Day to day things are pretty normalized, as I have been writing. Today was another such day. Infusion clinic, walk back to our apartment, snack, coffee, 2-mile walk on the South Lake Union walking path, a nap dinner and so on. I gather things could be a lot worse. My biggest frustration is that I continue to have hearing loss, I assume based on the Rhinovirus I am fighting and resulting fluid in my middle ear that won’t drain. I do hope this will resolve. In my past I have had exquisite hearing so this rough to deal with. As I said, with all the side effects of a transplant, things could be a lot worse,

Sharon is watching over me like a hawk. It is amazing to see her dedication to all details that keep me going. Living with an immunocompromised person is not easy. Food preparation is different, cleaning our living space needs to be immaculate and so on. Also her making sure she is not missing any changes in my behavior that means a side effect from my treatment. She does this without me prodding her. I know it is hard and lonely and I can’t thank her enough.

Next set of scoreboard stats will coordinate with the baseball All Star home run derby on Monday. I hope to hit things out of the park.

Larry and Sharon

We keep truckin’ on. Pretty much same routine. Today was cooler here so I extended my walking and also pushed the pace a bit. For those of you keeping score here are my stats for the day:

Steps = 7,729, distance walking (home from clinic and around South Lake Union) = 2.5 miles. Pace = 25 minutes/mile.

My main irritation is the Rhinovirus. I just can’t shake that and its symptoms, cough, congestion, plugged up ears. I guess there has to be something. otherwise I might think we are cruising through this process.

More of the same planned for the weekend. Daily visits to the infusion clinic and walking as best as I can. I am hoping that soon, I can conquer the hill up to the clinic. Not exactly heartbreak hill in Boston, although for me that is the next hill I need to climb.

Hope you are enjoying your summer days.

Larry and Sharon

A rally day so to speak after my reported step back day. No new activities, same routine, IV supplements, a walk home, snacks, lunch, an outdoor walk and a nap. It fills up my day.

A good scorecard today. Total steps = 6,959, Total miles walked = 2.05 at a 29 minute/mile pace.

Blood scorecard is also good. Total WBC: 3.89, HCT: 36%, Platelets: 97,000, ANC: 1,790.

Having said that the new addition to my scorecard is today we received the results from my day 28 blood testing and on that date 100% of the cells floating around my system are my brothers’s. Yes, you read it correctly 100% meaning at this point the transplant has taken hold. Now these cells refer primarily to the scoreboard of cells above. They do not include any antibodies to viruses which I one reason I am still suffering from the Rhinovirus that has infected me and caused me to lose my hearing as my eustation tubes are plugged. When the doctors tell me my system needs to reconstitute my immunity this is a part of it.

So far so good.

Larry and Sharon

Often times in life some events are two steps forward and one step backward. The last 24-hours for me has been the 1-step backward.

It began last night as I was in my pre bedtime ritual and one of the items to do is check my temperature. For some reason it was elevated, not critically. So Sharon and I watched the fireworks here from our balcony and it was a great 20-minute show.

I went to sleep and this morning at the infusion clinic although my temperature was not elevated I had a coughing fit that caused me to lose my breakfast, so to speak. I have had a chronic cough for years, but since the transplant it has gotten worse. The team jumped into action and helped me to calm down, gave me an antiemetic ordered a chest x-ray, cultured me for all kinds of mean and nasty upper respiratory viruses and then observed me for some time to make sure I was oxygenating properly. I had an impromptu visit in the bone marrow clinic with my doc and she assured me the chest x-ray was fine and this was not going to be a constant problem.

I have been fatigued all day, back to my usual napping. Tomorrow I will have blood testing so can update my scorecard for you. My step count also took a hit today.

Nobody said this was going to be easy. I am now 1/3rd of the way into my 100-day journey here. I am sure we will have better days and step back days along the way. Thanks for following along.

Larry and Sharon

Hope this is a happy July 4th for you. This evening we hope to view fireworks from our apartment balcony as they are fired off in Lake Union. The boats are out in full force. And as promised the heat index picked up today. That shortened my walk a bit as it was warm. And to be honest over the last 2-days and increasing my walking mileage my legs felt tight. When I was in marathon training we always built in a low mileage day and even a rest day. So seemed to make sense to do that today.

Otherwise a usual day with a visit to the clinic for my infusion. Nothing stops just because it is a holiday. My new bit of irritation is that my eustachian tubes are not working so my ears are plugged up. My hearing is impaired and it seems as if I am living under water. I will address this with my team tomorrow. I won’t have to worry about the fireworks being to loud.

Take care,

Larry and Sharon