The Tapestry of Marquam Manor

BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	7.7	13-17	^
Platelets	42	140-375	^
ANC	1150	1800-8300	v

If there is anything that life has taught me it is that change is not only inevitable it is unstoppable. As Jill and I prepare for a sojourn in Portland, our lives have been like an evolving tapestry.  What I mean is that, like a tapestry, our lives are woven together from threads from many different sources and in many different colors. Day by day the tapestry unfolds, revealing a bit more of the picture, and yet there is more to come tomorrow. 

My last post was about the myriad pieces of the puzzle we have been assembling for the past months(??), no, it's just over three weeks since we met with Dr. Meyers and committed to the process of a bone marrow transplant. Oops! I switched metaphors, didn't I! That's okay, because at the beginning of that three weeks, the whole project seemed like a huge jigsaw puzzle, you know, a box of colored shapes that made no sense. Now the picture is beginning to make more sense, with shades and nuances and a depth of meaning. 

We started with long lists of tasks, as I described in my last post, and now many of those tasks have been completed, the most recent of which was to get my driver's license renewed. That one may seem sort of irrelevant, given that it will be a while before I can drive myself after the transplant, but to me it is important, because my birthday and the attendant expiration of my driver's license will happen while we are in Portland. 

We began planning for this event even before we knew that transplant was an option. Last fall we renewed our passports, because they were due to expire this year, too. We wanted to be in a position to apply for Real ID driver's licenses, which will allow us to board domestic flights without having to carry passports. Notice how optimistic we are? We haven't flown since February, 2020, due to the pandemic and my leukemia. Our hope is to visit our daughter Laura and her family in San Diego one day in the future. Try as we might, we have not been able to do so since 2019. 

But I digress. Having secured my new license, I have completed the list of things I had to get ready for our departure from home. Having the temporary license in my hand as we left the DMV office yesterday, I suddenly started to see more clarity and a new texture in the tapestry of our life. 

In addition, my blood counts were in a satisfactory range yesterday, meaning I won't need another transfusion for a while. I will have another blood draw the day after tomorrow, and barring the need for a transfusion after that one, we will be at the point of transition from my medical care being delivered by Kaiser to its being delivered by OHSU. We have three final pre-admission appointments on Monday at OHSU. One is for a new, improved, multi lumen PICC line, one is for a blood draw and pre-admission Covid test, and the third is our final meeting with Dr. Meyers before I go to the hospital. 

On the agenda for the weekend is sorting out what I will need to take to the hospital. That includes clothing. I will need clean clothing every day, but Jill won't have access to a laundry facility, unless she goes to a laundromat. We've decided that should be a weekly event, not a daily one. 

I will also be taking some electronic gear: my laptop, so I can continue boring you with tales of the ill and aged; a couple of cell phones (I keep one for personal calls, and one for "business" calls, i.e., the number I give to companies that I do business with. That one mainly gets robo-calls, but I do need it when I have to do two part id with certain websites.); a small media server that contains all of our movies and music, so we can feel more at home in the vacation rental; a Roku stick, so we can access some of our favorite streaming shows there as well. 

Somehow, focusing on these personal items is comforting, perhaps because I have done it at least eight times in the past, when I have been hospitalized for chemotherapy. In my heart, this part adds some satisfying texture to the tapestry. Although I will be in a different hospital with all new-to-me personnel, I have been hospitalized and know roughly what to expect. 

The picture that is emerging, as the lists get checked off and the day draws nearer, is beginning to look like one I can embrace. Our daughter Tara is coming this evening for a final visit before our move. She has offered to help Jill get moved into the vacation rental, so we will assemble the things that she will need to haul for us while she is here. She will help Jill get settled on the weekend after I am admitted. Jill and I have decided "vacation rental" is too awkward, so henceforth we have dubbed it "Marquam Manor," since it sits atop Marquam Hill. 

As I have  been writing this post, I have been seeing more and more that a big theme of the tapestry that we are weaving is the burden that will be upon Jill's shoulders. It is one that she assures me she is honored to carry. And once again I am reminded of a woman in Scripture, who is affectionately known as "The Proverbs 31 Woman." 

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her...
¹² She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life... 

¹⁷ She girds herself with strength...

 
²⁰ She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy...

 
²² She makes tapestry for herself...

²⁵ Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
²⁷ She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates. (Proverbs 31:10-12, 17, 22, 25-31)