What Great News!

Yes, I can keep Adele!

We did all the Johns Hopkins appointments on Feb 16th and we got to our final appointment with Doctor Meade around 1 PM.  He was waiting at the door of his small exam room.  He had already looked over the blood work and CAT scan reports, along with the PA's reports.  The bone marrow report takes a week or so.

His first words were, "Your report is boring!" Or in other words, Adele is now 3 years after stem cell transplant and still free of all cancer! Among other things he said, Adele was most happy with the fact that she only needs to go to Johns Hopkins another 2 years, and that further testing after 5 years clear is optional.  With more boring reports like they had this year, she will be able to stop worrying about it so much.  She does have an appointment with the local oncologist next month, and probably will continue to have yearly checks with him for a while.

Cancer Free is such a freeing statement.

In other news, you might see Adele tooling around in her new Victory Red Sonic, learning to shift gears all over.  We bought the Chevrolet Sonic to replace a van, that we had no use for anymore, and to get better gas mileage (29 City - 40 Highway).  The color is her choice, the engine (Turbo charged / 6 Speed manual trans) is mine.  We might just drive it to GA, even though the Malibu gets a good 30+ mpg on that trip.

I am scheduled to have major back surgery on March 1st, with 3 days in the hospital and probably 5 - 10 weeks of recovery.  My lower back is so painful, I had trouble turning over in bed without grunting in pain - woke Adele up a lot!  The discs are severely compressed and there is also spinal stenosis.  Pain in both legs now, and it gets worse every day as the day progresses.  I grew tired of living on LoriTab (Vicodin) and refuse to take it most days.  I will keep you posted on this blog, as the surgery and my recovery continues.

John Hopkins 2012

Last year (2011) Adele contacted John Hopkins about her annual checkup, and JH never followed through.
This year, we have a day of appointments at John Hopkins on Feb 16th.  What a difference, they called and set it up for her like they were supposed to last year.  Now we will be able to get everything checked in one day, and get results the same day!  What a great way to limit the suspense we both feel every year!
Jan 21st, 2012 was her 3rd birthday for the stem cell transplant, and I think we both are doing much better this year - better than any year in the past 4 1/2. We will of course accept prayers for a good outcome and NO Signs of cancer, but I believe that is the case already, there is nothing to fear as it is gone for good!  Thank the Lord for His Healing Power in her body.
On Feb 15th, I will meet with the back surgeon again, and I imagine schedule the back surgery shortly after that.  I see a 3 - 7 week recovery time, with a know 3 weeks of no lifting anything even close to 30 pounds.  That will mean - no computer lifting, or crawling on the floor to get a computer out of its hiding place to see if it is resurrectable.  I could use prayers for a fast recovery and freedom from the pain I have every day. From what I heard so far, there will be a new tailbone and rods used to fuse in place the 3 discs above the tailbone add-on.  I will be setting off all kinds of metal detectors if I get near them.
Adele is keeping fit at Curves, many weeks going 3 times and having a great time there.  It has helped her with stamina and is keeping her healthy. She is starting to organize coupons for us also, and we are both enjoying her retirement.
On the accident front, I am still trying to get the police department here in Ephrata to respond to errors that I found on their Reportable Accident Report, and will soon resort to just sitting at the Police station and waiting for the chief of some other officer to come out and talk with me about the bad reporting they are doing. Wish me luck on that front, this is the 11th week since the accident, in which we were T-boned (hit in the side of the car, driver's side) and their report says we were hit in the front of the car.  My pictures show no damage to the front end, and the police have those pictures for ? over 4 weeks now, with no response to us.  Could go on - but it just brings up the anger again - and I had to go on medication to stop the worry about it, so - That is all.
Thanks - Rick