Looking good

This morning's appointment shows Vlad's numbers haven't slid as far and as fast as we had expected. WBC 1.4, hemoglobin 9.5, plateletes 122. Is the hemoglobin up? Weird. We're leaning toward going to SA, all things being equal.

We'd like to thank Terry for that very cool Web site with webcams. Terry you got an e-mail address? Linda's e-mails are bouncing, too. You trying to tell us something? :)

Home again

Got home around 2 p.m. Vlad's WBC is around 3. He's pretty tired and nauseous. Although he fixed himself a snack of salatka. (salted herring). How nauseous can he be? I ask you.

Very relieved to be home.

The weekend reunion is as iffy as ever. We'll have to take a poll on who's possibly carrying germs. If anyone has been exposed to anything, it's definitely off. He'll see Conlon on Thursday. I'm sure he'll be below 1 then. I just don't know.

I'm still working. Feels like it never stops.

Sick and tired

For the first time in this chemo adventure, Vlad feels constantly nauseous. He's not eating much, yet he's gaining weight. And he sleeps constantly. They give him anti-nausea drugs and Benadryl in his pre-med mix, like they've always done. But obviously the anti-nausea drug isn't doing the job this time.

At least Conlon ordered a specific schedule, at Vlad's request, this time, so there shouldn't be the usual Sunday night freakout tonight.

If all goes well, he'll be home tomorrow morning.

The old man is snoring

Consolidation-chemo #3 finds Vlad very sleepy. The familiar back pain between the shoulderblades has returned, but vicodin takes care of it.

Today's numbers are 5.4 white blood cells, 10.6 hemoglobin, and 225 platelets. They're already headed downhill after one treatment. We're hoping they won't dive into neutropenia before we can get to San Antonio for our mini-family reunion a week from today. It's going to be tricky. He may have to wear a mask. I don't know if he would do that.

He's still sleepy, but not in much pain and the time seems to be passing pretty quickly this time.

Getting my work finished at the end of the week is, in general, a joke. I still have plenty to do. I'm going to take my laptop to the hospital today and see if I can work from there.

My neighbor / garden blogger Bill was working in his garage when I got home last night. He recently blogged on chron.com about buying whisky barrels and using them as rain barrels at his fiancee's house. I promoted this blog on chron.com homepage. He told me last night one of the local TV stations saw it and now wants to do a feature about him and his barrels. He blogs at chron.com to promote the Mercer Arboretum. Now he's trying to figure out a way to promote both chron.com and Mercer in the video spot. We'll see. The funny thing is, his girlfriend got him involved in gardening; she's a Master Gardener. But she will have nothing to do with the spotlight. I've never even met her!

Back in the saddle

Vlad checked in this morning. He's in B wing this time, a first. It's kind of nice to get something new to deal with. He's in Room 1032. The direct phone number is 713-778-7156. He's got his cells also.

Rachel checked him in and said his chemo drugs are already waiting for him. He's just got to get his line installed, the worst aspect of every stay usually, and then they can start. We both got very little sleep last night. He'll probably steal a nap at some point.

Didn't see Clementine. We wanted to say something catty about the Lakers. Maybe it's for the best. :)

I'm working from home today. We'll keep you posted.

We're still here

Sorry for the long silence, but no news is good news, right?

Vlad is headed back on Thursday morning for Chemo Round #3. His checkup this morning showed is WBC down to a normal 5.6, hemoglobin up to an almost normal 11.3, and platelets at a slightly high 521.

We spent the weekend holed up at home. I was hit with a mild bug and decided to lay very low, knowing the coming days would be overflowing with events. Vlad was messing with computers and all things electronic.

We also had an electrical short and he and Sasha, an electrical engineer, got that fixed on Saturday.

Thanks to Fred for the book. Very sweet of you to deliver it.

Back on land

After much discussion, Vlad decided he wanted to try going to the beach. So we drove down to Galveston and got on the ferry (above) to Bolivar to meet Linda and Terry yesterday. Since Stingaree is closed, allegedly temporarily, we tried a new place, Steve's Landing, which is, well, not Stingaree. But it is on the water, and Linda and Terry got us a coveted window seat on the channel, so we got to visit while the barges and pelicans went by.

An aside: I haven't been to Bolivar in a couple of years and this time noticed the pelican population seems to have exploded. They were even hovering all over the causeway bridge as we drove into the island. There were flocks of them, I counted from 9 to 18, flying in line all over. Terry calls them the "Bolivar Beach Patrol." They look like mini-air force patrols. I love watching them; they're simultaneously graceful and clumsy.

