Pacemaker is working

We drove down to Salida a couple of days ago, so Doug could have his pacemaker checked.  A technician comes from Colorado Springs cardiology to Salida. Doug didn't even have to take off his shirt. The tech slung what looked like a large computer mouse over Doug's shoulder so it was resting over the pacemaker, put EKG type leads on Doug's wrists and ankles, and turned on his computer.
Evidently the pacemaker holds up to 18 months of information - it records whenever it is pacing. Turns out that Doug's heart needs the pacemaker 25% of the time. Whenever his heart rate goes below 55, the pacer kicks in. I asked what would be happening if Doug didn't have the pacemaker -- the tech said that Doug would probably be passing out at times. Good thing he has one!

The pacer battery looks like it has 7 to 8 more years of life left; it only uses a tiny bit of charge each time it fires for a fraction of a second. Sure glad we have modern technology -- can you imagine life without batteries?

So far, so good

We got the results of Doug's most recent blood panel -- good news. No signs of myeloma cells in the blood. Another "whew"!  Dr. Myers, our local oncologist, said that he isn't worried about Doug's kidney function although the BUN is rising and was 24. So if he isn't going to worry (yet) then we won't either.

So we continue to be very fortunate. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving -- great to be surrounded by grandchildren, not to mention all the good food. On the way home from Pueblo we took a scenic route and had a spectacular view of the snow capped Sangre de Cristo mountains ahead of us. Then a little while later a coyote crossed the road about 200 feet in front of us. He was a big handsome fellow and was out hunting. We saw him pounce on his intended meal, probably a rabbit.

Doug is fighting a sore throat but it is getting better, so he has some disease resistence, yea! 
We hope all of you are well.

THANKSGIVING 2009

We had a very meaningful Thanksgiving service at church this morning. In addition to wonderful music and a new video, several young folks ranging in age from 10 to teenagers, came up and read scripture. Their quiet confidence was awesome. Then we had an extended time for "praise and thanksgiving (also prayer requests)" from the congregation. We do this fairly regularly -- a microphone is brought around to whoever raises his or her hand. Today there were so many folks who stood up and told their stories of how God had answered prayers and blessed them. I am proud and humbled to say that Doug was one of them -- he told how he believed that God and many prayers had saved his life. We are truly so blessed and thankful.

We will spend Thanksgiving Day with family at the home of our daughter-in-law Jamee's parents, in Pueblo. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No gift-giving or excess commercialization. Just gathering together with appreciation, and of course, lots of good food!

Still can't publish photos. Our computer has been repaired, runs faster now and hopefully with a bit more tinkering the D drive will cooperate.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Heart Healthy -- almost

Yesterday we went to Salida for Doug's appointment with the Cardiologist. We saw a different doc this time -- Dr. Cole, who we liked. This cardiology group comes from Colorado Springs to Salida once a week. We hope we can see Dr. Cole on a regular basis and not have a different doc each time. Anyway, the 30 minute drive to Salida sure beats going over the mountains to Denver.
Before seeing the doc, Doug had a repeat Echocardiogram (cardiac ultrasound). When Dr. Cole came to see Doug, he had the report: Doug's heart is "almost back to normal". Sounds good to us!
Since Doug is still getting dizzy when he bends over, and the transplant oncologist thought the dizzness might be due to the Coreg (beta-blocker heart drug), we asked if Doug could stop the Coreg. Dr. Cole said he thinks the Coreg is still necessary. It lowers the blood pressure, which is a good thing for Doug's heart, to help it pump more easily. Doug is also on Lisinopril which is another heart drug. So although he has to stay on both drugs, Dr. Cole did stop the diuretic Aldactone. One less pill to take! Dr. Cole says he wants to see Doug in three months and will re-evaluate then, possibly reducing the dose of Coreg. "One thing at a time." Yesterday Doug's blood pressure was 90/68. Dr. Cole thought that was pretty good.

Dr. Cole also decided to do another EKG. That showed that the pacemaker is firing. Kind of surprising news to us, since the Denver cardiologist didn't think the pacer would be used. Cole said that at some point it might be a good idea to put in a different kind of pacemaker, one with the usual two wires. At the time the pacemaker was put in, Doug's atrium did not have the electrical activity for a wire (aka lead), so the primitive one-lead was used. He said the EKG showed that the heart "has not completely recovered from the heart block".

So we got kind of a mixed message, but overall it was a good report. Considering that seven months ago Doug's heart was severly compromised and barely functioning, and he was close to death's door, we are happy! Praise the Lord.

We took our truck camper to Denver a couple of weeks ago and had a nice visit with family. We look forward to many more trips -- there is much of Colorado we have not seen yet.

Today we are having snow -- the world outside is all white and very beautiful. Especially when we don't have to go anywhere!
Life is good!

Love to all.

Six month post transplant!

Yesterday we went to Denver for Doug's six month visit with Dr. Jeff Matous, his transplant doc. The official report on the bone marrow biopsy is "Persistent Plasma Cell Myeloma" -- that is because the marrow still has some plasma cells, but it is down to 4% now (was 7% at the three month mark). The good news is that there is NO evidence of any myeloma in the blood! Dr. Matous said that he doesn't know why the marrow still shows plasma cells but that "they are not doing anything", so that is good. So technically Doug is not in complete remission but is "very close". We think this is pretty good news.
Doug doesn't have to go back to the transplant center until the one year mark which will be next April. Meanwhile he will have blood work done every two months, and continue getting the Zometa bone-strengthener drug.

