Home is the hunter...

Home again! Consolidation chemotherapy session number one is in the history books. It went well. I feel great, and (did I mention this?) I'm home. I convinced Jill that I don't want her to become my full time caretaker. I want her for my wife. So, we hired a housecleaning agency. While we were at the Club, they came in and did a thorough, deep cleaning of the house. So, we came home to that. Not quite as dramatic as the new floors, but also not as intrusive. Shine and Sparkle will be back every other week to help Jill keep the house, while she attends to a lot of other things that I normally would do. 

As we were on our way home yesterday, we were passing a field, or maybe it was a truck, but something had a strong odor of onion. We started talking about all kinds of things it could be: onion, garlic, leek, scallion, and then we could not think of the other "s" bulb.  We both wracked our brains for the word. For years, I have maintained that failing memory in the elderly is really just a matter of the hard drive being full, and searches for a bit of data take longer than when we are younger.  

As I mentioned this theory once again to Jill, it occurred to me that that is why we eventually go to heaven and live "in the cloud." We just  need more storage for all the stuff we have learned. We had a good laugh over that one and continued on our way. It was several more miles down the road that I blurted out "shallot." Jill said, "That's it." She knew exactly what I was talking about, which just goes to prove that our processors are working fine; it's the storage department that needs help. 

Of course, we also blame a lot of our mental challenges on what we call "chemo-brain." 

On to more serious matters. We learned some new things from Dr. Mansoor yesterday. I mentioned to him that I know I will begin feeling kind of rotten after this round of chemo kicks in. He said that is not necessarily true and that I shouldn't anticipate that but just be mindful of any symptoms of problems, like fever or bleeding. That was encouraging. 

Then I asked about the number of rounds of consolidation chemotherapy that he expects I will need. Here's where things get interesting and a little un-intuitive. The goal apparently is always to do four rounds of consolidation chemotherapy, but the reality is that some people don't tolerate the treatments as well as others. Therefore, they sometimes stop after three rounds, because the patient is not responding well enough to continue. So, now we are hoping for four rounds of consolidation, whereas before we were operating on the faulty assumption that less treatment would mean I was doing better. 

The other thing we learned is that we will probably have a consultation with another HemOnc who is more of an expert on systemic mastocytosis, my other (and very rare, read "1 in 10,000 people") blood disorder. I don't know when that will happen, but it will help us to know whether that factor will change the trajectory of the leukemia treatment. 

Jill and I would like to thank all of you once again for your kindness, your willingness to help, your prayers and your love. These consolidation rounds will leave me in my most vulnerable state, in terms of immunity, at home, whereas after the initial chemotherapy, I was kept in the hospital until my immunity had begun to regenerate. For that reason, we will be quarantining, probably until round four (fingers crossed) is complete and my body has had time to regenerate healthy blood cells that will give me immunity. We are contemplating it is likely we will be quarantined until the beginning of 2022.

Some of you have offered to bring us meals, and we do appreciate that, but for now we believe it is safer for us to prepare our own meals, since there are certain restrictions on what I should eat or be in contact with. As I have mentioned before, there just are not enough things to go around for all of our friends who have offered to "do whatever we can." So, I repeat my suggestion that one of the things we would most appreciate, if you want to contribute to the effort, is to prayerfully consider donating blood products. (I realize this is more of a commitment than making a tuna casserole.) I will almost certainly need more transfusions before this business is concluded, and although it is unlikely that I will get your donation, someone else whose life may depend on it will. That means a lot to us. 

God bless you for your care and concern. He certainly is blessing me and Jill through you. We have so many friends who are sticking closer than brothers.

Proverbs 18:24

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."