The ferry wait both ways was about a half-hour. They've made big improvements in the landings; it's much more organized. The sheriff's office show of force on the Bolivar side is nothing less than intimidating. And you wonder if there's any crime anywhere else in Galveston County going unattended. They're pretty serious about the ferries.

Coming back, the pilot, we postulated, must have been a newbie. I don't know how fast those ferries go, but he was, well, hauling ass. And it was a bit windy. I've never been scared on a ferry, but last night it was kind of spooky as the thing was accumulating a rocking side-to-side as we were speeding toward Galveston. It got stronger and I started to fear we were going to tip on the starboard side. (As if!)

But as the ferry approached the dock, Mr. Speed Racer slowed to an excrutiating pace, aiming badly for the slip, hitting the sides so much that people started setting emergency brakes as the cars seemed in danger of lurching into each other.

It was a thrill ride to be sure.

Vlad survived without any obvious signs of wear and tear. I'm glad we went.

Farmer's market

Went to one of the farmer's markets this morning in hopes of finding salmonella-less tomatoes. Vlad loves tomatoes and can finally have some. Got there about 8:10 a.m. and the place was packed. Came home with lots of heirlooms of many shapes, sizes and colors. Also met a vendor who makes cheeses. I took home his gorgonzola with sun-dried tomato and kalamata olive.

Here's my farmer's market heirloom tomato salad with that gorgonzola, onions, fresh lemon basil and evoo & balsamic.

It was not bad.

More stress relief

Discovered this in the tunnels this week:

Let me blow that up for ya:

Named after a doctor!

Whatever.

It's a struggle this week

As Vlad enters what "normally" would be his window of normality, three weeks after chemo started, he's not bouncing back, well, normally.

It's hard to know what constitutes reality with chemo. This chemo fallout has been worse than the first consolidation. But not as bad as the initial chemo. His numbers are bouncing back, except for hemoglobin. He's extremely anemic. He gets dizzy, nauseous and has a racing heartbeat sometimes. He's had a very mild low-grade fever off and on for the past few days.

I worked at home today; and he was a little better. He gets kind of emotionally down when he spends too much time alone. I plan to go back downtown tomorrow to work. I think it'll be OK. Alex is in town, and I had hoped he would stay with him some, but he's a kid and doesn't really "get" how much his dad needs him. He spent some "quality time" with him when he first got in from SA, but that's been it.

Being sick for months is inconvenient. That's not a criticism; it's just one of the things that constitutes this reality. Everybody is tired of it. Like they're saying, "Let's move on."

We'd love to.

Safe for another week

Alex took Vlad to Conlon's this morning. They got out in record time: Under a half-hour. We both told Alex he has to stay here to take Vlad to all his appointments.

Platelets 97,000; WBC 1.8; hemoglobin 8.0. They didn't take his temperature. That's the one thing I'm a tad worried about. He had a slight temp this morning. He's not due back till next Monday.

Ups and downs

Vlad felt pretty good this morning and was not going to be denied his usual Saturday (usual before leukemia) with Sasha (pictured here with his wife, Valiya, who bought an SUV in a previous post). Vlad and Sasha are both from Odessa, both are serious geeks and love to talk over coffee. Sometimes they go to Fry's, sometimes they play around on computers, sometimes they just blah, blah, blah.

He had a short visit this morning, over my weak objections. I get tired of being the bad guy. The rest of the day was very low-key.

He was doing OK until I left to get balloons for Dylan's birthday party. Dylan will be 1 and they're having that party I alluded to earlier. It's tomorrow. Anyway, buying balloons, I find out in my late 40s, is a minor art form. Juggling purse, money, balloons. And chasing -- in utter futility -- the ones that get away. (two got away, mind you; two of four, clearly half of the entire balloon package. and they came off the ribbon; i did not let go. they broke away, like wild horses.) However, I managed to hang on to the $9.99 dolphin balloon. He had a non-realistic pelvic fin that made him easy to hold onto. Darwin would say that's why in real life they don't have pelvic fins.

Anyhoo, by the time I got back from this traumatic errand, Vlad was fading a bit. Cranky and tired. He had done a little kitchen cleaning and I think it did him in.

I'm still up because I've been working. I got done about an hour ago, then started looking at the May numbers for the gardening channel, since it's been June 1 for about 2 hours. We're up 28% in page views! Not really balloon-worthy, but hey, I'll keep my job another month.