Late Blog Post recapping Monday, August 29 ~ A lazy, laid-back day.

Rod can't have real flowers (because they carry bacteria) so we got him a cool bubble balloon decorated w/ fake flowers. Debby & Rod are pictured.

Some of the many cards and gifts Rod has received. Keep 'em coming, folks, they are very inspiring!

The little fruit jellos pictured above were a very special and honored gift from Mr. Kitagawa, one of Rod's good friends from Japan.

Monday was very quiet, and we just took it easy. Very Nice!

Joanie took a hike to the little convenience store nearby to pick up a few supplies. It was about 2 miles round trip, but she enjoyed the walk and racked up mileage on her pedometer.

Joanie and Sue called our Dad (Robert Clark) and filled him in on Rod’s progress. Dad said he was doing fine, except for the 10 chipmunks that he captured who were eating his tomatoes. Rod was taking a siesta when we called Dad, but we will call Dad again on Tuesday, in-between his bridge games, so Rod can chat with him directly.

The afternoon was nap time for all of us. Like we said, it was a lazy, laid-back day.

Joanie cooked up an enjoyable supper of meatloaf, baked beans, pears, and oatmeal cookies. The oatmeal cookies weren’t as good as Becky’s cowboy cookies, but we nonetheless gobbled them down with gusto. For a rich snack later in the evening, Rod ate a half of a Mounds candy bar. His appetite is getting better, and his sense of taste is slowing returning.

P.J., the manager of the apt. building, called to let us know that they found out why we have lost our internet connection. There is no internet in the building because the router is malfunctioning. They will have to replace the router, and it may take some time. Having no internet access at the apt. is pretty rough on us three internet-addicted nerds. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we plan to take all three of our laptops to the BMT clinic and work on our email, blogs, etc., while Rod is getting his IV fluids.

The evening entertainment was watching the movie “Galaxy Quest”. It’s a comedy, a spoof on the sci-fi genre, in particular, “Star Trek”. We all got some good laughs out of this lively movie.

Rod felt pretty good all day, other than being tired and low-energy. He didn’t walk today, thinking that yesterday’s walk was over-doing it. We are happy to say that the Monday Mission of resting, relaxing, and rejuvenating was successfully accomplished.

Late Blog Post recapping Sunday, August 28 ~ A very good day.

Photo: Rod and Joanie taking a walk in our hilly, historic neighborhood. On the left is the Dog Park.

We lost internet access at the apt. on Saturday morning, so that is why this is another (very) late blog post. (We have internet access when at the hospital, so that’s how we will get this blog post up.)

Sunday was a very good day! Rod had a short check-up at the BMT Outpatient, just getting IV fluids as usual, and checking vitals. Rod’s blood pressure continues to run on the low side, but his temperature is steady and normal telling us that the infection is under control, and his meds are doing their job. His weight is on the upswing- 139.9 lbs. They did not take blood, so no WBC, RBC, or Platelets count for Sunday.

Dr. Shelton was pleased to see Rod smiling more. He still has fatigue, but she said it will take time to gain back his energy. Because he is relatively youthful, and because he was in good shape and had good fitness prior to the cancer starting, he is most likely going to have a speedier recovery of his energy level.

Dr. Shelton said that staying POSITIVE is extremely important to Rod’s recovery. Rod has every reason to be positive, in her professional opinion, because he did so well with the bone marrow transplant, and because he is making excellent progress. Dr. Shelton said being positive and optimistic will go a long, long way to enhancing the recovery, and to getting him back to a healthy “normal” lifestyle.

Rod has received lots and lots of encouraging and heartfelt wishes, visits, cards, and gifts from family and friends. This outpouring of support is greatly appreciated and deeply meaningful to Rod. Thank you so much to ALL OF YOU WONDERFUL CARING FAMILY & FRIENDS because your support and thoughtfulness have made a POSITIVE difference, and that is literally “just what the Doctor ordered”!

We left the BMT quite early, before noon, and came straight back to the apt. Joanie made us all a tasty lunch of spaghetti, and Rod ate a good-sized portion as his appetite is starting to kick up its heels. After that, Rod did some work on his laptop, we lounged and dozed, or in Sue’s case, crashed hard for a high quality nap.

It was a most beautiful day in Bham in ‘Bama. Warm in the low 90’s, a little less humidity than usual, and with a pleasant breeze (probably thanks to Tropical Storm Irene). We went for a walk in our historic, hilly neighborhood. Most buildings are older and made of richly colored red bricks from the abundant red clay in this area. We cruised over by the dog park, and saw some of the same doggies from yesterday’s walk. We also saw a lazy, but cute, gray cat relaxing in a fenced-in yard in front of its house. This kitty was lying in the exact same spot as yesterday. We walked a good half of a mile today, which was terrific for Rod to do, despite his fatigue. Exercise is important to his recovery, but it must be increased gradually.

