morrowlife

Here’s yesterday’s sunset in Las Vegas. I like it here. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken from our master bathroom window, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

Happy New Year! 2013 was not our very best one. In fact, I suppose it was our very worst one. The highs were sweet but brief and the lows were deep and bitter, but also mercifully brief. Mostly, it was just a long, hard slog and it’s nowhere near over.

But that’s okay. I’m mostly filled with gratitude for the good things. My relationship with and appreciation for LRN4 have grown tremendously. My sense of “aliveness” has become sharp. I’ve learned how to care for someone in at least a few ways. I’ve felt a renewed love from and for my family. I’ve been financially secure enough to be able to devote essentially my full time and effort to my wife and her care. I’ve learned to let go just a little bit and accept whatever is coming to me. And I’ve learned that I can be happy no matter what.

I’m learning how to live and to love. And I’m grateful for that. Maybe 2013 wasn’t all that bad after all.

Yes, it actually was all that bad. Fervent hope: 2014 will be much better. LRN4 will get into a durable remission. And we’ll live happily ever after.

LRN4 is still in the hospital and will be there for the foreseeable future. Her flu/pneumonia appeared to be greatly improving a couple days ago. They took her off the oxygen. We were a day away from coming home. And then her lungs filled up, her blood oxygen level plummeted, and her heart rate spiked. They stuck the oxygen mask back on and turned it way up and things started getting better again. As of tonight, she’s down from 100% to 50% oxygen, but she can’t go more than a few seconds without it before her oxygen drops below the safe level. Makes it a bit difficult to eat dinner, but she’s struggling along.

We passed a pleasant evening at the hospital playing Gin tonight. Lots of fun.

And that’s it for this year. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: turkey home-invasion specialist!

Here’s the giant Christmas tree at the hospital where LRN4 is currently staying, as viewed from the third floor. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken during LRN4’s hospital stay here in Las Vegas earlier this month, and part of my famous Architecture, Las Vegas, and Medical series.

Not that I wouldn’t have another opportunity to take pictures of that tree. As predicted yesterday, LRN4 is in the hospital again. She’s been determined to have Influenza A and pneumonia and they’re treating her accordingly. She reports that she’s already starting to feel better.

I’m feeling a bit better also, but I’ve been really, really sick for a few days. I didn’t go to the hospital today because of it, which I truly regret, but which was unfortunately essential. We spoke this evening via FaceTime, but it wasn’t the same as being there. I’m fervently hoping to be well enough to go over there tomorrow, at least for a while. It’s our thirty-fifth anniversary and I really want to be together.

If it’s not wise for me to be there, we’ll be together later, of course. I’ve missed our anniversary once, when I spent the entire Christmas week in Baikonur, and we lived to tell the tale. But I really want to be together anyway.

We had plans to go out tomorrow evening. Canceled, but will be rescheduled.

LRN1 and his girlfriend were supposed to arrive today and go home on the 31st. Canceled. Will hopefully be rescheduled in 2014. So sad.

LRN5 and her family go home tomorrow. Also so sad. Their visit has been a really good one, in spite of the fact we all felt terrible most of the time. Come back again soon, Loyal Readers!

Nothing else going on right now, so I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: psychic crocodile!

See you on Monday.

Here’s a copy of the Christmas card we sent to family and a few close friends. This one went to LRN23. Or at least it tried to go to LRN23. The post office didn’t think he lives in his house and they sent it back to us. So I took this picture and texted it to him. And now my Loyal Readers get to see it too! Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPh0ne-cam, taken in our living room yesterday evening right where I’m sitting now, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

Merry Christmas! We had a nice quiet day. Pretty much all of us are feeling sick, which is a very, very bad thing for LRN4. We’re going to see our doctor tomorrow morning, and my guess is that we’ll be going to the hospital shortly afterward. LRN4’s temperature has been swinging between about 99 degrees and 104. That latter number is very, very bad. I think we’re in some trouble here. Tomorrow’s visit will tell the tale.

Otherwise, it was a great day. We had some great meals, including a turkey with all the trimmings. LRN5 and Clifford did a whole bunch of that work and Clifford made us an excellent breakfast too. Thanks, Loyal Reader and non-Loyal Reader!

Talked with a whole bunch of my family members – both parents and my brothers. LRN16 spoke with LRN4 and I’ll make sure to call LRN8 tomorrow. All in all, it was a nice Christmas.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: Ozzy Osbourne-started bacon house fire!

Here’s a warning to all people everywhere. Call a nurse for help, for crying out loud! Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken this past Sunday at the St. Rose hospital during LRN4’s recent incarceration there, and part of my famous Las Vegas and Medical series.

Yes, in an incredible development, I’ve added my new famous Medical series. I think I’ll be able to make some use of it.

