Monday, September 20, 2010

Welcome Distractions bring on blog neglect !

September 13th Day +80!  Almost there...breath, pray...breath, pray...

For the faithful followers of my journey, I am sooo sorry I have not had the time to blog lately! The beginning of the school year brings lots of "assignments" for mom as well as the kids. I am just really glad that I am able to do these little projects for my kids! When I began this process, although hopeful, I really did not know how strong I would be at this point in my recovery (the un-known). And frankly, after being cooped up and tied down for the last 3 months, I would much rather be out and about doing things than sitting at a computer screen, no matter what the news is. (Do you blame me??) But I am happy to report that while operating a little slower than I did in my past life, I am able to do lots of things now. I am focusing on getting physically stronger and improving lung function by walking everyday, and lifting some weights to reinvent the muscles that seemed to have disappeared during the last 3 months. The fluid retention and fatigue is bothersome, but something I will have to deal with for a couple of years since the Amyloid proteins that are in my kidneys take so long to break down.

Had a great visit with our BC friends Vinnie and Laura last week who were up from Virginia to move two of thier 3 boys into BC dormitories! (The third one is at Emory in Atlanta...can you spell T..u..i..t..i..o..n..!!)
So great to sit and chat with them for a couple of hours!

The weather has been pretty awesome lately so we decided to venture to the cape for the day last week and check out our favorite bike trail. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to ride that far, but we managed to put in about 12 miles anyway. First we rode about 4 miles along the shore, Falmouth to Woods Hole, then stopped for a fabulous, (and if I do say, well earned!) lunch at Phusion Grill.(You must try their Blackened Mahi Mahi Sandwich with spicy aoili! It it to die for!) Then after Hayleigh finished poking around in every store in town, we hopped back on the saddle and rode another 8 miles before "my seat" told me it was time to call it a day. Love that bike trip! It will definitely be an annual trip for us, although i'm not sure I can wait a whole year for that delicious sandwich!  I hope next time the boys can be here to join us.

This week I had another meeting with Dr. Malek,( my local hematologist), with my "entourage", Fred and Del, in tow of course.  My blood work came back with great numbers and Dr Malek is very pleased with how I am recovering. I told him I had all of you to thank for it! I will go back again in Oct and Nov to check blood work, then in December I will return to BU (kicking and screaming no doubt) for some 'revealing' biopsies.

And on the hair front...Fred swears that I have some new stubs to speak of this week...yeah! I told him that it was just a little hard to see because its coming in blond!! LOL

Love to all
Cheryl