Can you believe we are in the final month (hopefully) of our bottle count. I am going to need to find a craft brewery to bottle some Dr Larry’s Team beer.

Another day of liberation today. I spent the day without oxygen, whether for our usual walk or up and back from the clinic. The gift I received today, was Sharon training to be a sherpa on Mount Everest as she carried the backpack with my supposedly portable oxygen container and so for the first day since the transplant I was walking free, no wheeling a tank, no carrying a pack. I asked Sharon if she wanted to go to Everest and she replied with an overwhelming no. I am just so lucky. Tomorrow morning I need to climb the hill for blood testing, and I will carry the pack and hope as the days go by, and my O2 Sats continue to be normal, we can leave the pack at home.

Today we had our teaching on how to flush the ports in my chest catheter. Not hard at all. Just need to be careful not to contaminate the ends of the ports and the prefilled syringes that need to be attached. I suppose, being in the medical field I am more comfortable than the average Joe in managing this.

Another day of 10,500 steps over 4.1 miles. Without the oxygen I am walking slower so as not to stress my heart or lungs. One step at a time.

Larry and Sharon

I like even numbers and today is definitely multiples of 10. Meaning 1-month to zero bottles and we hope clearance to return home sometime after that.

Today was an incremental progress day that moves us closer to that discharge date. This morning I walked up the hill for my lab tests and Magnesium infusion. After a breakfast and coffee break we walked back up the hill for my doctor’s visit.

In the clinic I showed off my new, not so lightweight, portable oxygen container, and then proceeded to go off oxygen for the next hour. My O2 sat was monitored the entire visit and was in a good range – 94/95. We discussed whether it would be okay to try walking without supplemental oxygen. The consensus was yes, go ahead so long as my O2 Sat while walking was 92 or above. So I did exactly that. I walked relatively slowly, with the portable container in my backpack, stopping every 1/4 mile or so to check my numbers. And they stayed above the redline.

I was told so long as my O2 sat was above that level during the day, I could forgo oxygen. Having said that, I was told I need to continue to sleep with O2 until we can track how I do through the night. I let them know, that since I have old man’s pee disease, meaning I wake up every 1-2 hours I could intermittently check through the night. For the time being I will stick with the nightly enhancement. This is one small step to freedom.

The other progress is that my blood test magnesium level seems to be holding up. Starting this evening I will add one more magnesium pill to my three times a day dosing, and we will see if this stands up. Meaning, no more daily visits to the infusion clinic. Another small step to freedom. 30-bottles to go.

My scorecard today was good although my total WBC and ANC counts are down a bit. No explanation, so I will be checked again on Saturday. My blood glucose was normal also a sign of my coming back from a Prednisone fueled high. My kidneys are still a bit squeezed and we will cut down on my Cyclosporin a bit and see if that helps.

With my two trips up the hill and walking test without oxygen, I covered 11,300 steps over 4.5 miles, slow and steady. Things are definitely looking up. Although with 1-month to go we don’t count our chickens before they are hatched.

Larry and Sharon

Today we took a field trip to Apria home health in Redmond to pick up an over the shoulder portable oxygen container. The nurse checked my O2 sat walking around with this and I passed. So home we came. I tried it out for a late afternoon walk, and found that it is really quite heavy, weighing in at just under 6-pounds that includes the device and the carry case. Bottom line is that it was not that comfortable to wear for a 1-hour walk. I suppose for an airplane or car ride (they include a car cigarette type of charger) it would be fine. But for my needs, after the walk my mind was wondering whether I would be better off wheeling my oxygen tank behind me.

As you can see by the counting up and counting down, my overriding goal would be not to need the supplemental oxygen. We have 6 weeks +/- to get to that decision point.

Tomorrow, based on my appointment times at the clinic, I will be hiking up and down the hill twice and these are 1/2 mile walks so I will get a sense of if this shoulder supported device will work for these shorter outings. I will have lab tests and can report on those.

In the meantime today I again met my walking goals 11,500 steps over 4.5 miles. Slower pace today as it was warmer when we took our long walk. Tomorrow is another day.

Larry and Sharon

Today was a bit of up energy and down energy. The up began early as once again I walked up the hill to the clinic. My infusion was done in half the time as my Magnesium dose was cut in half. So down the hill I went to enjoy another round of coffee and snacks prepared by Sharon that could not be beat.

As the weather was relatively coastal we went out for my/our usual walk. Seems like right now I am focused on number of steps as opposed to heavy aerobic workouts. I did get my steps in today, 10,600 over 4.25 miles.

And then I pretty much crashed for the afternoon. A bit confusing although early on in the transplant process I found myself so fatigued. I have written about that and the explanation was that my immune system is working hard to reconstitute itself. I suppose that is still the case today.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day as we have an appointment to be fitted for a portable oxygen container. Supposed to be an over the shoulder pack that I can wear instead of rolling my tank. I am curious to see how it works, and how heavy it is. More on that tomorrow.

Larry and Sharon

A good start to the week. I continue to come down to earth although had a productive walking day as again I walked up the hill to the clinic and back down afterwards. No surprise that down is a bit easier.

Sharon greeted me with a very good cup of coffee. After that we went out on our usual walk on the lakefront path. That seemed like enough for the day so no bike riding. As I have said, I am trying to pace myself, so to speak.

I did have lab tests today so can fill you in on my scorecard. Total WBC: 2.86, Hb/Hct: 11.5/35, Platelets: 115,000, ANC: 1,170, and my chemistries were also good although my kidneys still seemed a bit challenged most likely secondary to the Cyclosporine medication I take to suppress my immune system so as not to reject the donor cells I have inherited from my brother. Glucose: 133, BUN: 23, Creatinine: 1.64, Magnesium: 2.2, which is good enough so my daily IV infusions can be decreased starting tomorrow.

On the walking front, here is how I did today: Total Steps = 10,600, and 4.3 miles at slower pace of 24 minutes/mile. One day at a time.

Larry and Sharon