A NASTY BUG

Hello faithful friends, Thank you for your faithfulness in checking in on Glenn regularly.
Glenn has been rocking along in stable status. He has had to have a couple iron infusions in the past couple months, most recently this past Tuesday. Can't seem to keep the iron levels and RBC's up to a functional level. Probably has to do with kidneys not working as they should.  Last week he got that nasty stomach flu, and I mean it was NASTY to him. He had to go to the hospital because he couldn't stop vomiting{and other things), so after about 18 hours of this happening every 30 -45 minutes I made the executive decision. Of course he was admitted after being up ALL night in the ER. He got some med. for nausea that seemed to eventually calm that part down so that he could take in some fluids. He will tell you that they gave him IV fluids, which technically they did, but only at a rate to keep an open access, not really to give him fluids, since he missed two nights of dialysis because he didn't have any fluid in his system to filter. Two  days later he was discharged, but not before he had shared his sickness with me. I went home in the middle of the night the second night with it.  We are both still getting our strength back. That part is taking way too long for our liking. We know of several people who have gotten this rotten bug in various degrees.
His next appointment in G'ville is in three weeks. He should have a bone marrow biopsy this time. It's been more than six months since the last one and we need to keep an eye on the production of blood cells, which help indicate what the disease is doing, along with the usual blood work done each time.
So, barring any new events to report, I'll be back here then to fill you  in on what we find out. ttfn

Feb. Dr. visit

I don't know if this will post bc I have a different computer than before when I posted and I don't know if I'm actually on the blog site, but I'll try.
We went to G'ville today fully expecting for Glenn to have a bone marrow biopsy since that's what we were told the last time we went. But the Dr. is holding off. I guess that's a good thing. The iron infusions he had in Dec. have done some good bc those numbers are better, ie: he isn't as anemic has he has been. It's hard to try explain about his lab numbers, but some of them stayed the same as last time and some of them went up, (the bad way). But apparently not enough to be a concern. We go back in two months again.  Glenn  continues to be very tired a lot of the time. He gets out and does stuff, but when he get's home he realizes how exhausted he is, actually sometime while he is out, and we have to come home for him to rest. But we are glad that is his only problem right now.
He is planning a workshop for the end of this month, and has two speaking engagements in the next few months. We'd like to try again to plan a trip out west. He found an airplane museum in Arizona that he'd like to go to. We'll have to see how/if that will work out.
I probably won't be making another entry until April, unless something comes up. If we are friends on facebook, I always notify there when I have made a new entry.

Enter 2014

Hello all. Well, as you might have guessed, Glenn's labs have continued to be ok. He has felt his usual wellness: tired a lot but other than that no complaints. Last week and this week he had to get iron infusions because he continues to be anemic and in spite of getting a shot every week for that those blood counts don't improve and seem to go down a little each time. I'm sure that is partly the cause of his tiredness. The  counts for his disease went up in October and again higher in December. So far, he hasn't had to start any treatment. He will  have a bone marrow biopsy at his next G'ville visit in Feb. (five more weeks) and I suppose the Dr. will consider if treatment needs to be started. The Dr.s also want to see how his blood cell production in the bone marrow is doing, given his continued anemia.
We had a very blessed Christmas this year. The kids came over for Christmas eve and I fixed Eda-pizza and calzone which they loved. (It's been a looooonnnnngggg time since I've made it and they and Glenn seemed to appreciate it so much more this time). We had our gift exchange after dinner. Glenn was so surprised to get a "Go Pro" camera from the kids which he had been trying to figure out how he could get the money for. Santa brought me a new notebook computer since this one is about seven years old and veeerrrrryyyy tired and slow. I haven't played with the new one yet because I'm pretty techno-illiterate and am intimidated getting to know a new gadget with the new Windows 8. But I will be tackling that very soon. Then on Christmas day we went to Andy's girlfriend's mom's house for a shared family dinner and Christmas celebration, with Santa arriving to pass out gifts. (That mom of Andy's girlfriend is such a generous person. She is always giving us some kind of nice thing, which she did on that day: she gave Glenn a pass for a 30 minute, ride in a bi-plane and gave me several gift cards for necessities and for fun).
Oh! Also we finally got the settlement for the first of Glenn's two accidents, and we got to buy a "new" car the end of November: a Honda CR-V 2011. We both like it a lot. It's smaller than the Odyssey was, which is what I wanted. We didn't need all that seating anymore and I wanted something that would get in and out of parking spaces easier (than the beast Odyssey), and that would get better gas mileage. God gave us just the right amount of money from the settlement that we could get something we like, in good condition and fairly new. I got to pick it out; Glenn says it is my car. Ok, I'll accept that! He gets to use it as much as he wants.
So I probably won't be posting here until Feb. unless there is news before then. We wish you all a very Happy New Year for 2014.

