Had my appointment with Dr. Dugan on Friday. It was nice because he only works a half-day and I was his last appointment. I got some good one on one time with him and he essentially told me...relax.
In so many words, I was told "you're great, you're responding well and anxiety is not going to help you heal any faster."
I, of course, agree with him and certainly in my own mind I think I'm handling everything really well. It sounds like I need to pay attention to my body, but don't obsess about little aches and pains. The good Doc also made it clear that most everything questionable I am feeling is related to the Gleevec and not the Leukemia.
Anyhoo. My parents found a house...which is great. I am really looking forward to having them here. Hard to believe that in just six weeks they'll be Indianapolis residents. They have lots of work to do, not to mention a wedding in France to attend so I'm sure they'll be spent by the time this all gets wrapped up.
I got Edith back on Friday after her first overhaul. Thank goodness we have the government rebate check coming because we're in about $1,500 already. I really shouldn't complain because for a 44 year old car, she received a pretty clean bill of health. Most of that bill was for an overhaul of the entire suspension (front and back). The bushings were old, cracked or non-existent so now we have a soft, supple ride. The owner of the shop called her a 'baby doll' of a car. I agree.
She is back in today to have the floor pans patched and next week we'll get the exhaust replaced. From there we'll redo the carpet and get the stereo installed. I guess all that's left after that is to enjoy the summer.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
35 and 2.
Maris and I share a birthday today. Her's is the 2 and mine is the 35.
All things being considered, it's been an OK year. I can honestly say that just three months ago, I wasn't sure I was going to see my 35th. Needless to say, I've learned a lot since then and feel really good going forward.
Even before I was diagnosed, I paid pretty close attention to my body. While I was probably a pain in the ass for Kristin as I constantly diagnosed myself on the Internet - I'm glad we were able to catch my Leukemia early enough for effective treatment. The challenge for me is that now I'm even more sensitive to changes in my body at a time when it is probably going through the most changes to date.
I probably need to step back a bit and not let my head run the show as much. I have been a little under the weather the past 24 hours and it just feels different than before. So much of this is getting used to my 'new normal' and not repeating mistakes of that past the lead to panic and ultimately feeling worse. I am going to see Dr. Dugan as a precaution tomorrow, but I expect everything will be business as usual.
No big birthday plans other than to spend some quality time with my family. My mom and dad are down looking at homes this week and to help celebrate Maris' ushering into the terrible twos.
I'm lucky to have so many wonderful folks around me and to have a family that I can't wait to get home to.
All things being considered, it's been an OK year. I can honestly say that just three months ago, I wasn't sure I was going to see my 35th. Needless to say, I've learned a lot since then and feel really good going forward.
Even before I was diagnosed, I paid pretty close attention to my body. While I was probably a pain in the ass for Kristin as I constantly diagnosed myself on the Internet - I'm glad we were able to catch my Leukemia early enough for effective treatment. The challenge for me is that now I'm even more sensitive to changes in my body at a time when it is probably going through the most changes to date.
I probably need to step back a bit and not let my head run the show as much. I have been a little under the weather the past 24 hours and it just feels different than before. So much of this is getting used to my 'new normal' and not repeating mistakes of that past the lead to panic and ultimately feeling worse. I am going to see Dr. Dugan as a precaution tomorrow, but I expect everything will be business as usual.
No big birthday plans other than to spend some quality time with my family. My mom and dad are down looking at homes this week and to help celebrate Maris' ushering into the terrible twos.
I'm lucky to have so many wonderful folks around me and to have a family that I can't wait to get home to.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The calm before the storm.
EARTHQUAKE HITS THE MIDWEST. Admittedly, it was a little weird and quite unnerving. It was only a 5.2 followed by several 2.x ones and then a periodic 4.x.
At my office, I am sitting under probably 12" of 100 year old concrete and surrounded by no less than 500,000 bricks. All of a sudden a building that is great for tornado protection is horrible for earthquakes. What's more, where the hell do you run - I guess you head outside away from old, brittle structures but the fact of the matter is...the ground is still moving. Apparently, the midwest is ripe for a doosey of a quake and nobody knows when. These quakes are several hundred miles away but the large sheets of bedrock miles under the earth help radiate the energy miles and miles away.
As if I needed something else to worry about...
Health has been pretty good, though I did forget my pill last night so I'll be playing catchup for a couple days. I generally don't feel as crappy as I used to post-pill so this morning may be a little rough, but not enough to send me home.
