T+179 - Poor old Bill

BOX SCORE	11/1/24
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	13.2	13-17	^
Platelets	178	140-375	^
ANC	3050	1800-8300	^

Perhaps, I shouldn't admit this, but sometimes at night, when I have difficulty sleeping, I turn on my iPod and use the YouVersion Bible app as a kind of white noise. It helps me get back to sleep. The stories are familiar and comforting, so I drift off pretty quickly. I want to state here and now, however, that I have never fallen asleep during a sermon in church!

In the Bible, there are numerous stories about dreams. Jacob, Joseph, Laban, Saul, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Joseph of Nazareth, they all had dreams, in which God sent them a message of one kind or another. I have had such dreams on occasion, too, but not all of my dreams are prophetic!

Last night was one of those nights when I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. Maybe it had to do with the change from Daylight Time to Standard Time (what is that all about??), or maybe it was excitement as the Oregon Ducks football team increased their win streak to 9-0 on the season. Whatever the case, after I got up to use the restroom in the wee hours (no pun intended), I tossed and turned for a bit. Then I connected to the iPod and drifted right off. 

But that wasn't the end of the story. I found myself having very weird dreams. In one of the dreams, there was a small water faucet, the kind one might have in the kitchen for dispensing filtered water. Somehow, it had been left on and filled my cell phone with water. No worries, though; it is an iPhone, and in my dream, I just poured the water out of it, and it worked fine. 

The next dream I had involved being in a house, which I thought was a travel trailer. I looked out the front window, and it seemed like some rather shady looking characters were stealing the battery from the battery box on the trailer tongue. I went out to confront them and found that one of them was reciting Scripture from the Book of Acts. The travel trailer had turned back into a house, but there were a number of car batteries sitting around here and there. Don't ask.

Jill and I had been visiting some friends in another dream, and the husband had gone somewhere. I was supposed to go out and find him and get something for us all to eat, while I was about it. I went to a Safeway, which morphed into a fast food chicken restaurant, and went in to get some food to take back. I think I just figured my friend would find his way home. Anyway, there were a bunch of guys walking across the parking lot, and one of them was reading Scripture from the book of Romans. 

As with most dreams, none of this made sense, after I awoke, except for the Scripture reading, which had been going on in my ears for a couple of hours. I awoke at 5:25 AM. I felt pretty smug, because I was afraid I would not sleep past 4:00 AM. My usual time to get up is 5:00 AM, and with the time change... well, you know how that goes. So, it was a busy night, but I got plenty of sleep. 

Today is the first day of the week, when Christians around the world gather to worship the Lord. It is also day 179 since my Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). That means that tomorrow is day 180 (no, duh), and that is a landmark along the road to recovery. It signals the end of the anti-rejection medication (although I actually will take one more pill the following Monday), which means I am essentially living with my new bone marrow and new immune system providing healthy blood cells and protection from infections, all on my own. 

Regarding infections, I have embarked on the process of being vaccinated for everything under the sun. Friday I had a flu shot and the third and final pneumococcus vaccine dose. Next month, I will get an RSV vaccine. I was offered Covid vaccines, but after a lot of research, I decided against that. You may have realized that all of these vaccines are for protection against respiratory illnesses, the kind of things that are spread by people coughing or sneezing and by close contact such as shaking hands. Hence, Jill and I have maintained pretty strict quarantine since before the transplant, awaiting a time when my immunity is closer to normal. 

Eventually, I will receive vaccinations for hepatitis B and C, shingles, measles, mumps, tetanus... you name it, I'll get it. The whole process will take me to the two year mark, post transplant. My new immune system is raring to go, but it needs to be trained by vaccinations (or direct exposure, which can be dangerous), so that it knows what protections I need. It's all very sciencey. 

Tuesday, I will have another Bone Marrow Biopsy (BMBx) and some blood tests to make sure all the leukemia is gone and the new marrow is healthy, transplanted marrow, instead of my former diseased marrow. And then, once I have had the RSV vaccination, nothing for six more months, except occasional blood tests! This is a huge paradigm shift. The worries about relapse are fading. My strength is returning. I have energy. People tell me I look healthier. My first friend to come over and hang out on the patio (a couple of months ago) looked at me and said, "You look.... um.... normal." The way he said it told me I hadn't been looking very normal for some time. 

A new acquaintance with AML, whom we met through her son, a friend at church, sent me a message on Thursday telling us that she was about to be admitted to OHSU hospital for a BMT. In fact, I believe she was admitted yesterday and will receive the transplant on Wednesday this week. Jill and I feel blessed that God has prepared us to be a blessing to others who have been battling AML. We are thinking of compiling our individual writings, my blog posts and Jill's emails to friends and family, into a kind of overview of our journey from the perspectives of the patient and the caregiver. It may not turn out to be another War and Peace, but it might be of interest to someone. You may want to refrain from holding your breath for the publishing date. We are just in the thinking stage right now. 

As you can see from the Box Score at the top of this post, my blood counts are all in the standard range, so I am showing signs of being a healthy and fit 78 year old! In fact, I sometimes think, why do I have this ache or pain, or why does my hand have a slight tremor? Then I remember that I am healthy again, but I am still 78 years old. Nevertheless, I feel like a kid again. Reminds me of the little sign my dad had on the wall of his home office: "Poor old Bill, an 18 year old kid trapped in an 80 year old body!"

Blessed is the one who considers the poor (or weak)!
    In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
² the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
³ The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health. (Psalm 41:1-3)