Good news!
That church friend of mine who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago has now achieved a clean bill of health at this two year juncture and it loooks like she has beaten this disease as well. You can't ask for more than that. Praise God!
Likewise, regardless of the reason(s), she did not have to have a bone marrow transplant making her recovery all the easier. Congratulations Joan!
Nothing of any import has occurred over the past few days as I await the results of the ultrasound on my liver. I had a lot of fun during the one hour that I was there and the nurses commented that they really enjoyed the time as well. To me, that's what it is all about - take a situation and make the most of it.
Healthwise, I'm still wrestling with this cold. The coughing continues at a lesser rate but colds now seemk to linger on a little linger than they used to. The congestion makes breathing a little more labored but I think that I can see the light of day with this silly thing. Otherwise, I feel as well as I possibly could.
Church tomorrow. Great anthem Rutter's "Allelulia" (seven pages of nothing but the word allelulia). We have to get the allelulias out of our system as Lent begins on Wednesday.
Til the next time...
Bob
March 4, 2011 12:45 AM
Caught between a rock and a hard place!
It's been such a long time now since I started this blog and it, oftentimes, seems to me that I have said it all. The major part of my journey is over and, thank God, has placed in a position that I can lead a fairly normal life. Not much happens anymore of any great substance(at least in my mind) so that I feel as though what I have to say really doesn't have much importance to it and is of no interest to people.
True, every once in a while a doctor's appoinment occurs and I can pass on to you the essence of what happened - both good and bad. I'm not here to gild the lily and it would ccertainly serve no purpose to fabricate what has happened. In between, however, as I shed light on some of my daily activities I feel as though I'm wasting my time and, more importantly, yours. As I shared with you just a little while ago, I had seriously contemplated bringing this endeavor to and end.
So what amn I leading up to here? It goes like this. The other day I received an e-mail from someone who I do not know who found this blog via a Google search. Though, thankfullly, she does not suffer from leukemia she mentioned someone who did and said that she found this blog to be very positive and uplifting and informative because, I guess, you don't get a layman's take on this situation in very many websites. I found that to be true. All you get are clinical sites with lots of numbers and technical terms that you can't always understand so you have no idea where you stand and what lies in store for you.
That being said, I can only directly comment on my story. However, I have been involved with a number of people suffering from various blood cancers who have been so positive with thier attitudes that they have inspired me and I have to go back for more. Some of these people still have active cancers, most have suffered much more that me, some have died, and still others are in total doubt as to what thier future may be. Yet, they remain so positive that it is contagious. Talk about God working through other people!
So what's my problem? I feel that I can't contribute that much anymore and at the same time I have no idea who my audience is and what they are picking up from what I have to say. Because of this, I want to stop - but I can't!
I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone. But, having been placed in that position, I can only say that I have met some amazing people(doctors, nurses, fellow disease sufferers, etc.) and I have come to see myself differently(who I am, what I am, how I look at things, etc.).
Walking the walk continues to be so rewarding for me(and, hopefully, for you) that I have no choice but to keep on trucking...
Bob
It's been such a long time now since I started this blog and it, oftentimes, seems to me that I have said it all. The major part of my journey is over and, thank God, has placed in a position that I can lead a fairly normal life. Not much happens anymore of any great substance(at least in my mind) so that I feel as though what I have to say really doesn't have much importance to it and is of no interest to people.
True, every once in a while a doctor's appoinment occurs and I can pass on to you the essence of what happened - both good and bad. I'm not here to gild the lily and it would ccertainly serve no purpose to fabricate what has happened. In between, however, as I shed light on some of my daily activities I feel as though I'm wasting my time and, more importantly, yours. As I shared with you just a little while ago, I had seriously contemplated bringing this endeavor to and end.
So what amn I leading up to here? It goes like this. The other day I received an e-mail from someone who I do not know who found this blog via a Google search. Though, thankfullly, she does not suffer from leukemia she mentioned someone who did and said that she found this blog to be very positive and uplifting and informative because, I guess, you don't get a layman's take on this situation in very many websites. I found that to be true. All you get are clinical sites with lots of numbers and technical terms that you can't always understand so you have no idea where you stand and what lies in store for you.
