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.

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.

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.

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!

Just in case anybody is still checking here

I don't know if anybody is checking here occasionally, but thought I'd fill you in, in case anyone is here.
Glenn has been  his usual tired for the last few weeks, although he doesn't sleep as much during the day as he did when he first got home. He takes a 15 minute walk each morning before the sun comes up, makes his breakfast then sleeps for a few more hours. He can have visitors, and has had several. On Father's Day all three kids and the granddaughter were over for a while, one Sunday we took a big risk to have 7 people from church over, (Glenn wore a mask for those two visits), and this week we had our friends over who we met in G'ville who had the same kind of treatment there at the same time Glenn did, so we got to commiserate together and compare experiences.
We go to the nephrologist tomorrow to see what Glenn's lab work shows, which I am very eager to see. When we were in G'ville, Glenn's blood was drawn every night and reported first thing every morning which gave us some security to know what his condition was doing. With Glenn being so tired still, I am eager to know if he is anemic or if he is recovering normally. I am also anxious to go to the oncologist here to see how she feels he is doing. We didn't realize he was supposed to be followed up here with his oncologist until I called to find out.  We were probably told to but it didn't stick in the brains. When Glenn was being given discharge directions, he was just finishing getting platelets and we were in a rush to get to the Hope Lodge before we lost the room, so I failed to take notes. So we will be following up as soon as we can get in there.
And I'll let you all know what we find out. Thank you so much for caring to keep up with him.

A quiet week

This week for Glenn was another week of resting, sleeping and eating, with a little bit of work sprinkled in. He can sit for about a half hour at the computer before he has to lay down and rest and/or sleep again. He talked to the SS office to see if he qualifies for SSI, but he was told that we make too much. So I guess to qualify you have to live in a nice, paid for, tent and have no car payment. He is now applying for disability. That requires that you are going to be disabled for at least a year. So we need to get letters from the Dr.s to verify that. That's a new prayer request--(not that he is disabled for a year but) that he will be approved for disability---soon.
That same day we had to do a couple errands for him, and then I took him to the furniture store for him to pick out a recliner for Father's Day/60th birthday from the kids and me. He had to be "fitted" for one that was  comfortable. He picked one out and it will be here in about a month. He wanted something he could rest in but not be on the couch all the time.
I am curious to know what his lab values are. When he was in the hospital we got a report everyday which gave me a sort of security that we knew where he was all the time. But we won't know what his labs are for another couple weeks. His blood  pressure is not what would be considered normal, but is at an acceptable level, controlled by four blood pressure meds. One good thing is that his swelling and edema have stabilized without any medications.
So he is just resting at home, holed up from everybody to avoid any exposure from infections, and because he just doesn't feel like doing anything else for now.