It’s Saturday, must need a transfusion.

But… before this today… Yesterday was a decent day.

We had some work being done at the house in the morning and we were having a slow but steady day. It was a great day as well. Sun was shining and I managed to even get a little sun over lunch time. I could tell it was going to be a good day because Michele was out of her pajamas early and she had one of her wigs on.

In the afternoon we made a drive to Sweeny, TX. She had a client that was having a hard time with electronic signatures on a few policies. So when it doubt, head out!

when feeling well, reach out to customers and get some work done!

If you map Seabrook to Sweeny, it was a solid 1.5 hours drive. The weather was good and the roads were not packed. You can almost see the shift from city to country as you drive out there. Freeway, Tollroads, farm to market roads, and then… the speed trap cities… and THEN the country.

We were able to get the signatures and make it back to our house shortly before five o’clock. Thankfully, our path was either opposite or crossing over rush hour traffic. We even managed to take a short walk before settling back in at home.

The numbers are

Friday was the peak before the fall. This morning we woke up early to make it to the clinic. 6:45 am arrival. Things appeared to be continuing in a good way this morning. We made it to Garage 10 on time.

As we left the car, I could see that she was not stable. She knew it as well and asked for the wheelchair. Which they have available at the parking lot elevators. It is also a Saturday which means we must walk outside to get to the clinic. The wind was whipping a little this morning and she managed to keep her ears warm.

Today was destined to be a challenge. Once back to get her blood work done, the nurse said we are only doing one blood test today. We know the routine. Need all the numbers (3 groups of tests). We waited an hour for updated orders and finally got them. The review of the numbers was lagging because the results came in later than expected.

White Blood Count 0.3

Red Blood Count 2.34

Hemoglobin 7.6

These are all low but expected to be at this point in the cycle. Now we wait for the transfusion of both platelets and blood to boost these numbers. These are also the moments that the staff remind you that if… “Fall, bleeding, bruising, etc. Come to the emergency room for observation”. The fragility of the human body on display.

When someone tells you this every splotch is a potential bruise. Now is a great time to invest in human bubble wrap. 8-).

Killing time waiting

The one thing that MD Anderson does an excellent job of is putting spaces for people to sit and rest. It is common for people to lay out and sleep in between “show times” if you will. There is the CAFE ANDERSON. The cafeteria style dining hall. She has some soup and majority of my French fries.

No walking around today. She did suggest it, but then I reminded her that she was in a wheelchair and I am good for now. 8-).

Waiting for our turn in the transfusion room

The Transfusion

We should be in the transfusion room around 1:00 today. These usually run for between 3 and 5 hours. She will be in bed and hopefully getting more rest. I will squeeze in some work and then possibly a few winks for myself.

All this is “Normal” for the odd cycles. We will be back tomorrow for the Day 11 chemo dosage. We are blessed with incredible friends. Janee will have the hospital duty for me tomorrow. I will be attending a celebration of life for another friend’s father that passed recently. Life and death are… Life.

Friends and family Caring

Michele and I have been blown away many days by the outreach, support, and help that our friends and family have been giving since diagnosis. We are fatigued… or TIRED of being sick. It is you all in comments, text, and helping that keep us going. I know that we both lean on a number of you in our daily struggles. Lord knows we don’t want to burden just one person with those and thankfully we don’t need to. Be it jokes, funny memes, or just acting normal when we meet up for lunch or dinner somewhere. You all can keep it coming.

We have a lot of living ahead and for those that have been with us through the serious stuff, we look forward to spending more time for the good stuff ahead with you.

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