That being said, I can only directly comment on my story. However, I have been involved with a number of people suffering from various blood cancers who have been so positive with thier attitudes that they have inspired me and I have to go back for more. Some of these people still have active cancers, most have suffered much more that me, some have died, and still others are in total doubt as to what thier future may be. Yet, they remain so positive that it is contagious. Talk about God working through other people!
So what's my problem? I feel that I can't contribute that much anymore and at the same time I have no idea who my audience is and what they are picking up from what I have to say. Because of this, I want to stop - but I can't!
I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone. But, having been placed in that position, I can only say that I have met some amazing people(doctors, nurses, fellow disease sufferers, etc.) and I have come to see myself differently(who I am, what I am, how I look at things, etc.).
Walking the walk continues to be so rewarding for me(and, hopefully, for you) that I have no choice but to keep on trucking...
Bob
March 1, 2011 11:45 PM
A little bit of this, a little bit of that - and it all adds up to something!
Today marked my return visit to the glaucoma doctor to see how well the prescribed drops were doing. Up at 5:45, out the door at 6:20, and at Mass Eye And Ear by 8:05. Rush hour traffic is horrible! Anyway, the medication has worked! My eye pressure is back to normal. So I get to keep taking the medication until July when I go back again. That's the good news.
At the ned of the visit I asked the doctor to look at my right eye and tell me what the status of my torn cornea is. Good news again! It has healed! However, there is some tissue and cloudy spots on the eye which are contributing to the fact that my vision is still not completely clear in that eye. Though it's not the doctors perview to prescribe a fix, laser surgery was suggested as a possible way to correct the situation. This I'll deal with next month when we see my other eye doctor at the facility.
I still find it aggravating that my vision seems to have stabilized but not improve. One additional culprit also seems to be that by constantly throwing all kinds of goop in my eyes, it's the goop that seems to be making my vision blurry.
As requested by my PCP on Friday, I went and had my blood drawn yesterday. He looked at the results and they called me today to comment that my liver counts were high. This is no surprise as my Dana Farber doctor had noted it as well but remained unconcerned as it is a side effect of the bone marrow transplant. However, my PCP is not being so cavalier about this and now wants me to have an ultrasound taken of my liver to make sure than everything looks normal. It'll be next week some time. I'll find out tomorrow when.
So many doctors, so much going on, they seem to run my life. But, when you think about, it's nice to have a life to be run. And, quite honestly, I do feel fine though I would like to be able to reduce some of the stuff that goes into my eyes.
As frosting on the cake, everybody seems to have yet to properly convert my health insurance over to Medicare even though they were informed of the change back in January. For example, the sticker on my appointment sheet today still referenced my company insurance while Mass Eye And Ear claimed that they only had Medicare on file as my iinsurance plan. Dana Farber called asking for more information today as well. I don't understand how they cannot understand and the conflict continues to rage. Hopefully, today has put an end to that as I supposedly spoke to those "in the know" at both facilities in an effort to rectify the situation. I'm willing to bet that the issue hasn't been put to bed.
Begrudgingly, I'm doing my walking 4 times a week and some stretching exercises everyday and, begrudgingly, I have to admit that I think that they have helped.
Otherwise, life continues with little projects to do, going to the movies, going out with friends, playing cards, etc.
I can't complain...
Bob
Today marked my return visit to the glaucoma doctor to see how well the prescribed drops were doing. Up at 5:45, out the door at 6:20, and at Mass Eye And Ear by 8:05. Rush hour traffic is horrible! Anyway, the medication has worked! My eye pressure is back to normal. So I get to keep taking the medication until July when I go back again. That's the good news.
At the ned of the visit I asked the doctor to look at my right eye and tell me what the status of my torn cornea is. Good news again! It has healed! However, there is some tissue and cloudy spots on the eye which are contributing to the fact that my vision is still not completely clear in that eye. Though it's not the doctors perview to prescribe a fix, laser surgery was suggested as a possible way to correct the situation. This I'll deal with next month when we see my other eye doctor at the facility.
