Day +57 A false start

I was somewhat disappointed this week by a false start on our 60 day evaluation. At 60 days there are several tests that the doctors use to judge the success of the transplant. I am feeling well enough to think that transplant results have to be positive. The prime evaluation tool is a bone marrow biopsy. This is used to measure the presence and density of cancer cells in the bone marrow. There are several other minor tests which are used to complement these results. This evaluation is normally done at the 60 day point to plan on a way forward from here.

The bone marrow biopsy was scheduled for yesterday after two very positive meetings with the doctors on the last two Mondays. Although the bone marrow biopsy is somewhat painful I was hoping that the results would more than offset any discomfort or pain. However after Eileen and I got to the doctor's office they asked me if I had discontinued the blood thinner medicine that I'm taking. I guess I should've asked but no one pointed out the need to discontinue that medicine especially since I'm on a fairly low dose compared to where I was several months ago. Anyway the doctors decided to postpone the biopsy until next week and for me to discontinue the blood thinners until then.

Although this is not a significant setback it does postpone for a week information on how well I've progressed. I'm certainly feeling early good although I do tire relatively easily. I have gone so far as to drive down to Rush on my own this last Monday. First trip down there without someone taking me.

So stay tuned to this station next week to see how the biopsy went.

PS I did venture out to IRM last Saturday for the safety meeting. This is a mandatory meeting for all operating personnel. I am assuming that I will recover well enough to resume an operating role there this summer. This was also my first long-distance outing on my own (a 100 mile round-trip from here). I was able to do this without any drama so I guess the recovery is proceeding. It was great to see some IRM friends that I haven't had a chance to visit with since the Christmas lunch.

Again thanks to everyone that have inquired via e-mail about how things are going.

Day +42 and an oversite

Here we are at day 42 already. There have been some ups and downs but mostly ups.  On the down side the trip to the Dr. last Thursday reviled a high level of calcium and some evidence of dehydration, so I ended up spending 3 hours getting a liter of fluid, with instructions to cut back on calcium intake (milk and tums) and the need to comeback on Monday rather than the longer one week interval, so a bit of a disappointment. Eileen's daughter Katie took me and was interested to see folks at Rush where she did her nursing degree.

On Friday it was off to my cardiologist to check on the old heart.  He was happy with the way things sounded but was anxious to get me back on Coumadin due to the Afib.  He wanted to wait to see the results of the heart tests at Rush before fiddling with any heart meds. He also kept on about how good I looked, Jess was impressed.

I did some first outside adventures over the weekend riding around in an electric cart with my watch cap on at WalMart and Menards looking a bit like a homeless person.  Those electric carts are interesting to drive BTW.

On Monday Eileen took me down to the appointment.  I felt pretty strong and was rewarded with good numbers, calcium and other issues under control and a happy Dr. Fung.  I was rewarded with a 1 week interval to the next appointment.

I felt strong enough yesterday that I did just a bit of yard work and went for a short walk which Quigley insisted on joining. We went to vote (our neighbor was elected Village President) and ate out at a local Thai restaurant, almost empty so low exposure risk for me.

Now to the oversite.  At the last posting I forgot to thank Frank Hicks and David Wilkins for stopping by.  They brought a gift to encourage me to get strong enough to get back to operating streetcars at IRM. Included was a CTA type 8 point hat and a 1948 union pin.  Thanks guys it really cheered me up.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out to Union on the 20th for the 2013 operator's safety meeting. It may be my first solo outing and long distance drive.