HOMEWARD BOUND

Saying "good bye" to the Mayo Clinic and ready to head for home tomorrow.  No appointments over the weekend gave us a chance to rest and things actually seemed to be getting back to normal.

 




As usual, have a few pictures of what we have done the past few days:



Hanna's last blood draw!  All numbers were in the normal area.  The Stem Cells are thriving.  Everything is on track.


Only our Scouting/Wood Badge friends will truly understand the significance of the next two pictures, taken in Dr. Gertz's own waiting room:

There were a bunch of creatures like these hanging on the wall, but only these two critters.  And they happened to be "ours".  We couldn't help but take a couple of pictures!



The Medical Staff allowed me to stay in the Procedure Room to witness the removal of Hanna's port.  They warned me that there may be blood and I could faint.  I reassured them that if I did faint, I was in a hospital that has some of the best care in the world.  There was very little blood, as you can see.
Here she is, examining what it was that was down inside her chest.  You can see the yellow thingy about in the middle of the port.  That was the "skin line".  The rest of it was down her jugular vein to right next to her heart.  She is glad to be rid of the thing.   And frankly, the whole port thing kind of creeped me out.  So, I'm glad too.



The view looking Northwest.  The locals were correct when they said, "enjoy the colorful leaves quick while they last.  Because very soon a wind will come through and it'll all be gone, just like that.  Note that home is in this direction.




When we married back in 2012 (We're still celebrating 10 years of marital bliss, even with our challenges), we committed to God that we would serve along side other as much as we possibly can to make the world a better place.  We (especially Hanna) did not deviate from that commitment while here at Mayo Clinic.  We hope that not only is she cancer-free now, but that Mayo Clinic is just a bit better place than when we arrived nearly two months ago.  No doubt, many of the Medical Staff here will for a long time remember her smile, her greetings, her upbeat attitude, her encouragement, and her humor.  (There is no doubt in my mind that medical professionals work harder to heal those that are fun to work with and be around.  So, this should definitely help her with the battle with her cancer..)  No doubt, many of the other patients will remember her greetings, our challenges to wheelchair racing duels, her compliments to other bald cancer patients about how good they look even while her own hair was falling out, and her "come on in this elevator and join us, it's gonna be a party!"  No doubt, the Security Staff will remember the sarcastic quips, the weird questions, and seeing our cheery faces several times each day.

Mayo Clinic may never be the same in many ways thanks to the cheery gal in the wheel chair that was seemingly on fire.




We'll be home soon.....................................

(Look closely and you'll see Frivvy is already in the van, all ready to go!  He really misses the grandkids!)


Hanna's Two-Bits:

These words have been hanging on our wall inspiring us both through this whole Multiple Myeloma journey:

"...deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the people."

(So, just trust God)

The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

(And then God will do all the fighting for you)

Maybe these will help you through whatever YOU are currently going through.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE BAD DAY (NIGHT) FINALLY ARRIVED

Image
Here is the lovely Miss Hanna at about 1am this morning, trying to figure out what sort of dinner her system will handle.  The softer the better.  Taste doesn't matter any more as her taste buds have been eliminated by the Chemotherapy Drug. Until today, our daily routine was, check in at the Transplant Clinic.  Get examined and consulted by a variety of medical professionals.  Go back home.  And usually that was it.  If something were to be wrong with the blood tests, etc., they would call and have us come back in for treatment. The closest we ever came to the "call back in" was a week ago Sunday when her Potassium levels had dropped drastically, likely caused by the extreme hydration during the transplant itself.  They had us come back to the Clinic to pick up some Potassium tablets at the Pharmacy. That all changed yesterday. They called and asked us to come back in as her platelets had dropped drastically.  The nurse told us to finish our lunc...
Read more

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BEAUTIFUL

Image
 The hair loss was expected and was eventually going to happen.  Happy Early Halloween!! THE GOOD:  This week the Transplant Team here at Mayo Clinic is celebrating their 10,000th transplant.  They were pretty excited.  Amazing to us was the fact that their very first Transplant patient from 60 years ago is still alive and was going to attend the party.  Note that none of us current patients, even the 10,000th, are invited.  Every one of us is immunocompromised and if someone brought in an infection or virus, the entire staff would be very busy for a long time.  But we can say we were there when number 10,000 took place.  We are in very good hands.  The average employee tenure here is 14 years.  Many we meet have been here for over 20 years.  Most of the doctors did their initial fellowship here and are still here decades later.  Having the right specialist, a doctor that does nothing but MM, is key to a proper recovery an...
Read more

TOXIC WASTE!!

Image
Hanna is doing well and appears to be on track to a miraculous recovery.  In this picture, please notice her beautiful hair. The cool chart below (cool, because us accountants LOVE charts like this) shows the level of misery the transplant causes and when.  The numbers are days.  The more the line drops, the more misery.  They call the bottom the "basement".  We are right now on Day 8.  Yes, in the basement. And even though we are in the basement, Hanna is doing quite well.  Things are not nearly as bad as other MM patients that have gone before us have said they would be, nor as bad as the Transplant Team prepared us for.  This is all good.  The main symptoms Hanna (and me too, indirectly) have and are struggling with is massive fatigue and EXPLOSIVE TOXIC DIARRHEA.  She spends a lot of time sleeping, although some days are better than others.  Her endurance level has dropped significantly as well.  It is a struggle for her to...
Read more