Upon our return to our apt., Joanie whipped up another appealing meal. She took Amanda’s advice and made Rod a meal of Hamburger Helper w/ cheesy noodles, with a side of green beans. For dessert: a wickedly chocolaty w/ creamy center Swiss Roll.

For the night’s entertainment, we three avid Trekkies watched the recent movie “Star Trek” (the prequel). We’d all seen it at the theater, but enjoyed seeing it on DVD, as it is truly a fun and entertaining movie.

Rod was given a “pass” by Dr. Shelton and does not have to go to the BMT on Monday. We are all looking forward to a relaxing and laid-back full day at our apt. Hopefully, our Internet will be back up soon. We did talk with the manager of the apts., a nice lady named P.J. She assured us that they are working on the problem and should get us all back online before too long.

We are expecting that Monday will be a pleasant day and we plan to walk the neighborhood and take in more pretty scenery, sites and critters. Sue has been to Alabama several times, but she never realized what an interesting and beautiful state it is till this visit. She can readily see why Rod chose this state to settle down in and to raise his family. It is a delightful state chock-full of Southern charm and super-friendly folks!

Late Post

Rod's Stats:

Platelets: 109,900

WBC: 4.9 (Better Low Normal)
Temperature: 97.6 degrees
BP: Normal

Today the blog has been delayed by a lack of internet access at the apartment where Dad, Joan and Sue are staying. Hopefully the internet problem will be resolved shortly before everybody decided to go hang out at the hospital for intent!

Dad went into the hospital for his normal check up and everything went well. It sounds like Dad will get Sunday off for some R&R. Dad mentioned that he can never get any sleep at the hospital because they wake him every 3 hours for vitals. Anybody staying in the room with him also get woken up every 3 hours as well...

Saturday Mom came down for a visit to talk about the horses and to finalize several of the new contracts Dad has coming up. It sounds very much like Dad will have lots of work to do when he finally gets back to normal life. For those of you that know Dad well working in his favorite hobby! Also, other good news is that

Dr. Chung (Dads professor at UAH) would like him to graduate next year after running just a few more plasma computer simulations. That it certainly something to look forward to!

Today I had to do a bit of shopping for everybody and then was able to head down to visit. Unfortunately I did not make it down to Birmingham until about 5;00 so it was a late visit. Today was also the first time the Self Reliance Systems, LLC sponsored BBQ Team was able to compete and they did very well overall! When I finally got to BHam we unloaded the car and the Aunts were able to head off for a walk.

Dad and I chatted for a while about all the normal work items, upcoming work items, Leaf news, SBIR news etc. All more proof that Dad is ready to head out! The Aunts returned after about 45 minutes where we turned out attention to some chow. The decision was made to order some pizza. A funny bi-product of the pizza order was Joan and Sue's discovery of the 'front door' of the apartment. The apartment layout requires that if you park in the back you have to labor up 2 flights of stairs....but if you walk around the front you just head inside. I am sure the new discovery will benefit everybody in the future.

After dinner we all set down and were able to have several good conversations on web page fabrication, software and smart phones. It is agreed that technology moves at almost an exponential rate and it is so very hard to keep up with all aspects of it! Hopefully Joan and Sue will be getting their new iPhones soon! ;-)

Hopefully today the internet access will be restored and the blog will resume as normal!

Discharged At Last

Rod's Stats:

Platelets: 81,6000

WBC: 4.61 (Low Normal)
Temperature: 97.7 degrees (Has been normal for several days)
BP: Normal

BIG EVENT ONE:

Today was a very GREAT day. The most wonderful event was Rod was discharged from the hospital and got to go “home” to the apartment. He has been miserably sick with an infection since Monday night, but medication and his own “new” white blood cells have conquered it. He is feeling much better!

BIG EVENT TWO:

The second wonderful event

was a surprise visit by two of Rod’s business associates shown in the photo. At left is Matsuta-San, on the right is Richard Newton, and the guy in the middle, with the big smile is our dear brother Rod. He was VERY pleased to have these gentlemen visit him. Rod is such a super guy even business associates make an effort to visit him.

PATIENT DISCHARGED:

As anyone who has been hospitalized knows, the time between when the doc says you will be discharged and when you actually get out of the building is a long, long waiting period.