Quick report

Hello! Just a quick report from our G'ville visit yesterday. Glenn's labs, at least the ones that were ready by the time we left, were not much different. His disease levels are up again, after going down a little last time we were there, but no treatment is necessary.  We will hear this week about other labs. Poor Glenn had to get 6 (SIX!) shots yesterday for his final immunizations. (When a person has a stem cell transplant, he has to start all over with immunizations since all the immunities were wiped out with the transplant). He was a brave boy though, considering how much he hates needles. So far he hasn't had any effects from them that might happen after immunizations. Let's hope he doesn't, because he has his customer service workshop tomorrow and has to be on top of his game. If we get any negative news from the rest of his labs I'll post it, otherwise, ttfn.

No news is good news, again

Oh My Goodness!!! Has it really been that long since I made an entry???  Well, just know that Glenn has  still been stable, for the most part, all this time. His blood pressure runs high despite being on 5 medications for it. The Nephrologist started Glenn  on a sixth one, but that one only lasted a week before Glenn stopped taking  it. It caused him to gain 10 lbs of  fluid in one week, and he didn't feel good on it. Next the Dr. increased the dosage to double of one of his 5 meds, and that just wiped him out totally; he slept most of the time and felt totally drained. So we made the decision to cut that dose a little and it seems to be working, at least as far as how he is feeling. So far his bp is ok, but seems like it starts to creep up again. I'll let you know how that turns out.
We were planning a 19 day trip out West to see the Grand Canyon and visit relatives and friends, but last week Glenn said that he didn't think he was up to driving for that long of a time. So we have cancelled those plans and are tossing around ideas for a few smaller trips. No solid plans for anything yet.
This week is a full week for us. Today Glenn had several meetings for different things; tomorrow a clinic appt for him, (and Dr. appt for me); Wednesday is a trip to G'ville for a check on his lab values and particularly to check on his LCDD level; Thursday more meetings, and Friday he has a workshop/seminar (on customer service) which he is very excited about. (And I  also have an eye Dr. appt, using my new eligibility for Medicare, maybe, if the problem qualifies as a medical problem; yes, that means I turn 65 next week).
So all that said, Glenn is doing pretty well, all things considered. I will let you know how the trip to G'ville goes and what we find out.

Rolling along (or maybe writing along would be more appropriate.)

We went to G'ville yesterday and Glenn's disease numbers were about the same, a little lower. So no treatment for now. Yeah! Glenn continues to feel well and is very busy with the seminar he is hosting next week. His mind is constantly going, for which he is very grateful. After his stem cell transplant and during his chemo treatment the ideas stopped coming which disappointed him. But he's back to full speed ahead.
We are just going to Dr. appointments about every week or so, and going about our (retired) lives now.
He has finished his political/fiction book but it hasn't gone to the publisher yet. He is working on the second volume of "The Fine Art of Driving Customers Away" and there is a never ending pool of examples to write about for that one. And if you have any examples that he could use he welcomes your input. Just go to: glenn@glennboyles.com and leave him your message. He also takes examples of surprisingly good examples of good customer service. He would probably say that any good example of good customer service is surprising these days. ;-)
TTFN

Just more of the same

Ain't nothin happening here. (Except a lot of rain today). Just taking it day by day, which is what God is trying to drill into my thick skull to do. That lesson is continuing. But this blog is not supposed to be about me, is it. Glenn continues to keep busy with writing his books, setting up another seminar for August, and sharing his views in general on facebook. Dialysis is going routinely.  So I guess that's all I have to report. Just checking in to let you know what's happening and not happening.