanted these for years as it limits bending and back strain to get to the contents of the cabinets.
I'll probablywait until Wednesday for the next update as it will conatin hard facts about how I'm doing.
Meanwhile, I feel as though things are continuing to improve...
Bob
Yesterday we went to a birthday party for 2 of our granddaughters and had all five of our granddaughters together for the first time in a while. It was a ot of fun and the kids just seem to grow up soi fast. To think that I could have missed all of this if things had not worked out as they seem to have.
Meanwhile, two years ago, we were sitting around and waiting for the diagnosis of my ailment without too much concern as a simple blood transfusion seemed to fix all the problems. My boss would not let me return to work until the diagnosis was in so I was looking forward to three days of working at home before returning to work and life as we thought it was going to be. What fools these mortals be!
As for today, we simply await ourWednesday trip to Mass Eye and Ear to see how well my cornea has healed. I can say that I have stuck to the regimen of drops and pills so it better do the trick as I don't think that they have much more left in their toolbox down there that would serve to improve things.
Today we purchased some kitchen cabinet rollouts that I have to install tomorrow. It's always something and my wife has wanted these for years as it limits bending and back strain to get to the contents of the cabinets.
I'll probablywait until Wednesday for the next update as it will conatin hard facts about how I'm doing.
Meanwhile, I feel as though things are continuing to improve...
Bob
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