Dr. Shelton told us about 1:00 pm that Rod was ready to go home. About 1:10 pm we were packed up and sitting on our suitcases in the hall. Well not quite, but it was almost like that. Well about 4:00 pm one of the staff saw us and said, “Are you still here? I thought Mr. Clark was discharged.” Upon hearing that we said there hadn’t been any action. So she made some calls and within a half hour we were ready to go. Joan was to go get the car, the hospital would provide a luggage carrier and wheelchair and Rod and Sue would be escorted to the Patient Discharge Door where Joan would pick them up.

If anything can go wrong, IT WILL!

So all was going well... Until…Joan got to the car and found that the battery was dead. Oh great!!!! Fortunately there was a UAB security officer nearby who gave Joan a number to call a UAB service for patients and families, who discover dead batteries, flat tires, etc. Joan called the number with great relief and then waited after alerting Sue and Rod what the hold-up was.

RESCUED:

While Joan was waiting for the service, a lady who came to retrieve her own car, kindly offered to provide a “jump.” I thanked her profusely and said that help was on the way. Shortly a man arrived on a motorcycle. He had a device with jumper cables, which worked wonderfully and the car started on the first try. Joan then VERY happily then drove to pick up Rod and Sue and we arrived at the apartment with no other mishaps. Thank Goodness!

(We have since determined that an interior light was left on for about 24 hours and that is probably what drained the battery.)

HOME SWEET HOME ALABAMA:

Though it was very cozy with the three of us living in Rod’s hospital “suite,” we are glad to have room to spread out again. The apartment now seems HUGE.

CHORES:

Sue spent much of the evening doing loads and loads of laundry. Rod has to have clean clothes and sheets every day and they have to be washed and dried on HOT. Laundry is a big and very important task. Sue also got Rod’s medicine regimen organized. Joan made a spaghetti, butter, salt and pepper supper for Rod and he ate a big helping plus some Becky Cowboy Cookies. Joan also did some major cleaning in the kitchen.

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY:

We have been so impressed with Southern hospitality. All the citizens are so friendly and helpful. We feel well taken care of by the Alabamians, during many issues, including emergency room and dead battery problems. The medical staff and support staff caring for Rod was super caring and respectful to him and also to Sue and Joan in spite of the fact that they let no question or concern go un-addressed. Hmmm! Maybe they discharged Rod just to get rid of Joan and Sue.

~Star Trek The Original Series ~ A fine way to wind down the day

We are very happy to report that Rod continues to improve- Temps are always normal now, and the meds are definitely kicking in to control the infection of C-Diff. The docs and nurses were all pleased with his progress today. They are considering discharging Rod on Friday afternoon, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that this will transpire.

Eva's friend, Jessica, did a super nice thing for Rod today. We'd Skyed Eva yesterday and mentioned that Rod needed a couple more comfortable hoodies and a beanie. Eva is in Bolivia, but she emailed Jessica, and asked her to pick up these items. Jessica, bless her heart, bought the items and dropped them off for Rod at the UAB Hospital. Joanie and I weren't in Rod's room at the time of Jessica's visit, so we were disappointed that we didn't get to meet her. We hope to have another opportunity to meet her and thank her personally for her kindness.

Joanie and Sue went back to the apt. for a couple of hours to wash clothes and to do some cleaning. Joanie is a Cleaning Machine. Germs are never safe from her watchful eye and her bottle of Lysol. She scrubbed down the bathroom within an inch of its life. She will be doing more cleaning to make sure the apt. is tip-top clean for Rod's imminent return.

Joanie is the driver in Bham. She is top-notch. Today, Joanie was quite proud of herself when a stranger asked her for instructions/directions. She explained to him how to use the parking lot we usually use, which is two blocks from the hospital. Joanie claims she is "directionally challenged," but one would never guess that to see her in manuvering in Bham!

The parking lot we use is very old, rough, and "primitive," but also close to the hospital, convenient, cheap, and easily accessible. They have you pay in advance by putting your day-fee of $4.50 in a small slot on a big, rusty, ancient, metal board. The note on the board says a computer will monitor your payment. Sure doesn't look like there is a computer anywhere near this unusual parking lot.

The rest of the day was laid back and restful. For the highlight of the evening, Rod and Joanie watched a couple of episodes of "Star Trek The Original Series". Rod, Joanie, and Sue, too, have been avid TREKKIES since childhood. We three are all crazy for Sci-Fi in general, but nothing tops Star Trek TOS.

Joanie has a chair on one side of Rod, and Sue has another chair on the other side of Rod. It's like a "Rod Sandwich". Today, we figured out how to make the chairs recline flat so that it makes a pretty decent bed. Much more comfortable for sleeping than sitting/slumping half-upright as we did the past two nights.

Notice that Rod is wearing a "UWSP Pointers" T-shirt in the photo above. Hmmm... wonder where he got that little item? :-)

Joanie and Rod are sawing logs in dreamland. Sue is heading there soon, too. Buenos Noches!