The weather has been pretty awesome the past week so we've been getting to the park pretty regularly and riding bikes as often as we can. The bike we purchased for Eli last year is a little small now (it looks like a clown bike) so we ordered a new Schwinn for him last week.
Better get off to work.
At my office, I am sitting under probably 12" of 100 year old concrete and surrounded by no less than 500,000 bricks. All of a sudden a building that is great for tornado protection is horrible for earthquakes. What's more, where the hell do you run - I guess you head outside away from old, brittle structures but the fact of the matter is...the ground is still moving. Apparently, the midwest is ripe for a doosey of a quake and nobody knows when. These quakes are several hundred miles away but the large sheets of bedrock miles under the earth help radiate the energy miles and miles away.
As if I needed something else to worry about...
Health has been pretty good, though I did forget my pill last night so I'll be playing catchup for a couple days. I generally don't feel as crappy as I used to post-pill so this morning may be a little rough, but not enough to send me home.
The weather has been pretty awesome the past week so we've been getting to the park pretty regularly and riding bikes as often as we can. The bike we purchased for Eli last year is a little small now (it looks like a clown bike) so we ordered a new Schwinn for him last week.
Better get off to work.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Cure.
Here is a real life tragedy. A common man with a great idea, an idea with the potential to reshape cancer treatment as we know it...and it may not be approved for human use until after he dies. It's a great story and worth 12 minutes of your time. I tried to DVR it...but the Masters Golf (don't get me started) went long so I didn't get to see it, until now.
For those of you who aren't terribly familiar with cancer...most drugs/chemo work really well. Sadly, they also take a terrible toll on a body that normally doesn't have much fight left in it. Should this new therapy work - the weeks of recovery after cancer treatment could be gone.
Keep your fingers crossed.
For those of you who aren't terribly familiar with cancer...most drugs/chemo work really well. Sadly, they also take a terrible toll on a body that normally doesn't have much fight left in it. Should this new therapy work - the weeks of recovery after cancer treatment could be gone.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Monday, April 14, 2008
I pee'd just a little.
when i watched this.
How in the world did John Stewart get W. to be on the show?
Had a good showing on the house this past weekend. Sounds like they loved the house and are going to make an offer...except they have no understanding of downtown property values. It sounds like we're only about $100K apart. Needless to say, we don't expect much to come of this.
It's nice to have continued interest in our home though admittedly, Kris and my motivation to move has dropped off significantly as we move into spring.
How in the world did John Stewart get W. to be on the show?
Had a good showing on the house this past weekend. Sounds like they loved the house and are going to make an offer...except they have no understanding of downtown property values. It sounds like we're only about $100K apart. Needless to say, we don't expect much to come of this.
It's nice to have continued interest in our home though admittedly, Kris and my motivation to move has dropped off significantly as we move into spring.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Eagle has landed.
Let's get the cancer stuff out of the way.
Feeling pregnant, or what I assume it would feel like. A little icky in the morning, hungry all day and putting on some extra pounds around the middle. In short, hanging in there and happy to be alive.
Now for the good news...the Eagle has landed.
I took possession of Edith at about 3:30pm on Friday. Edith is just a temporary name, so if you have a suggestion, let me know. The delivery driver was great and seemed delighted to help me realize this dream. He backed it down the ramp, collected my check and it was mine. I quickly grabbed my phone and had Kris come out for the maiden voyage. I will first say the Kristin was less then enthused with this purchase...until she saw it. Edith's soothing green sheen and quiet rumble could turn even the deepest frown to a smile. Kris slid onto the aged bench seat and we were off.
Certainly there are things that need attention...and the list grows daily, but that disappears when you put your foot into the gas. For our first trip we kept it close to the house because the 'attention list' includes a non-working fuel gauge and a few other things that dictate just how far we push her.
Here are a couple observations:
1. The car makes you want to cruise. I have no interest in driving this thing like a sports car.
2. When in bench seats, your right arm is called to rest on the back of the bench and your left has to be out the window.
3. People love the car and smile as you drive by...I can think of very few other cars that trigger this response.
4. Vent windows should be included on all modern day cars.
5. Kristin really likes green cars...and bench seats.
I better get going, have to pick up a couple vanilla Cokes before going to the drive-in.
Feeling pregnant, or what I assume it would feel like. A little icky in the morning, hungry all day and putting on some extra pounds around the middle. In short, hanging in there and happy to be alive.
Now for the good news...the Eagle has landed.
