Thursday, July 21, 2011

No transfusion this week

Glenn was quite relieved at the Dr. today. Although his labs indicate he needs blood, and it continues to drop, because he doesn't have symptoms, ie dizziness and exhaustion, he doesn't need to get any blood. So he is extremely anemic but the rest of his lab numbers are very good for him. I think that will allow him to be less protective of catching a virus or something. He is also getting some fuzz on his head. It's cute. He is tolerating longer stretches of every day activity these days as well.
Tomorrow Glenn turns 60 years old. We will have to keep celebrations low key right now but we will have to go on a boat ride or something at a later date. Originally I wanted to take him to the Grand Canyon because he wanted to stand on the glass overlook and address his fear of heights. I'd still like to do that at some point. For now he is just enjoying his new recliner.
Thanks to each of you who have been faithful in keeping up with Glenn and sending encouraging words, as well as your prayers.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Slow recovery

Hi Sue, (and anybody else who is still reading this), I think you're the only one who has kept up with this blog. But I am going to continue with it, if for nothing else than to keep a record for myself of how things are going.
We went to the oncologist for Glenn's weekly lab checks. His hemoglobin and red blood cells continue to drop so we talked to a Dr. there and he said it wasn't absolutely urgent that Glenn get a blood transfusion but next week if his counts are lower it would be a good idea to get some blood. So that's what we're looking at this next week. Besides that, Glenn has felt ok, not ready to run any races but he isn't quite as tired as he was the first few weeks after we got home from the hospital. We were planning on him going to church this week, but after getting some medical advice, we decided he still shouldn't be in crowds, even if he wore a mask. :-( . Best to err on the safe side.
Glenn applied for disability and we are waiting and hoping to hear something soon. Because his disease is treated the same as multiple myeloma and there isn't a billing code for his disease it is processed as multiple myeloma and that disease is dealt with as a "fast track" case and supposedly they get it through in a month. We'll see...... while we continue praying for results soon.

Friday, July 8, 2011

How's Glenn doing, you ask?

Glenn had labs done today and he was so relieved that he didn't have to have a blood transfusion. We will have to go every week to have his labs checked to monitor how he is doing. I think we might be able to find out next week how his kidney function is doing and possibly if the treatment has had an effect on his disease based on  tests that he turned in a specimen for today.
I've given him a little nudge to get out more, so one day we went to the bank and the grocery store, neither of which is busy so he could go to those places since there weren't crowds there. When he goes in anywhere he always has a mask and hat on, and often he wears his sunglasses. When we went into the bank, even though they know him, he looked enough like a bank robber that it scared one of the girls thinking they were going to be robbed! She was frozen for a few seconds until one of the other women said hello to him and said his name. Priceless! I also got him to go out another day to the new club house here, where we live, for him to get his own private tour, (from me. It is actually very impressive and I recommend anyone in our age group to come and see it and the neighborhoods here as well.)
I have detected a very tiny growth of hair on his head, not that can be seen unless you look at his head from  side angle. Can't tell what color it is yet or if it's curly or straight. But I'll keep you posted on that development.
As an aside, we now have all three of our kids living here in town as Joey got home from California and out of the Army this past week. One of the many good things about that is that I will get to see our granddaughter more often now and I can send her home with her daddy when I'm done playing with her! I love spending time with her, she is so much fun to be around! But she also tires me out being so busy ALL the time.

Friday, July 1, 2011

A day of Dr. appointments

 Glenn saw his nephrologist today and we got the lab results from last week. His kidney function is the same, no better and no worse. Other than that, nothing new to report there. He also was able to see the oncologist. That office is in the same building as the neph. so we went up there after that appointment to see if they had any cancellations. They were finishing with their appointments and were willing to see him at the time. It turns out that we were supposed to be going there weekly to have his labs checked. I was right! He did need to be checked frequently. His labs looked pretty good, but he is anemic and may need to get blood next week when we go back. At that office visit I ran into a couple who we met at the Hope Lodge in G'ville when we were there. I asked the husband how his wife is doing. He said they've done everything that can be done for her. So they are just making the best of their time together now. She is one who pushes herself to go and do as much as she can. I was amazed at how much she was doing when we were together at H.L. I'm glad we got to know them.
Well, we have a big July 4th weekend planned: lots of resting and staying out of the sun :-). We might eat a hot dog in honor of the holiday!