Improvement is the name of the game

August 24 was a better day... Rod's temp stabilized at normal. No more fever! The culprit for the infection was found- C-Diff. At 5:00am, the targeted medication for C-Diff, Flagyl, was started. In a day or so, the Flagyl should knock down the infection. And, Rod's WBC count is super high today, fighting this infection.

Dr. Shelton stated that Rod is improving and she is very confident that all will be well soon. Rod was concerned that getting the infection was a big set-back, but she assured him it was not. Almost 100% of BMT patients have some problems or issues afterwards. Dr. Shelton says she is not worried and that Rod's infection will be cleared up in a couple of days and he can be discharged back to the apartment we are all staying at while he recovers.

The staff has been enormously helpful and we feel that Rod is in very good hands. Our favorite nurse has been Kelsey. She is as sweet as can be and just totally delightful.

Tonight, the 3 of us Skyped with Dr. Eva Clark (Rod's oldest daughter), who is in Bolivia conducting a medical research project on the Chagas parasite. Infectious disease is her specialty area. Joan and Sue had never Skyped before, and found it to be a really great way to communicate! Seeing and talking with his daughter LIVE helped cheer up Rod a big bunch.

And, finally, some photos!

First- Rod, Sue, and Joanie taking laps. Notice how skinny Sue is.

Second & third- Dr. Shelton discussing with Rod the progress he is making.

Fourth- Our fav nurse, Kelsey, checking Rod's vitals.

Fifth- Joanie and Rod are tuckered out.

The Bone Marrow Transplant has been proven SUCCESSFUL

The GOOD NEWS is that the Bone Marrow Transplant has been proven to be SUCCESSFUL!!! Rod's WBC count today is 14.5 !!! This means that his own body is making a TON of brand new White Blood Cells. Dr. Sheldon said tonight that Rod is making WBCs like a normal person, on this, Day 18, after the Bone Marrow Transplant on Aug 5, which was Day 0.

The news is a double-edged sword... the bad news is that Rod's blood pressure continues to run low, and more significantly, he started with a low-grade fever last night. We took him in to the BMT center at about 10:30pm, and they gave him IV fluids and started a broad-spectrum antibiotic, then at about 2:00am, sent him with us back to the apt.

We went back to the BMT center at about 10:oo am today. More tests and cultures were run to try to figure out what is causing the fever. It could be C-Diff again, but so far, nothing is coming back positive. The doctors want to find out what is causing the fever/infection so they can give him a specific antibiotic targeted at that bug. But, in the meantime, he was give a couple more rounds of other broad-spectrum antibiotics as a pre-emptive measure. All day long, his temps went up and down, up and down, but never got higher than 102.

Dr. Sheldon believes the fever will be conquered tomorrow, and then Rod will feel much better. He fell asleep about an hour ago, and is hoping to get some good rest. Joanie and Sue are sleeping in his room and will be keeping watch in case he needs anything in the night.

We are actually not on the BMT unit because all of the inpatient rooms were in use there. They moved us up to the ninth floor, and we are in the Oncology center. The staff here is incredibly caring, accommodating, and thoughtful. The room is fairly big, too, and quite comfortable.

In regard to the echocardiogram which Rod had done on Monday, all is normal with his heart signals. The chemo apparently did not do any damage there, thank goodness.

Todd and Victoria came down today, and it was great to see them and they visited with Rod for a bit. He was sleepy and not feeling the best, but became more comfortable and talkative with them! Vic and Todd also did more shopping for us today, which as always, is a great help.

We have been very impressed with people we have met in Birmingham (Bham). Even total strangers on the street are super friendly and offer to help. Bham folks in 'Bama have treated us wonderfully and it is appreciated more than words can say.

*Rod's Recovery Coordinators*

WISCONSIN CHEESE to start this day

WBC: 3.69 Platelets: 75,8000 Weight: 63.0 kg Monday, Aug. 22, was another busy day, but not quite as intense as yesterday

Rod had a scrambled egg with a little WISCONSIN Mozzarella CHEESE, oatmeal, raisins and OJ for breakfast today. Eggs are working out as he can taste them and they taste like eggs! Yay!Rod’s appetite is continuing to improve daily, and he hasn’t needed to take a nausea pill for the last 2 days.

About 9:30 am we left for the hospital. While waiting for Rod to be infused with his fluids via IV, the three of us took a walk down memory lane talking about Grandma Essie Clark’s house and various childhood activities. It was fun to hear about our different perspectives on the same events. We were giggling and laughing very hard, so we had to close the door to our room so as not to disturb the other staff/patients.

