karenulijohn

If it is true that white blood cells are manufactured while a person sleeps, then Harvey has been very industrious over the past week.  His white blood cell count went from 1.6K/ul to 8.8K/ul  in just one week after receiving the injection of Neulasta.  This result has not been realized without some discomfort.  His appetite has been non-existent, plus bone pain and overwhelming fatigue have kept him in bed for a majority of the day.  Any exertion resulted in a trip to the bedroom.   As of this writing, it has been one week since the injection and since his last chemotherapy infusion.  We are hoping that his appetite will improve as well as his energy levels with only five more radiation treatments remaining.

Daily trips to the hospital over the past eight weeks have become monotonous and tiresome.  Happily, members of the Merry Melanomsters have stepped up and offered to take Harvey on several days.  Not only does it give me a break, but it offers Harvey an opportunity to visit and converse with some of his drinking buddies.   It is interesting to note that I am at a loss as to what to do while he is gone.  Fortunately, I have some very good friends who have joined me for lunch or taken me shopping.  In fact, yesterday, a very good friend took me to Sam’s Club and then to Walmart for a wonderfully enjoyable morning.  We left at 8:00AM and returned around 11:00AM.  She enjoys baking and cooking far more than I do, and she was able to offer suggestions for food items with which to tempt Harvey, but that did not require superior skills in the kitchen.  I don’t even like to look at new cookbooks anymore because I seldom recognize all of the ingredients.  For example, I thought “pancetta” was a type of bread.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was nothing more than very expensive bacon fat.  (My apologies to those who understand the culinary qualities of pancetta).

Saturday, August 13th marks our 50th wedding anniversary.  It goes without saying that we will not be having a grand celebration at this time.  We may be able to have a glass of champagne and bar snacks on the Meridians Patio which would be more than enough.  However, we are planning a weekend at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay in September along with a Sunset Dinner with our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.  Given our situation, we are just grateful that we have had so many wonderful years together.  We can’t ask for more than that.