I took possession of Edith at about 3:30pm on Friday. Edith is just a temporary name, so if you have a suggestion, let me know. The delivery driver was great and seemed delighted to help me realize this dream. He backed it down the ramp, collected my check and it was mine. I quickly grabbed my phone and had Kris come out for the maiden voyage. I will first say the Kristin was less then enthused with this purchase...until she saw it. Edith's soothing green sheen and quiet rumble could turn even the deepest frown to a smile. Kris slid onto the aged bench seat and we were off.
Certainly there are things that need attention...and the list grows daily, but that disappears when you put your foot into the gas. For our first trip we kept it close to the house because the 'attention list' includes a non-working fuel gauge and a few other things that dictate just how far we push her.
Here are a couple observations:
1. The car makes you want to cruise. I have no interest in driving this thing like a sports car.
2. When in bench seats, your right arm is called to rest on the back of the bench and your left has to be out the window.
3. People love the car and smile as you drive by...I can think of very few other cars that trigger this response.
4. Vent windows should be included on all modern day cars.
5. Kristin really likes green cars...and bench seats.
I better get going, have to pick up a couple vanilla Cokes before going to the drive-in.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
I feel no love.
Apparently Dr. Dugan (my oncologist) doesn't like me anymore. I had my appointment this morning and he said, I'll see you in 3 months. 3 months! How can that be - I need, at the very least, a monthly dose of the good doc. Someone to tell me that I'm great, never looked better. To make matter's worse, he told me he's going to cut my blood visits to monthly (from every other week). Monthly! I crave the data. I need to know that my Lymphocytes are still making up 39% of of my white blood cells.
I told him that its my money and if I want to pay him $100 to talk about how sick I am for 15 minutes, that's my prerogative. It's a sad day, I guess I'm getting healthier which means no more sympathy.
I do go back in about 10 weeks for my first molecular test. I hope to get some mileage out of that, though it's done through a peripheral blood draw so nothing exciting about that. It takes a good 10 days to get results on it so I'll get it done a couple weeks before my next appointment in July. July!
I did get blood work yesterday just to make sure he had what he needed before my appointment today. Here's the data:
Whities - 3,300
ANC - 1,800
Platelets - 124,000
Hematocrit - 40.2 (for those keeping track, normal levels for a man)
Hemaglobin - 13.8 (right on the lower edge of normal)
Red Blood Count - 4.47 (just shy of normal)
In short, blood looks good and my numbers may not stray much from this as long as the Gleevec continues to work. After the molecular test which is called an RT-PCR (you can read about it here), we'll get a baseline of how the progression of the disease has been going. The goal is to get the resulting number to go down on each subsequent test (the test will probably occur every 3 - 6 months).
Aside from all this medical stuff...my impala will be delivered this Friday if the weather stays dry. I am totally amped and hope to be out driving next weekend assuming we can get insurance, plates, title all squared away.
Holla!
I told him that its my money and if I want to pay him $100 to talk about how sick I am for 15 minutes, that's my prerogative. It's a sad day, I guess I'm getting healthier which means no more sympathy.
I do go back in about 10 weeks for my first molecular test. I hope to get some mileage out of that, though it's done through a peripheral blood draw so nothing exciting about that. It takes a good 10 days to get results on it so I'll get it done a couple weeks before my next appointment in July. July!
I did get blood work yesterday just to make sure he had what he needed before my appointment today. Here's the data:
Whities - 3,300
ANC - 1,800
Platelets - 124,000
Hematocrit - 40.2 (for those keeping track, normal levels for a man)
Hemaglobin - 13.8 (right on the lower edge of normal)
Red Blood Count - 4.47 (just shy of normal)
In short, blood looks good and my numbers may not stray much from this as long as the Gleevec continues to work. After the molecular test which is called an RT-PCR (you can read about it here), we'll get a baseline of how the progression of the disease has been going. The goal is to get the resulting number to go down on each subsequent test (the test will probably occur every 3 - 6 months).
Aside from all this medical stuff...my impala will be delivered this Friday if the weather stays dry. I am totally amped and hope to be out driving next weekend assuming we can get insurance, plates, title all squared away.
Holla!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Six Fo.
It finally happened...
I think I mentioned that after my diagnosis of Leukemia, I was going to accelerate a few things on my life To-Do list. I got one step closer today when I put down a deposit on the 1964 Impala shown in the attached video.
Eli, myself and uncle Matt took a road trip to Kokomo this morning to test drive it and take a closer look. Sadly for my bank account, it was even better than I had hoped. I'm not going to get too excited until it arrives in my garage, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit giddy inside. Hopefully I'll have more pictures next week.