One of the memories was of “snipe hunts” that were popular back in the day. Rod said that Cousins Larry H. and Jack R. initiated Cousins Mary R., Russ H., and Rod into the fine tradition.But then he also told me that the three of them researched “snipe” in Grandma’s library to find out more about this highly “dangerous” animal. He also said Grandma provided the books for the research, but did not reveal the scam directly. That cracked us up.

At noon, Sue and Joanie went to get lunch for Rod and us as he was still hooked up to the IV. We brought him another huge baked potato, Dr. Pepper, and potato chips. His nurse Lydia said that more salt in his diet would help raise his low blood pressure and Dr. Pepper has phosphorous, too, which Rod also needs. Interesting, hey… a nurse recommending soda and chips to a patient?!

After a visit with Dr. Shelton and Nurse Practitioner Lydia, the three of us trooped down to first floor and Rod had an echocardiogram. This was to assess for any damage around the heart (possibly caused by the chemo). More about this later. Then we got to leave for the day at about 2:00pm.

At the apartment, Sue and Rod took naps while Joan did computer work and made a nutritious supper of a boxed New Orleans bean and rice dish, creamed corn, saltine crackers, cottage cheese and peaches. For dessert, we had Becky’s homemade & delicious cowboy cookies (based on Mom-aka. Gina Clark’s-recipe) and Robin Aycock’s outstandingly scrumptious pound cake.

After cleaning up dishes and the kitchen and doing some laundry, we got caught up on Eva’s and Gena’s blogs. Nick has a blog, too, and we will get to his tomorrow.

Everything is going pretty well. The only negative was that Rod was having occasional brief dizzy episodes, Fri-Sun. Because of a dizzy spell, he had a slight fall at 5:00 am Sunday morning just as he entered the bathroom. He is okay and was not seriously hurt. He broke his fall by hitting his chest on the bathroom sink and he got a little cut on his upper lip. Joan was up at the time, in the kitchen, and Sue was sleeping, but we both heard him fall and rushed to him, got him up, cleaned up his lip. He said he thought the dizzy spells, and thus the fall, was the result of getting up too fast from his bed. His blood pressure has been running low and he needs more hydration to help raise his blood pressure.

We then decided that one of us would sleep in the second bed in his room to be with him when he needed to get up again. Sue told him to sit up and wait a good two minutes and then stand slowly to let the blood get back to his head. So he took that advice to heart and there have been no more falls or any significant dizzy spells.

We discussed all of this with the Dr. Shelton on Sunday and she agreed that he probably was rising too fast, but just to be on the safe side, she ordered an EKG, CT chest X-ray, and a CT scan of his head to make sure there was no internal bleeding and all the tests came back just fine. The echocardiogram today was also to rule out any problems that might cause dizziness. We will get the echo, and also some culture results, tomorrow. Rod is also drinking the majority of his water and other liquids before 7 pm so he does not need to get up as often in the night.

Ever since we arrived on Aug 19, the three of us are having a great time together and sharing lots of laughs and memories. Our sibling-comraderie is wonderful! If Becky were here, it would be perfect. J

The division of labor between Sue and Joan is working out well. Sue’s most important roles are recording and dispensing Rod’s medicines, keeping records and asking questions of the doctors/nurses. She is very thorough and detailed. She also is our hygiene manager, and develops our safety practices for keeping germs away from Rod. Her secondary jobs, include phone communications with the “kids”/Debbie/ hospital, and doing the laundry which is a big job as Rod has to have clean sheets and clean clothes every single day.

Joan’s major job is driving to and from the hospital and any other transportation needs. Joan also cleans and prepares meals.

And, we are taking turns sleeping in Rod’s room to be available if he needs us during the night.

Well, sorry not to be posting any photos tonight, but at least this is a nice, long blog entry.

~ Rod’s Recovery Coordinators~

Rod’s Recovery Coordinators

Rod’s Stats:
WBC 3.0
Platelets 60,000
Temp 98.5
Weight 140.1 lbs. (63.5 kg)

Sisters Sue and Joan have taken over as “Rod’s Recovery Coordinators.”

We had a really long and busy day today. We spent about 6 hours at the hospital while Rod got his IV fluids and medicines to support anything he was lacking. The doctor is a very nice woman and seems very caring and knowledgeable. She spent a good long time answering questions and checking Rod over thoroughly. He is doing great and is progressing faster than most patients do.

When we returned to the apartment about 3 pm, Alex, Amanda, Vic and Todd came over and we spent the evening visiting. Rod, Sue and I were all very pleased to see them and have their company.

Rod ate chicken soup, cottage cheese, peaches and two of Becky’s cowboy cookies for supper, took his medications and went to bed. He was tired but had a good day.

We are pretty tired too. We will write more tomorrow.