The blood counts did show a rise in Doug's creatinine, up to 1.7 which is too high. Not good news for the kidneys. Dr. Matous feels that this could be due to the heart meds which Doug is taking. We see the cardiologist next month and hope he will lower the dosage. The Zometa can also be hard on the kidneys. Meanwhile Doug is supposed to drink at least two quarts of fluids a day to help protect the kidneys. He is like a desert rat and doesn't like to drink water so I have to remind him often.

We both know that this disease comes back at some point -- some people get a long remission; ten years is the longest that we've heard of. If/when it does, most people go back on some form of chemo. We look forward to a long chemo-free time. We are very glad and thankful for Doug's health now. The heart-stopping horror of the transplant has faded and once again life is good.
Doug is feeling good and now has the go-ahead to mow the grass and do regular yard work -- yippee!

We had a good time visiting the Great Sand Dunes National Park a few days ago. I took pictures but for some unknown reason can't get them uploaded to the computer. The area has a kind of stark beauty and tons of natural history; we thought it was very worthwhile to see. Our truck camper worked well on the trip; putting a positive spin on it -- it was very cozy.

Love to all.

Repeat bone marrow biopsy

Yesterday we went to Rocky Mountain Cancer Center clinic in Denver for Doug's repeat bone marrow biopsy. The last one was three months ago and although good, wasn't quite the result Dr. Matous wanted. So hopefully this one will be better. They also drew six vials of blood for tests.
As usual, Doug had the "conscious sedation" -- fentanyl and versed via IV. This was his fourth time. The nurse practitioner did a good job. I could tell he experienced some pain (I watch for the curling of toes) but due to the medication, he remembers none of it. Today he is only a bit sore and taking Tylenol. Didn't hurt enough to prevent him from helping me dig up and separate some daylillies.
We go back next Thursday to get the results from Dr. Matous.

Meanwhile, we will be taking our maiden trip with the truck camper. We leave Sunday after church for the Great Sand Dunes national monument about three hours south of Buena Vista. We have never been there before. We will stay at a nearby state park campground.

Our grandsons came to see us over Labor Day; their mother Julie brought them out, also the boy's half sister Arianna who is 4. Ryan will turn 17 next week; Sean is 15 and Brendan is 13. They are good kids. Doug and I slept in the truck camper which is parked behind the house, leaving our small house for Julie and the kids. That arrangement worked pretty well. We had a great time -- we went hiking (Doug stayed home), and played board games at home. Luckily the boys still enjoy playing board games. We played 'Apples to Apples' and 'Big Boggle' and had lots of laughs.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

One year since diagnosis; all is well

Five months post transplant and all is well. Doug's energy level has come back -- he even changed the oil in the truck the other day. His beard is getting long enough to trim now; it is a lovely gray. Doug has discovered that he likes his hair short so will probably keep it that way, at least for now. His body temperature has regulated itself so that he is not cold all the time.

Summer in Buena Vista has been busy. We enjoyed visitors: Gary and Jan from Omaha stayed just two days; my sister Carol and her husband Roger stayed a week in their 5th wheel, and our friend Shari Haywood stayed a month in her 5th wheel. Shari, Carol and Roger stayed at the same campground where we were all last summer -- Valley RV. They were not all here at the same time.

BV has lots of summer activity for the tourists. We had a wonderful old fashioned 4th of July parade and fireworks in the evening, free concerts in the park every week, farmer's market, music festival, rodeo, a huge rock and gem show (I got some jewelry making supplies). Quite a few events are within walking distance of our house, and the vendor's tents are in the park just a block away.

We have been riding our recumbent trikes more and walking more. Our summer weather has been delightful for the most part, although dry. The highest temp was 89 (with low humidity). It feels quite warm in the sun, but at this altitude when clouds come out it feels 15 degrees cooler immediately. We have planted more periennials in the big flower garden (that was a big vegetable garden the previous owner had). I have two tomato plants but I don't think we will get them to ripen. The nights are already getting into the 40's here. Not the greatest climate for tomatoes but we love it.

We have our big 5th wheel RV up for sale. Our full-time RV traveling adventure lasted just one year, instead of the five years we had planned. It was fun while it lasted, but we have to move on in this different phase of life. Although we have put down roots, we still plan on some traveling. We now have a small slide-in truck camper! We found a used 2002 Lance that is in wonderful condition. It is quite a change from a big 34 ft 5th wheel to a 11.5 ft truck camper, but it has all the necessities: queen bed, bathroom with shower, kitchen with stove and small microwave, dinette, and on-board generator. I will miss all the storage that the 5th wheel had, but we won't need to take as much stuff. There are so many smaller camping sites that we now can access including forest service campgrounds. The truck is in for service now, but when we get it back we are looking forward to exploring Colorado. And we plan on making a trip back to Nebraska after Doug's next visit to the oncologist in September.

It is one year tomorrow since Doug was diagnosed with cancer and our lives changed. I wouldn't wish the past year on anyone -- but we are so blessed. We realize the power of prayer, and we cherish our good friends and family.

Life is good. Praise God!