I think I mentioned that after my diagnosis of Leukemia, I was going to accelerate a few things on my life To-Do list. I got one step closer today when I put down a deposit on the 1964 Impala shown in the attached video.
Eli, myself and uncle Matt took a road trip to Kokomo this morning to test drive it and take a closer look. Sadly for my bank account, it was even better than I had hoped. I'm not going to get too excited until it arrives in my garage, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit giddy inside. Hopefully I'll have more pictures next week.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Powerful.
It's weird, but I can almost feel my energy getting back to normal. I have noticed that I am walking faster, feeling stronger and mostly forgetting that I have CML. I have been drinking a new energy drink that I think is making all the difference, you can check out the commercial here (not kid friendly, but funny).
Ok, I'm not actually drinking Menergy - but I do feel better.
Thanks for checking in.
Ok, I'm not actually drinking Menergy - but I do feel better.
Thanks for checking in.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Down.
As promised.
Whities 3,200
ANC 1,800
Platelets 114,000
Hemaglobin 13.1
Hematacrit 37.8
Generally speaking my numbers are down from two weeks ago, though not significantly. I think my whites dropped about 10% and my ANC around 20%. Since the ANC number is more important as a ratio of fighters in my whites, I'm not overly concerned. I don't meet with Dr. Dugan until next week, but I'm guessing they will have me stay the course for and keep up the current regiment. I meant to share this a couple weeks ago, but here is a great little blurb about my Oncolgist.
I'm torn whether a drop is good news or bad. The good news is my meds are working really well and keeping the Leukemia in check, the bad news is my numbers are a little low which can make it a little easier to get sick. The fact of the matter is, I'm happy that I likely won't need to take any additional Gleevec in the short term and that I'll probably just hang around the low dosage for quite some time.
I have good days and bad, but I generally feel solid most of the time. As the weather has warmed, I've been getting outside more and taking care of the house. Doing this really helps get me to a calm place. The only lingering side effect is really broken sleep which in turn makes working through the day a little tougher.
There aren't really too many changes around the house. The showings have slowed down a bit...which is actually fine since the house has been a wreck lately. We took a second look at a house with some nice property but decided that it was just on too busy a street with two littles ones and two furry ones. The hunt continues, though I think Kris and I would be fine staying downtown if we could get the school situation under control. I'm not inclined to lower the price of our home too much and if we don't get much activity in the next couple months, I'm thinking we won't renew our listing until next year. I'm probably making it sound dire, because we've actually had about five showings in the first month so I'm not complaining about the traffic.
Aside from that, my Mom and Dad are heading down this weekend for a visit and it's only a month or so away from Mike's wedding.
10-4. Aaron Out.
Whities 3,200
ANC 1,800
Platelets 114,000
Hemaglobin 13.1
Hematacrit 37.8
Generally speaking my numbers are down from two weeks ago, though not significantly. I think my whites dropped about 10% and my ANC around 20%. Since the ANC number is more important as a ratio of fighters in my whites, I'm not overly concerned. I don't meet with Dr. Dugan until next week, but I'm guessing they will have me stay the course for and keep up the current regiment. I meant to share this a couple weeks ago, but here is a great little blurb about my Oncolgist.
I'm torn whether a drop is good news or bad. The good news is my meds are working really well and keeping the Leukemia in check, the bad news is my numbers are a little low which can make it a little easier to get sick. The fact of the matter is, I'm happy that I likely won't need to take any additional Gleevec in the short term and that I'll probably just hang around the low dosage for quite some time.
I have good days and bad, but I generally feel solid most of the time. As the weather has warmed, I've been getting outside more and taking care of the house. Doing this really helps get me to a calm place. The only lingering side effect is really broken sleep which in turn makes working through the day a little tougher.
There aren't really too many changes around the house. The showings have slowed down a bit...which is actually fine since the house has been a wreck lately. We took a second look at a house with some nice property but decided that it was just on too busy a street with two littles ones and two furry ones. The hunt continues, though I think Kris and I would be fine staying downtown if we could get the school situation under control. I'm not inclined to lower the price of our home too much and if we don't get much activity in the next couple months, I'm thinking we won't renew our listing until next year. I'm probably making it sound dire, because we've actually had about five showings in the first month so I'm not complaining about the traffic.
Aside from that, my Mom and Dad are heading down this weekend for a visit and it's only a month or so away from Mike's wedding.
10-4. Aaron Out.
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