Day 4: A Busy Day

Sherlock

Dad and Bill hanging out in the living room

Dad's food

L to R: Sue, Dad, Joan, Me and Todd

Before

After! Dad cleaned his plate!

Joan and Dad

Bill and Robin delivered the Aunts to our apartment last night. We were so happy to see them that we stayed up until 2:00 am talking! This morning we had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal, toast, coffee, tea (for me), and a protein shake for Dad. We stayed busy the rest of the morning with chores such as laundry, dishes and cleaning. Todd arrived around lunch time and we sat around the table chatting and munching on cheese curds and oatmeal cookies for a while. After lunch Todd and I left to test drive some cars. When we returned after a few hours we took Joan and Sue to the near by market to pick up some much needed groceries. The highlight of our day was dinner at Bill and Robin's house. We thoroughly enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken casserole, squash casserole, green beans, rolls and cranberry sauce, courtesy of Robin, as well as the excellent company. We had pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream for desert (no strawberries for Dad). After some post dinner socializing Joan, Sue, and Dad headed back to the apartment in my car. I am driving Eva's car. Todd and I are staying here at Bill and Robin's and heading back to Huntsville tomorrow afternoon. I am happy to report that Dad seemed to be feeling pretty good all day today and didn't have any more fainting spells!

Day 3: Second Day as an Outpatient

Dad and I both got up between 7:30 and 8:00 this morning. We started off the day with some oatmeal and coffee (tea for me). Dad can't taste sugar, among other things, because the chemotherapy temporarily destroyed his taste buds. Also things taste different, for example he says water and Gatorade taste "salty".

Dad and I made our way to the BMT unit for his daily check up around 10:00 am. The nurse took blood samples for blood work and hooked him up to an IV and pumped him full of fluids. I took some fantastic pictures of dad getting "juiced up". We had company in our room today. They were a couple who I would guess were in their 60's. The man had some kind of bone cancer and was in the process of having his stem cells harvested. He said his arm had been damaged from the cancer, just like Dad's, but he now has full use of it again. I think that made Dad happy and hopeful about regaining use of his own arm. Eventually Dr. Lydia came in to talk to us. We chatted with her about dogs for a while. She has a lab and a black German Shepard, just like Dad's dog, Stella. We discovered that both black German Shepards are deathly afraid of thunder storms! Then Dr. Lydia looked over the log we have been keeping of Dad's food intake and she informed us that Dad has improve his diet because he is not getting enough nutrition. All Dad wants to eat is bland carbs (noodles, grits, oatmeal) because his tummy and taste buds are still messed up from the chemotherapy, but she said he is going to have to branch out to other foods. The doctor suggested that Dad have a baked potato for lunch so I went down to McAllisters, which is basically in the hospital, and picked up two giant baked potatoes for Dad and I. I am happy to say that Dad ate most of his baked potato and even some bacon. At that point Dad was all done getting "juiced up" so they let us go. Dad was pleased that he doesn't have to come back until Sunday, so he gets a day off tomorrow to relax and spend with family.

When we finally left the hospital Dad was pretty pooped, so we decided to go back to our quaint little apartment so Dad could take a nap. When Dad woke up we checked his e-mail. He had 600 and something new messages! Then Todd called me and Al called Dad and we both talked on the phone for a while. After that we read Eva's Bolivia blog and worked on a 750 piece penguin puzzle that I found in the closet. They really thought of everything here! Around this time we decided to try a walk before dinner and when Dad got up he got dizzy and almost fell forward. I caught him and put him on the couch where he lied down and put his feet up. It took him a few minutes to get oriented. Needless to say we decided to skip the walk and get some dinner, so we ordered a cheese pizza from Domino's. After dinner Dad was able to stand up and walk around without getting dizzy. Dad and I were supposed to pick Joan and Sue up from the airport tonight, but we are on the second floor and the stairs down are very steep and very hard, and I didn't want to take any chances with Dad on the stairs after that episode. So, my husband's wonderful parents, Bill and Robin, agreed to collect Joan and Sue from the airport, so I could stay here with Dad and we would not have to risk a tumble down the stairs (thank you, Bill and Robin!). Dad was getting pretty tired so he decided to take a nap until everybody arrives. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Joan, Sue, Bill and Robin!

