Day 28

Hello everyone,



Well, it's never a dull moment here at the Mazzola-Noon household. First I'll say right away that Bob is fine, but things have been hectic again. When Bob came home on Sunday the 10th, my parents went to my brothers house to stay w/ them, so they could go to Kates' graduation that Wed. They were set to go home the following Thursday and my brother called that my Mom was having palpitations........so, long story short, she was in Grandview for atrial arrhythmias, had a whole battery of tests, some meds changed and is now back in Scranton and doing fine....phew! Thank goodness my parents are taking turns w/ their hospitalizations.



Bob had an appt. at Penn on Wednesday, the first we've seen Dr. L. since the transplant, and she's very pleased w/ how well he's doing. His counts are super......137,000 platelets, hgb 11.5 and wbc 2.4. His other labs are good too......drug levels that have to be checked weekly, electrolytes, and viral titers. She did think that Bob looks a little pink, which I attributed to his good blood count, but he also has a very light redness on his back, chest and legs, sort of like a mild sunburn. She attributes this to GVHD or graft vs. host disease, which is from the new stem cells attacking Bobs own cells, because it senses them as foreign. But this is mild evidence of GVHD and something they actually like to see, b/c it means that the stem cells are also attacking the leukemia cells. So all in all, a great visit.



Bob's feeling well except for the fatigue. He actually came out w/ me today to run errands though he didn't leave the car. He's doing daily exercises that PT at HUP recommended to increase his stamina. Oh, and he's eating great too, in fact he's gained about 5 lbs since coming home.....though that's on different scales and w/ and w/o regular clothes and shoes(not to put any unwanted mental images in your heads---ha!). During the day he reads and watches the Food Network or baseball if there's an afternoon game, and usually takes a nap late afternoon. And at night he usually watches more baseball, but after I've seen Jeopardy. He will make an exception if there's poker on, as we both love to watch and play Texas Hold Em, or if we have a good dvd to watch. I've been cooking up a storm, although I took a break a few days ago and we had a Freschetta frozen pepperoni pizza(I know food talk again), which was not bad at all. And I have to say, now that Famous pizza is gone, I'm not too enchanted w/ the other places we've tried for takeout pizza(before the transplant of course).......any suggestions out there?



I think that's all that's new in our neck of the woods. How the heck are all our buddies out there? Why don't you write and drop us a line.........I know, I know, you're saying that's the pot calling the kettle. But we'll honestly try to be better about posting and now that Bobs' feeling stronger I'm gonna nag him too. Thank you, as always, for the constant support and prayers. It means the world to us both to have such great friends and family. We'll write soon.



All our love,
Bob and Mo

Bob and Mo