May
is a big birthday month for our family. Two of our children and two of
our grandchildren celebrate birthdays in May. And this year Jeff
celebrated the 8th year anniversary of his bone marrow transplant. He
thanks Nicole for 8-Year Survivorship Anniversary. We
continue to be grateful and while we (or maybe, just I) may seem to
focus on Jeff’s care, we do not think about recurrence. Eight years and
counting…
Jeff
has accepted that his weekdays must be planned around doctor visits. I
have not heard complaints about these interruptions in a while. It’s
his job to take care of himself. And sometimes he works, too.
To
deal with Jeff's swallowing issues, his endocrinologist stretched his
esophagus, and ordered a repeat endoscopy in six weeks. It seems to
have helped. Jeff says he can eat even faster now! Ha.
The
kidney specialist reports Jeff's uric acid and creatinine are a little
high. His kidney function is at 61% while 70% is age-appropriate.
Below 60% would require further treatment. Jeff was very disappointed
to hear this but Dr. Pat said, "You've been through a lot. So 61% is
good, considering." His medication drags his blood pressure pretty low
at times, 90/60 last night. Dr. Pat would prefer it in the area of 120/
but that is seldom achieved.
As
we enter summertime, I am concerned about the difficulty Jeff has in
drinking enough water to protect his kidneys. When he talks about
taking on outside jobs, I wish he wouldn't. I'd rather he works
inside, in air conditioning, with minimal ladder work, on easy jobs that
don't require a lot of heavy-lifting. Jeff sees it differently, of
course. Summer is the time to be outside.
I
decided, with Jeff's nudging, to address my ongoing Caregiver
Syndrome. I've delayed mammogram, colonoscopy, eye exam, blood labs for
primary care doc, even the dentist. I made appointments to take care
of all of these things and it's a good thing I did. The ophthalmologist
found I had a retinal issue and referred me to a specialist who
diagnosed BRVO which would cause vision impairment if not treated.
I
recently spoke to a friend who is scared of doctors. I told him that,
at the time of Jeff's diagnosis of MDS, my brother asked what he could
do. Jeff's response was, "Go get a physical." Good advice. Job one:
take care of yourself.
We
attended the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Man/Woman of the Year Gala
to support our friend, Michael's campaign. Michael took home the
Mission Award. This was well-deserved because Michael, Monique and
their family are relentless in promoting the mission of L&LS. We
are proud to know them and pray Michael achieves his goal of living long
enough to see a cure for Multiple Myeloma.
