L’ Shanah Tovah for those of you who are celebrating the Jewish New Year which begins this evening. Sharon and I will be celebrating and in what seems totally appropriate will be returning home tomorrow for the New Year with a newly configured bone marrow for me.

Today we had our last clinic visit with no surprises. The team thinks I have excelled in my recovery. Something I could not have done without Sharon. As we left the clinic exam room a group lined the halls ringing bells for us. It was quite emotional.

So we look forward to a New Year with you of joy and good health.

As we pack to depart tomorrow, we are singing our bottle song, 1-bottle on the wall today and tomorrow the bottles will have fallen or been shared among you. We can’t thank you enough.

Signing off from Seattle tonight and signing on from Sacramento this weekend we will continue our journey.

Larry and Sharon

I am channeling the inner Harry Carey in me as in let me hear you now….2 bottles of beer on the wall…2 bottles of beer….take one down and pass it around….and tomorrow will be our last bottle of beer here.

Today was a momentous day as my Hickman catheter was removed from my chest. I have had this as my friend since early May. One could say there is no turning back now. Of course I am not out of all the woods yet, however feeling much freer now.

I had my final set of blood testing here today. All steady as she goes with the exception of my continuing anemia which was a bit worse today. This of course will be watched and managed as needed in Sacramento. In spite of the anemia I put down my 11,000 steps over 4.75 miles. One more walk up the hill for my final clinic visit tomorrow.

We visited the UPS store today and dropped of many boxes to be shipped home. A bit of final packing tomorrow and we are out of here on Saturday.

Larry and Sharon

Let me hear you now….3 bottles of beer on the wall, 3 bottles of beer, if one of those bottles should happen to fall….you get the idea.

Today was a red letter day as we had our discharge conference. It was quite in depth and at the moment there are no roadblocks to our return on Saturday.

Having said that, my case is somewhat unique and we spent a fair amount fo time on that. The reason is that my bone marrow had been previously impacted by two CAR T therapies. There are very few kind souls in the world who have gone through what I have done. It means I may never recover totally with regard to my red cell production so a chronic anemia.

I need to be very careful about my contacts and outings. Not much different than the way we have lived the last few years. We know our circle of friends and family will understand. The lockdown will definately be in place until December, 6-months after my transplant and then we need to continue to be careful through the first year until my next check up here next June.

In the meantime, I will be followed by my doctors in Sacramento and the plans are all laid out.

Tomorrow I will have some final lab tests and my Hickman chest catheter will be removed.

The final thought today was that I now have the big “C” meaning for the moment a cure. We are packing up and will be home when all the bottles have fallen.

Larry and Sharon

Okay, let me hear you — 4 bottles of beer on the wall 4 bottles of beer, take one down and pass it along……..

As we get closer to our return day there is less activity on the medical front. Today was one of those days. No clinic visit, no lab tests. Just packing boxes, a nice walk of 3.5 miles and spending time with Sharon as today is our 47th wedding anniversary.

Tomorrow we are back in the clinic for our discharge conference. I assume they will give us the game plan for follow up in Sacramento, meaning doctor visit cadence, lab tests to be done, and IVIG infusions every 4-weeks and repeat pulmonary function testing. Hopefully no surprises.

Hope I did not cause an ear worm with our jingle.

Larry and Sharon

Okay, we can count the bottles left in our countdown on one hand. Definitely getting closer to home.

Today began very early this morning with lab testing and an injection for my osteoporosis to protect me from future hip fractures. The lab results for my scorecard were stable. I am still anemic as before, my ANC count is stable at 800, and my platelets are very happy at 135,000. My kidney functions are still squeezed as they have been. One interesting and somewhat fascinating piece of data that came back today, is that although my CLL is nonexistent, my bone marrow has consistently shown a small clone of plasma cells. These plasma cells are seen in Myeloma or a precurser called MGUS. My team has analyzed my blood and urine for the proteins that indicate the myeloma precursor and the final results in today show that although there are these scant cells in my bone marrow my blood and urine are clear of these light chain proteins. That allows us to cross off another potential problem.

Sharon and I did a lot if packing today. Boxes are piling up for UPS who will receive them on Thursday. After that we can concentrate on our luggage. Tomorrow is a day off from the clinic and we will wait for Apria to come pickup all my oxygen equipment. It will also be a joyous day as Sharon and I will quietly celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary.

Larry and Sharon