One Less Pill and One New List

As Jeff dressed early this morning, I assured him that his Bermuda tan had faded to a respectable shade for his appointment with Dr. Porter.  He’d been worried about that.  I got up early, too - for second string Rosie-duty while Jeff went to Penn.  He gave me many instructions for Rosie’s care and seemed a little worried whether I was up to the job.  Isn’t that cute? 

Well, poor little Rosie is sick and, in fact, I did have a little trouble giving her a bottle. She cried a lot, poor thing.  When she fell asleep, I placed her in her crib, as instructed by her mother, so she would be near the vaporizer.  Phew!  I thought, “It must be 11 o’clock by now!  That was hard work!”  I wanted to take notice of the time so I would know how long she napped.  It was 8:36 a.m.!  I’d been on duty for only about an hour!

While Rosie slept, I had a text from Jeff: “14.4 Hemoglobin.” 

I texted back, “What?!  That’s fantastic!”  That’s actually in the standard range!

“Rosie ok?”

I replied, “Rough time with the bottle.  Sleeping now.”

Jeff offered expert tips and asked how Rosie slept last night.

When I replied, I managed to get my phone’s keypad stuck on caps-lock: “T SAID COUGHING DID NOT DISTURB HER SLEEP.  SORRY for shouting.”

His text reply: “You should whisper if Rosie is sleeping.”

He texted a few more times from Dr. Porter’s office, once to get the name of the 5K race in Paramus where he’ll meet his donor - The Mel Cohen Memorial 5K for Gift of Life.  He said Dr. Porter wants pictures.  When he told Nurse Heather about the plans to meet Nicole, she said, “You always have a story that gives me goose bumps or makes me cry!  We don’t often hear such good news in this office.”

Dr. Porter gave Jeff the results of his last chimerism test:  still 100% Nicole’s blood cells!  The liver function tests that were done in July showed normal results.  Dr. Porter thinks that Jeff may always have to take immuno-suppressants but the dosage can be dropped back to three pills a day.  Yippee!  One fewer pill in the aresenal!  They discussed whether to drop an a.m. or p.m. pill to avoid the occasional nausea Jeff gets from the Mycophenolate.  

Dr. Porter and Nurse Heather both said Jeff looked great. Maybe that Bermuda tan was exactly the right shade!  Dr. Porter recommended a great hamburger joint at the Paramus Mall.  We’ll have to check that out when we’re there.  Jeff teased Dr. Porter, "You and your team made me live so long that I now need to make a new bucket list!"

Kirsten, our L&LS coordinator for our Light the Night event, also asked for pictures of the Gift of Life “meet.”  We may have to ask family members to take pictures for us in order to get some decent ones.  After all, we’ll be involved in hugging Nicole at the crucial photo op moment.

A New Bucket List

We have just returned from a bucket list trip to Bermuda.  When we made our reservations, Jeff said, “We’re going to need a new bucket list!” 

At a lovely resort hotel, we tried – and failed – to take up residence on a chaise lounge.  We have never done vacation that way.  Besides, if Jeff sits, he sleeps, and he did not plan on sleeping his vacation away.  There was a lot to see and do and he was up for everything: a lighthouse, forts, beaches, ferry rides, restaurants, museums, gardens, snorkeling, cave tours, massage in a cave spa and – best of all – cave swimming which we enjoyed numerous times.  The cave entrance was conveniently located close to our room.

 Everyone was friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be there – locals and tourists alike.  Jeff ordered fish at every meal and said, “Theresa would be proud of me – no beef all week!”  The manager of the restaurant we visited most often, The Swizzle Inn, said we were their “fish ambassadors.”  The restaurant’s slogan is “Swizzle Inn, Swagger Out,” which I thought was “Stagger Out.”  We did neither but we did enjoy their signature drink, the Rum Swizzle.

On our last morning on the island, we woke up early enough to watch the sunrise.  Jeff took awesome pictures with our new point-and-shoot camera.   

The lawn needed to be mowed when we returned, of course, and the lawn mower was finicky.  Jeff had to work on it and coax it to start.  He remembered that the first lawn mower we bought 32 years ago lasted only five years or so and this is the second one we’ve ever had.  Again, I expressed my belief that it is time for a new mower but Jeff is not ready to concede to the mower and me.  Jeff also remembered that last summer he was not able to pull the cord to start the mower.  He might be taking too much pleasure in tinkering with it.

We're glad to be home to family but what a great trip!