Day 2: First Day as an Outpatient

Dad Stats:

Most recent BP: 106/56

Most recent temp: 97

Most recent WBC count: 3.1

Weight: 142

I didn't arrive in Birmingham until around 5:00 pm today, so I had Dad recount his day to me. It went something like this:

Dad and Mom arrived at the bone marrow transplant unit around 9:30 this morning. The nurse took blood samples around 10:30. Then Dad received an IV of magnesium and the nurse took his vitals. Then they waited around for a while until about 11:30 when Dr. Lydia, the outpatient doctor, (pictured) gave Dad a physical and went over the neutropenic diet that Dad is on due to his lowered immune system and any problems that Dad may or may not experience while he gets better. Then Mom and Dad waited around some more until about noon when they met with Dr. Shelton who did another physical exam and reported that dad's WBC count was 3.1. She said that it is normal and expected for Dad's WBC count to fluctuate. Then they returned to the apartment where Dad took a nap. When Dad awoke he ate some spaghetti.

That is about when I finally found my way to the apartment. Mom left to drive back to Huntsville for a doctor's appointment in the morning. I checked out the apartment and got settled in. Then Dad opened all of the cards he received from his wonderful family (they were sent to my house and I brought them with me). He seemed very touched that so many people had thought of him. Then Dad and I had a nice long talk. The sun was setting and it was looking nice and cool outside so Dad and I decided to go for a short walk. Dad is still pretty tired, so he can't go too far. After that I was getting hungry so Dad and I chowed down on some mac and cheese and chocolate oatmeal cookies that I brought (courtesy of Amanda's delicious recipe!). Then Al called and Dad and Al chatted on the phone for a while while I washed the dishes. Then Dad and I sat down to do the blog. Now we are getting ready to settle in and watch a movie.

My aunts/Dad's sisters, Joanie and Sue, are arriving tomorrow night and we are super excited about it and looking forward to it!!!

Day 1: Dad Escaped!

Dad Stats:
Most recent temperature: 97.6F
Most recent blood pressure: 105/53
Today's white blood cell count: 4.86

Weight: 142.7 lb

Wow! What a busy day for Dad and I! I will start with the best news for those that are not crazy about reading more than a few words....Dad has been released from the hospital and is not an outpatient! Dad will go to the clinic every day for until about day 30 to get a checkup on vitals and stats but if his progress is good he will be granted weekend passes and days off.

Now for the meat of the blog. Dad woke up like normal and had a quick bowl of oatmeal and a blueberry muffin. Dad was able to drink up some coffee and orange juice as well. From the very start of the day Dad has been off of the IV so he has had free reign to run around the transplant ward and check out the other transplant patient's posters. I was not able to stay with Dad all day today but as seen in the bottom most picture he was busy writing Maple code for his PHD research. Before the end of the day Dad was able to introduce me to one of the Dr. on the bone marrow ward who started his procedure and I was able to get a quick snapshot. UAB really has one of the most gifted and caring medical staff I have ever been around. It is amazing to see how far out of the way every member of the BMTU would go to see that Dad had the best of care.

As seen above Dad's WBC count is right at the 5 level / normal range. Dad has been eating on his own, snacking, working, snacking and other Dad type stuff.

Around 10:30 or so I left to go check out the Homewood Church of Christ hospital apartments. The apartments are fantastic and well above the expectations I was given.

I met the apartment coordinator, Jane, who let me in and showed me around. She was excellent just like the apartments. I took a few quick snapshots of the apartment. The layout is a kitchen with a small dining room table, a large living room area with a sofa and lazy-boy recliner. There are two bedrooms with two beds in each and every room had its own HVAC unit. The place is great as you can see in the pictures. I went ahead and did the paperwork to get the keys and then headed back to UAB

I was able to return to the hospital a little bit after 12:30 and just walked into the room to Dad packing up his bags. Dad informed me that the ball was rolling on his discharge and that now was the time to pack things up! Unfortunately for me I drove my tiny car down to Birmingham AND parked about 5 blocks away.

We all had no idea that Dad would recover so fast so everybody is scrambling to get things in place. I lugged down one trip of Dad items and headed back to the apartments. It was a real good thing we got the keys to the apartment when we did or Dad would of had to stay at the hospital one more night.

As I was walking down to my car I saw a familiar face driving down 19th Street. John from old MEMS was driving over to meet Dad and he had one of his business partners from Japan. For those of you that remember Dad has a good working relationship with the Japanese company NALUX and has been in touch with Mr. Kitagawa (Kitagawa San) during trials of his illness. I even heard today the Mr. Kitagawa follows the Blog daily! Once again another example of the fantastic friends Dad has. I went to drop off the bags and was able to catch John and Michiahisa San (sorry if there are spelling mistakes) before they left for the day.

The conversation and meeting was good for Dad and he is excited with the possibility of traveling to Japan when he is able to take a dip in the healing waters at an upper elevation spa. John and Michiahisa San brought Dad a gift and a card and wished him a speedy recovery. The hospitalization part of the recovery was pretty speedy because we were out of the hospital within an hour!

