Please don't call it insanity

 

BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	10.2	13-17	^
Platelets	123	140-375	^
ANC	1600	1800-8300	^

There's an old saying that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome. Well, we are proving that to be wrong this weekend. 

Here's the rest of the story. In October of 2021, when I was in the hospital for my third round of HiDAC chemotherapy, Jill and I started dreaming of what life would be like when I had completed round four, and there was no more chemotherapy on the horizon. Knowing that it takes me a while to recover from the chemotherapy, we decided we would plan an extravagant three day vacation at a nice condominium at Nye Beach in Newport, one of our favorite places. We thought, "What a perfect way to welcome a new year!" 

We got online and pored over the available places to rent. Eventually, we settled on a nice place and with some trepidation, we made a reservation. It had been a while since we were able to travel and even longer since we had been to the Oregon coast. 

For two months we anticipated how much fun we would have and how nice it would be to get away and to treat ourselves to something more than an "Ocean View Room with King Bed." Round four of chemo came and went. At last we were free to enjoy life without interruption. We celebrated Thanksgiving. We celebrated Christmas. Just the two of us at home, while my blood counts were recovering. They were nice but not the same as being with family. At last our getaway was on the horizon. 

On the morning after Christmas, we awoke to a beautiful, wintry scene. There were several inches of snow on the ground. We always enjoy seeing a little snow, as long as we don't need to go anywhere. Then it dawned on us. If this doesn't thaw before New Year's Eve, getting to the coast may not be feasible. You know where this is going, don't you! 

The snow hung around for a few days and just before the 48 hour deadline for cancelling our reservation arrived, we sadly made the call. No worries, we can go later. After a few weeks, I was feeling stronger and we decided to try again. We made another reservation, and once again, the weather intervened. We decided the Lord had a reason for not letting us get to the beach. "Not our will but Thine be done," Lord. 

At the risk of being monotonous, I will tell you that a third attempt failed because of treacherous weather in the mountain passes. Well, we'll just wait for summer.  Time passed. We did some fixup projects around the house. I built a new table and a bench for my home brew pub. We relandscaped our front garden bed. We planted a veggie garden, and then...we scheduled a beach getaway in the same condo, so we could celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary there in July. Surely, the weather will cooperate this time. 

Toward the end of June, Jill's brother and his wife came for a visit for the first time since before the pandemic. We had a lovely time, but...just before their arrival, my energy was flagging a bit. I went in for my routine monthly blood draw, and learned that my blood platelet count was alarming low. Bob and Sandi left to enjoy a month in Canada. Dr. Brow had ordered a Dex Blast. What is a Dex Blast, you ask. Well it's four days of high doses of a corticosteroid called Dexamethasone. The hope was to kick start platelet production. 

Alas, there was no improvement in my platelet count, and Dr. Brow ordered a bone marrow biopsy, which was performed on July 5th.  A couple of days later, she called to say that my leukemia had reared its ugly head again. She said she would have her case manager call to schedule a new series of chemotherapy treatments, that would be milder than the previous series I had been through. We would begin in a couple of weeks. That was on July 7th, our wedding anniversary. We asked if we should keep our beach reservations, and she said that would be fine. 

Later that afternoon, Suzanne, the case manager called and said, "I'm calling to cancel your vacation trip to the beach." She was able to get me scheduled for chemo on the following Monday, which was during the time we had planned to be away! The good news is that, once again, we were within the window for cancellation without penalty. Sigh....

We decided it was just not part of the Lord's plan, for whatever reason, for us to go to the beach. 

It turns out that this "milder" form of chemotherapy has not gone as predictably as what I had the previous year. My blood counts have gone up and down as expected, but not with the same regularity. When my ANC (immunity) is up, my platelets seem to crash and vice versa. Life has become even more of a day by day proposition as far as planning outings is concerned. 

And now back to the present. Last Thursday, I had another routine blood test. My ANC is up, my platelets are up, my hemoglobin is up. What are you going to do in such circumstances? We decided to make a trip to Costco. Jill suggested going out for a meal over the weekend.  While we were on our way to Costco, it hit me. "Let's go to the beach for the weekend!" Jill reminded me that daughter Laura had reminded her that President's Day weekend may not be a good choice because lots of people would be going to the beach. 

Nevertheless, while Jill drove, I looked up a place to stay, and from the Costco parking lot we made a reservation at the Lincoln Sands Resort in Lincoln City. So, although, some people would say trying this again is insanity, here we are looking out at that beautiful ocean in the picture above. 

So, we're not really insane, after all!