Dreaming of salad

Day 22. Day 2 of high counts. So if day 3 has high counts I hope they term that engraftment. I am feeling pretty good these days. Sleeping better and doing more stuff. not very much more, but a little more. My bones don't ache very much and aside from a little tingling here and there, no other side effects.

I'm hoping the counts are high tomorrow and I shall indulge in a huge salad tomorrow night for dinner. At the clinic on the treatment floor (where I go for magnesium every day) a cart of sack lunches comes around at noonish. I get the lunch but ironically, the sandwich has lettuce on it, a no-no for my diet. So I give the sandwich to my companion of the day and I eat the chips and Oreo cookies. (Today I have sent mom out for a 3 Musketeers candy bar...and it is not nov 5th yet.)

Yesterday I wore my new t-shirt to the clinic (see the picture) and got some big laughs out of the staff. There are a lot more patients at the clinic these days. When I first started going I rarely saw another bald person, now there are dozens. I reckon this is the surge of folks who were keeping the hospital so full near the end of my stay and now we're all visiting the clinic. So while I have to wear a mask everywhere except in a treatment room, it's nice to have company.

Three jack-o-lanterns appeared on the back deck yesterday along with a big white mum for background. Mom lit them last night and permitted me to take photos from inside. One fellow is lopsided and Sally carved a startled face on him. It's a total smile out there!

I'm reading more but nothing too deep. Current book is "Notes from a small island" by Bill Bryson. While I have never lived in England, many of his observations are like those I have recited from my visits.

Yesterday I saw Dr. Abhyankar and he spent a few minutes discussing politics. The subject of "Field dressing a moose" came up and he said he had never heard of that before this election. Then he asked me how to do it. His final remark was something like "so as long as you have the back at the top and you stick at the bottom it's good." Who am I to argue with a hero? Though I have to say, it's a pretty good simplification of the process.

Cathi