Before Dad was able to leave we had to watch a 30 minute movie about the fun side effects of bone marrow transplant. The main thing is that Dad's platelet counts have to get to 50,000 to really be a low risk. Hopefully this week Dad will make up some more cells. Another thing we had to do before we left was get his left side catheter / IV spicket removed. It was interesting to watch how they carefully sniped away the stitches holding the catheter in and then violently rip the tube out. Right before the procedure Dad was told to hold his breath when they went to pull out the tube and he did the exact opposite! Dad took a big gulp of air like he had just jumped off the high dive and then RIP and it was all over. Dad still has the right side hooked up and it will continue to be used during his outpatient procedures.

Another exciting event today is that Mom came down to relieve me for a work function I have in the morning. Mom made it to Birmingham right as we were discharged. Mom had some problems finding the apartment but we eventually got it straightened out. Right not the plan is for Mom to hang out with Dad until Vic can get here at 5:00 tomorrow. Dad is peacefully sleeping right now and I am starting my trip back to Huntsville!

Day 11: Dad is Feeding

Dad Stats:
Most recent temperature: 97.9F
Most recent blood pressure: 102/56
Today's white blood cell count: 2.89

Weight: 143.7 lb

Today has been one of the best Dad days yet! Dad woke up this morning and was ready to start chowing down on anything and everything. We started off slow with a breakfast of coffee, oatmeal, raisins and jello. Dad cleaned the plate and did not have a single side effect from the food as of yet. We are all really happy because Dad was getting close to the 10 day mark of not eating so this is a really good sign! Take a look at the image of Dad eating up all the breakfast. Dad went and took a shower right after breakfast was delivered so he was able to enjoy about an hour without having the IV attached and dragging behind him. Part of being able to get away without the IV was that we were able to take a walk around the BMTW without dragging that silly machine. We made 5 laps before the nurse slowed us down and hooked up the IV again.

Obviously one of the other awesome stats is Dad's WBC count today. Dad has more than tripled his white cell count from 0.89 to 2.89 in 24 hours! Sorry Joan and Sue...you guys were to low! Just for fun I went ahead and plotted Dad's WBC Count from the low to current date. For even more FUN I added a 2nd order polynomial curve fit

to try and predict the next WBC Count. It does appear to be more of an exponential function but I could just not get a decent R value for the fit... The nurse and Dr. have changed their tone from recovery to becoming an outpatient possibly by Thursday. Dad is a real success story here and is being told that he is the FASTEST recovering patient that anybody can remember in recent history. I have to say that Dad is pushing on so extremely hard because of the support he is getting from all of the people who visit, call, send e-mail and read the blog. We all feel very fortunate have such a good support network and there really is no way to thank everybody for all that is done.

Dad watched the news and read his Kindal all day without taking any sort of nap. I asked him if he was tired and he said that he feels more like he is in recovery mode because his body is not telling him to sleep 24 / 7. It has been more than 24 hours since dad has used any of the morphine so the nurse actually came in and took the pump out. There is still talk of removing one of the main IV lines because all Dad is getting through IV now is electrolytes and fluids.

Today about lunch time (while I was on a tele conn) Dad had a quick snack of peaches. As seen

in the picture Dad is reading his Kindal and chowing down on a peach. Dad was reading his e-mail on the Kindal and got to one e-mail that required a response so I loaned Dad my MacBook. Dad started reading e-mail and surfing the net for about the next 4 hours! One of the first things Dad did was submit his pre-order for a new Nissan Leaf full electric vehicle. Dad went through and selected his desired color, options, charging station and time frame. If anybody recalls Dad and I drove to the factory that makes the Nissan Leaf in Nashville TN for a test drive when the first few were released. Of course this opened up the whole conversation that Dad 'Has to get an iPhone' to control his car now. All very funny conversations.

Dad moved on to read most of his e-mail and then on to looking over NASA SBIRs for upcoming business opportunities. I eventually had to take my MacBook away from Dad because he started to draft a proposal! It was actually pretty good timing because there happened to be a pear delivery around that time that interrupted Dad's idea storming session anyway. Dad took a break to consume what he said was 'about 5 pears.'

Right now Dad and I are still watching the news and chatting about topics like adding solar products and installation to my web site, making a hamster wheel virtual reality simulator and finishing the chicken coop at home. We ordered dinner a little while ago do Dad is anxiously awaiting his first real meal of Penne Pasta with Marinara sauce, Macaroni & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes, and Hot Tea. After dinner we have a video call planed to chat with Vic and if we are real lucky we will catch Eva where she can talk as well. Hopefully everything will godown well tonight and we will have another productive day tomorrow!

P.S. - Post your new guestimate for Dad's WBC Count!