Saturday - return to the clinic

I went to the clinic this morning, accompanied by Charlene. They drew blood and gave me another Neupogen shot. The WBC count was up .1 to 1.2. Other counts were close to what they have been. Still no news on the ratio of donor to donee bone marrow. I hope I get that on Monday.

Mark is coming to town today from Manhattan. He was here for Thanksgiving weekend, all 4 days. He took me "shopping" which looks like this: I give him a list and as many details as I think he will need. He goes into the store with my credit card and returns to me in the car with the items on the list. I send him back in to return the ones that don't work. Something happened to that return trip though and Mom ended up doing some returns this week. My Christmas shopping is progressing thanks to on-line retailers, and a generous family willing to strike out for the stores with my pictures and instructions. Mark did a great job buying the makeup items I needed!

Mom and Dad are having their annual Christmas function with their grandchildren tonight. It's a little different this year because of me, the houseguest with all the restrictions. Usually the kids come over and decorate the Christmas tree, then eat chili. This year they are going to the luminary walk at the Overland Park Arboretum and then eating chili at a restaurant in that neighborhood. Charlene and I will be watching the Big 12 championship game and cheering for OU.

A year ago, Charlene turned 50 and she collected a group of 9 women to join her in Las Vegas to celebrate. We had a fine time seeing the town. A niece on the trip knew her way around all the clubs and we had a look at all of them. We danced and shopped and took a dancing class which was a highlight of the trip. (I'm not getting too specific about the class to protect the innocent.) Since the trip said niece has had a baby, one of Charlene's sisters was diagnosed with cancer and I have been diagnosed with cancer. So we've become an informal support group for each other, always looking forward to another trip to Vegas.

Hayward is better every day and is now looking forward to going home with Charlene for a few weeks. Charlene's daughter, Hilary, is very excited about the houseguest. Hilary is a student at Baker University and last year during the January term she took a sewing class. The assignment was to make matching outfits for you and a pet, so Hilary chose to make a costume for Hayward. When the day of the style show arrived, the weather was 22 degrees and I walked Hayward for 2 miles to make sure he was relaxed for the show. He and Hilary were a great pair in their black/silver/pink outfits and Hayward was a model dog, too tired to club anyone to pieces with his tail while playing with the other dogs and cats in the show.

I go to the clinic again on Monday and will see a doctor who can explain the BMB results. My sister Janice characterized this up and down time thusly. "This is such a crazy, extreme process that pretty much anything that happens is the way it goes." And so it goes.

Cathi