Saturday, November 8, 2014

Still on the plateau

As I write this, it is Saturday and we are currently at Fox Hill Village. I will be heading into Dana Farber this morning for another velcade injection and then back here. Later this afternoon we will be going on a gallery tour in Boston. I will thus be exposed to art. Perhaps this will be good for me.

Mostly, I am feeling OK, but I get tired very easily. Last week was "Break Week" during which we could stay in NH and I could work on my various projects - except that I was limited to what I could do in a day before I got really tired. I get out of breath and often need to sit for a while. Sometimes, I get very sleepy and I take frequent long naps.

I am still working on my "bowling". I managed to get four very large fresh oak logs, each being 20 inches in length and 20 inches in diameter. I cut them into reasonable bowl-sized pieces with the chain saw. Barbara thinks this sort of activity could contribute to my being tired.

The other thing is that the numbness in my feet gets worse every cycle. They now have me taking yet another pill to help with that. It seems to be working. I worry that these will create some other side-effect and then I will need another pill for that and so on. . .

I am just starting Cycle 7 of 8 cycles. According to the labs from Wednesday, I seem to still be on the plateau although one of the numbers is down a bit which is good. What they are hoping is that over time, the numbers will start to come down even more. Apparently this would not be unusual. They are still hoping to get the numbers down enough for me to have a Stem Cell Transplant.

I just learned that in December, I will go to a "Maintenance Mode". The difference will be that I will get Velcade and Dexamethasone only half as often - which is great because that means only one day per week at Dana Farber and thus no need to stay at Fox Hill for several days each week. In other words, just when we get to move into our renovated apartment here, we won't have to be here as much. Funny the way things work out. But there is a good chance that with winter approaching, we will choose to spend more time here "down south" in Massachusetts.

Speaking of which, the apartment has reached a point where we can see progress every time we drop by. The kitchen cabinets and counter tops are in and they look great. The washer, dryer and dishwasher have been delivered and are ready to install. They are painting the walls.

Entry Area

Kitchen

Barbara's Office Area off Kitcen

We have told the builders that we are moving back in on November 24. Does this mean that they will be done by then? I did not say that. What we have told them is that we are moving in on that day. It could be interesting. We just dropped by an hour or so ago and there were 5 guys working there, even though it is a Saturday. I think we have their attention.

Still, we drop by at least twice a day on days we are here at Fox Hill Village. For example, we visited late last night and again first thing this morning because, according to Barbara, "it will look different in daylight". Barbara loves visiting and seeing the progress. I think she is trying to plan her closet to maximize the number of shoes that she can fit. 

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