We’re back from Texas. As discussed previously, it didn’t turn out the way we had hoped. However, we did learn that her current treatment regimen is effectively keeping her in remission while we wait for the next curative treatment. Here’s what I put on Facebook this morning:

<LRN4> and I are home in Las Vegas! Our flight last night was delayed by an hour, so we landed at about 12:30 this morning. <LRN2> arrived to pick us up at exactly the right moment and everything went very smoothly. The flight was comfortable and everything at home was perfect. Thanks, <LRN2>!

We’re disappointed that our visit to MD Anderson didn’t get us on the path to the cure we were looking for, but it was great getting away together for a few days.

Shannon’s still in remission as long as she gets frequent chemo and life is good. <LRN5>,  <non-loyal-reader son-in-law>, and our great little granddaughter <LRN12> arrive tomorrow and the Christmas season starts for real!

What beautiful prose! I’m quite sure all my Loyal Readers agree with me on that.

We had a pretty good day today. LRN4’s doctor suggested she delay resuming chemo until after the holidays. She appears to be up for that, so that’s what we’re doing. It’ll be nice to have her home all day most days. She’ll still be going to her twice-weekly doctor appointments and she has red blood cells and platelets to get on Sunday and possibly later in the week, of course. But otherwise, she’ll be at home.

Speaking of at home, the Loyal Readers start arriving tomorrow evening! We can’t wait. LRN12 leaves to visit her other grandparents on the 24th. More Loyal Readers arrive on the 27th. The first Loyal Readers leave on the 28th. Then the last group of Loyal Readers leaves on the 31st. Because LRN12 has to leave here on Christmas Eve, we’re thinking of opening presents a day early. Because LRN1 and his sweetie leave on the 31st, we’re thinking of celebrating New Year’s Eve a day early. One of the things we learned during my years in Kazakhstan is that the important thing about a celebration is who’s there with you, not what day you have it.

Anyway. The Christmas season is underway. The presents are wrapped, the decorations are up, the house is clean, and we’re rested and ready.

Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year! It’s all uphill again from here for the next six months. I’m looking forward to later afternoons again.

I checked the water in the spa this afternoon.  Sadly, I had neglected it for two weeks and there was some algae in there. I drained it immediately. I’ll clean out the tub tomorrow, refill it and heat it back up.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: imitation butter bludgeoning!

See you on Monday.

Here’s an exciting nighttime view of the Healing Garden at our local hospital. Looks kind of abstract, huh? Well, it’s not. It was just dark. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken a few days ago at St. Rose Hospital, and part of my famous Garden and Las Vegas series.

Greetings from Houston, Texas! We got to the hotel at about midnight last night. We’re here for LRN4 to be checked out for the previously-mentioned clinical trial. Results are mixed so far. On the positive side, almost all of the people here have been excellent and provided speedy, courteous service. On the negative side, there were a couple of very long waits for service (2 – 2.5 hours each). On the very negative side, it looks like the clinical trial we came to be evaluated for isn’t really right for us. Turns out the drug is really intended as a way to get people into remission when existing drugs aren’t working. While they’re always hopeful that every new drug will help people get into a durable remission, that’s not really what they expect this one to do. So it doesn’t really do more than what we’re doing now.

The doctor told us he thinks our best current bet is a DLI transplant or maybe another stem cell transplant. We’re going to chat with one or two members of their transplant team tomorrow to see if they have any suggestions. If we get another transplant, we’ll definitely do it at the City of Hope. Unless, that is, there’s some reason why they can do it here and they can’t do it there. We’ll just have to wait and see. The great news here is that we’re not in immediate danger, so we have plenty of time to find our way to a cure.

Here’s a note I put on Facebook this afternoon:

Well, it looks like this clinical trial probably isn’t for <LRN4>. She’s just too darn healthy – since her current regimen is keeping her in remission at least for now, the trial’s drug isn’t likely to improve things substantially. Turns out it’s not the cure we came here hoping for – just another way to get back into remission for people who need that.

They’re doing a bone marrow biopsy in a few minutes and we’ll meet with the doctor here on Thursday morning to go over the results just to make sure there’s really no leukemia in there, so the current answer could change, but we don’t think it will.

As sad as I am that MD Anderson isn’t proposing anything that will get us to a cure right now, I’m delighted that we’re able to keep <LRN4> in remission with her current therapy at home. Being too healthy for the trial has its upside. It’s way better to be at home.

We live to fight another day!

That’s what’s going on with LRN4. Some good, some not so good. Either way, it was a twelve-hour day at the clinic, which was more than enough.

No work the last couple of days. My Loyal Readers will just have to forgive me for that. We should have a bunch of time on our hands tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday, so maybe I’ll find the time to get a few things done. Count on it, Loyal Readers!

And that’s about it for tonight. We’re doing fine and spirits are high, or at least medium. So I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: undocumented elephant!

See you tomorrow.