Dang the flu anyway!

Well I missed my planned flight to Chicago today. But not because of anything here, because the poor kids in Chi-town have the flu. We're hoping it's shortlived and I can go up on Thursday. Meanwhile Walt took me to the clinic bright and early this morning where I got platelets. And the counts from the lab were not so hot. Even after a neupogen shot yesterday my white cells were at 1.7. Not much resistance in that.

So I have done the things today in preparation for Christmas that I had decided didn't have to be done. There's always one more thing to do to get ready I think. I always have one more thought for a stocking stuffer, or one more recipe I haven't made this year. I plan to bake again tomorrow, but today I picked up a couple of those stocking stuffer ideas. I wear a mask in the store, use lots of sanitizer, and try to resist picking up too many things in the process of making my decision.

Last night my old Venturing Crew paid a visit. Venturing is a boy scout program for boys and girls age 14-21. Our crew had a trip planned to Packard High Adventure Base near Salida, CO when I got sick. Fortunately they were able to find women to accompany them so the trip went off nearly as planned. Three of the four kids who took the trip visited me, returned my borrowed gear, and delivered a wonderful photo book. Jerrod created the book and his sense of humor and writing skills are excellent. They had a poster with them on the trip "We miss you Cathi and wish you were here." The book includes a couple of shots with the poster. There is a pic at the top of Mt. Shavano, a 14er, and I'm reasonably certain they would have missed me for that leg of the trip even if I wasn't in the hospital!

To cap it off, they wrote a song about the adventure for the last night campfire that they sang for me last night. It's pretty special to have 3 teens in your living room singing. It was a wonderful holiday visit.

Clearly my counts are not recovering after being off the Revlimid. Perhaps the Revlimid just hastened what was already happening. I am just focusing on the here and now. I still feel energetic and upbeat. I have a bone marrow biopsy scheduled for Monday the 28th to see what is really going on. Hopefully a booster will still be possible. Hopefully the 5qs will not have taken over. The sinus infection seems to be completely cleared up. I have a new humidifier on my furnace that is keeping the house less dry. Plenty of Ocean spray. (That would be from the pharmacy aisle, not the fruit juice aisle.)

I have more time to finish the laundry and pack and get ready. I would like to be playing with Harrison, but soon.....
~Cathi