I still find it aggravating that my vision seems to have stabilized but not improve. One additional culprit also seems to be that by constantly throwing all kinds of goop in my eyes, it's the goop that seems to be making my vision blurry.
As requested by my PCP on Friday, I went and had my blood drawn yesterday. He looked at the results and they called me today to comment that my liver counts were high. This is no surprise as my Dana Farber doctor had noted it as well but remained unconcerned as it is a side effect of the bone marrow transplant. However, my PCP is not being so cavalier about this and now wants me to have an ultrasound taken of my liver to make sure than everything looks normal. It'll be next week some time. I'll find out tomorrow when.
So many doctors, so much going on, they seem to run my life. But, when you think about, it's nice to have a life to be run. And, quite honestly, I do feel fine though I would like to be able to reduce some of the stuff that goes into my eyes.
As frosting on the cake, everybody seems to have yet to properly convert my health insurance over to Medicare even though they were informed of the change back in January. For example, the sticker on my appointment sheet today still referenced my company insurance while Mass Eye And Ear claimed that they only had Medicare on file as my iinsurance plan. Dana Farber called asking for more information today as well. I don't understand how they cannot understand and the conflict continues to rage. Hopefully, today has put an end to that as I supposedly spoke to those "in the know" at both facilities in an effort to rectify the situation. I'm willing to bet that the issue hasn't been put to bed.
Begrudgingly, I'm doing my walking 4 times a week and some stretching exercises everyday and, begrudgingly, I have to admit that I think that they have helped.
Otherwise, life continues with little projects to do, going to the movies, going out with friends, playing cards, etc.
I can't complain...
Bob
February 28, 2010 12:15 AM
More of the same!
Another round of snow on Sunday*(6 incheas) with more stuff expected on Monday. Whn will this winter ever end? I'm not so sure that the groundhog was too accurate in his forecast. We only have two weeks to go before winter is supposed to be over. It ain't gonna happen!
However, there is something different as I am wrestling with a cold. Colds come on a little differently for me now. Theye start out as chest colds and they stay way. It used to be that I would start with a sore throat, it would then morph into a head cold, and lastly wind up as a chest cold. With my coughing and hacking, there was no way that I could sing this morning. So, we skipped church and just hung around all day. Do I feel any better? From this morning to now I think that there has been some improvement. We'll wait and see what tomorrow brings.
With the lousy weather on the way, I think that I'll skip getting my blood drawn tomorrow. I have to fast for that and it was so easy to do because the cold kind of dimished my appetite so I haven't eaten anything since three o'clock which would put me way over the 10-12 hours that they want.
Tuesday, it's back to Mass Eye And Ear to check my eye pressure. The appointment is at 8:45 which will require an early start because it is right in the middle of rush hour traffic.
Off to bed, gotta ditch this cold...(had to watch the end of the Oscar Awards Show)
Bob
Another round of snow on Sunday*(6 incheas) with more stuff expected on Monday. Whn will this winter ever end? I'm not so sure that the groundhog was too accurate in his forecast. We only have two weeks to go before winter is supposed to be over. It ain't gonna happen!
However, there is something different as I am wrestling with a cold. Colds come on a little differently for me now. Theye start out as chest colds and they stay way. It used to be that I would start with a sore throat, it would then morph into a head cold, and lastly wind up as a chest cold. With my coughing and hacking, there was no way that I could sing this morning. So, we skipped church and just hung around all day. Do I feel any better? From this morning to now I think that there has been some improvement. We'll wait and see what tomorrow brings.
With the lousy weather on the way, I think that I'll skip getting my blood drawn tomorrow. I have to fast for that and it was so easy to do because the cold kind of dimished my appetite so I haven't eaten anything since three o'clock which would put me way over the 10-12 hours that they want.
Tuesday, it's back to Mass Eye And Ear to check my eye pressure. The appointment is at 8:45 which will require an early start because it is right in the middle of rush hour traffic.
Off to bed, gotta ditch this cold...(had to watch the end of the Oscar Awards Show)
Bob
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