T+83 The Long and Winding Road

BOX SCORE	7/29/2024
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	12.1	13-17	v
Platelets	152	140-375	v
ANC	4690	1800-8300	^

The long and winding road that leads to your door
Will never disappear, I've seen that road before
It always leads me here, lead me to your door. 

The Beatles published The Long and Winding Road in 1970 as their 20th and final number one single.* In some ways the song reminds me of the journey Jill and I have been on through this battle with AML. Accordingly, I have taken the liberty of adjusting the lyrics a little: 

The long and winding road that leads to our door
Will never disappear, we've seen that road before
It always leads us there, lead us to our door. 

I think Jill can probably identify with the new words even better than I can. She drove to and from Sunnyside hospital a total of 92 times, a 120 mile round trip, during the nearly three years that I was intermittently receiving chemotherapy. She never complained about the drive, but sometimes about having to part with me when she went home. What a wonderful wife God has given me. 

During our, to date, 89 days in Portland, we have found some new winding roads. They are mostly not long, though. Since we live on "The Hill," as the OHSU campus was known when I was in dental school, we find that there is not a straight stretch anywhere we drive that is over a couple of blocks long. The trip from the Hobbit Hole to the clinic is about three miles, but we allow 30 minutes for the jaunt. 

So, here's my next offering: 

The short and winding roads going to the clinic door
Will one day disappear, won't see those roads no more
They always lead us there, now lead us to our door. 

I apologize to any Beatles fans who might think it sacrilege to fiddle with Sir Paul McCartney's work. It's all in fun. 

One of the fun things we have been able to do, since I have been feeling so well, is to explore some medium length winding roads. I mentioned in a previous post that Jill was in college at Lewis and Clark College about the same time I was in dental school, which means we have discovered some things we have in common that we hadn't realized before this stretch in Rip City. We have had some fun looking up some of them. First we found the little house where Jill lived at the end of college and for awhile afterwards. 

I lived in northeast Portland during dental school with my first wife. She worked at Montgomery Ward in the credit department. The store was located in northwest Portland. We had one car, and there were no easy bus routes to Monkey Ward, so every morning I would drop her off and then drive through the West Hills on a winding road to the dental school, reversing the course at the end of each day. We traced out that route, as best I can remember it. Nothing looked familiar. Funny, it's only been 53 years.

Last Saturday, we took a winding drive to the Lewis and Clark campus and did a walking tour. It really is a beautiful campus with lots of trees and lawns and wonderful architecture. They claim to have Portland's best view of Mt. Hood, but it was too cloudy to see the mountain that day. Jill's wedding to her first husband took place on one of the lawns there. It must have been lovely.

I mentioned 89 days in Portland, so why is this Day T+83? Good question. We arrived here six days before my transplant, and I checked into OHSU hospital, receiving my first dose of pre-transplant chemotherapy that very evening. The T+83 refers to 83 days since the actual transplant was done. We need to stay near OHSU for a total of 100 days after Transplant Day, or Day 0. 

Given all that background, you can readily calculate that we have roughly two and a half weeks to the finish line! Do you think we are excited? Jill has begun serving meals out of the freezer, in order to pare down our food supply. We are beginning to pack a few things that we needed before summer, but no longer use. We can't wait to hit the long and winding road that leads to our door in Dallas. The medical team is still impressed with how well I have navigated the winding road from death's door to having successfully received a life-giving transplant, and so are we. I haven't felt this good in a couple of years. 

Next week I have a Monday appointment to receive a magnesium infusion, IF I need it, and a Friday appointment for a bone marrow biopsy (BMBx). The BMBx will give Dr. Meyers more information about how successful the transplant has been. No surprises are expected. 

And so, our long and winding road through treatment of my AML has almost rounded another bend. Signs are good that our other long and winding road, this journey of life together, will go on for many more miles. Praise be to the Lord! 

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16)

*https://genius.com/The-beatles-the-long-and-winding-road-lyrics