Day 40!

We have been here two months now, and have two months left before day 100. Some things have gone better than we thought and other things have been not so smooth, but it's all good because it's all necessary for the hoped for recovery.

It was a wet walk to the clinic and back this morning, but this afternoon the sun was out and it was warm and beautiful for a walk around the block. We walked thru a little park and a community garden, then this evening we watched Support Your Local Sheriff.

We hope your Memorial Day was a good one!

Day 39 - Another full day!

The blood transfusion went well. There were no problems and we were done earlier than expected. We learned Saturday that his count was at 26, and that is when they do a transfusion. After his blood draw today we learned that he was at 24, so we were glad to have this help before it got any lower. Terry began to feel slightly better by the time we were done and we look forward to some better days - hopeful for them anyway. We were on our way home at 3:20, and ended up walking in the rain. Good thing it was not pouring down hard, we were wet enough as it was.

They have a nutrition room on the infusion floor for the patients who are "stuck" there during meal time. It is a small kitchen like room, with no dining area. The refrigerators and cupboards are filled with drinks, snacks, soups, and other microwavable foods. So for lunch Terry had macaroni and cheese, jello, and chocolate milk. I had a yogurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and milk.

We were done so early that my mom and dad were able to come to the apartment to visit instead of to the clinic. It was good to see them. We really are doing fine here, but being over here with nothing familiar is a bit "cage-y" feeling so seeing familiar people occasionally is really a great thing. We don't have be be caged in to enjoy their company though - the family looks forward to seeing them Friday for Chase's graduation. (Thanks for coming mom and dad! We love you!)

After their visit we emailed Michael and talked with the family at home. It was late and I didn't want to spend more time posting. I am actually writing this early Monday morning, but changed the time so it posted on the right day. But having already gone through the night, I can say that Terry didn't have a good one. It actually was difficult for him to lay/sit on that bed during transfusion too, so it wasn't just the night that was a bit tricky, it had been coming on for awhile. Too many aches and pains and discomforts, and maybe too much going through his mind too. We'll hope and pray for better nights, as well as better days.

Today!

It's been a long, full day for us today. Much of the day was spent on the phone with several people (and one person several times, right Anthony? It was fun talking to you! Those martians kept interrupting though didn't they?).
Much of the day was spent cleaning, doing laundry and re-cleaning because I gave Terry a hair cut, which made a mess of things. His hair looks nice but he sure doesn't have as much hair to cut after loosing so much of it. Lucky he had so much to begin with.

It was raining when we got up this morning and we thought we'd need our umbrella for sure, but we never had to open it. The rain stopped and we were dry both coming and going to the clinic for blood draw, though there was just a bit of "misting" along the route coming home, but that was along the sidewalk with the highway above us and to the left, so maybe it was really just road spray :).

But, what you really want to know is how Terry is feeling. He is feeling weak. The nausea is decreasing, but the energy is too. We were informed this afternoon that his red cells are too low so he is scheduled for 2 units of blood tomorrow, and it could take up to 5 hours to receive it. Therefore we will spend much of our Sunday in the infusion room. We hope this helps him feel better and more energetic. It was good to learn how long it will take so that we can drag along some books or something to do during the transfusion. Elaine's mom and dad plan to come visit for a couple hours, so that should help the day go faster.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to BrittanyJo!
We love you!

Did you know?
BrittanyJo's name was in our family for 14 years before we got to actually use it. We told our boys that if they ever met a BrittanyJo they just had to marry her, because we were sure we were supposed to have one in our family. When our very own BrittanyJo was born we released our boys from that responsibility :)

Rainy days!

We went to our blood draw today, but we took the shuttle because of the rain. We hear that it will probably rain all through the weekend, because that is what happens here on Memorial Day weekend. So, we will probably need our umbrella for the walk Sat., Sun., and Mon. because there will be no shuttle. Maybe we'll dodge the rain. ??? We'll head back for hydration later today, walking if it's clear and riding if not.

We were at the counter checking in for blood draw when one of the gals came out to get a patient, saw us there and said said, before getting any paperwork, "I'll take Terry back." It was interesting that she could remember him and his name with all the patients that come through daily, and there are a dozen people doing the same job, so we never get the same person all the time, though we have had some of them more than once. We have talked about how this gal takes it personally. She has even mentioned that we will want to come back to see her to tell her how Terry is doing when he comes back for his one year check.

These people working here at SCCA cannot and do not know all things, but they sure do a great job with what they do know and can do. We are so grateful for them. This is not only a medical facility, but is also a research center. They are continually learning. We are grateful for what they have learned thus far, and hope to help with what they are learning for the future so that eventually, other patients can benefit from it.

There is a lot going on at home and we thank everyone who has shared part of their lives with our children, helping them in any way. Even things that seem small and simple are to us, quite grand and wonderful. Thank You! We feel your love as you share with our family, and we are grateful.

We were hoping to get special permission to come home for graduation day, but we are finding some concern with Terry's counts. We picked up our new schedule today, and found that we are scheduled through Friday of next week. This doesn't necessarily mean we will not go home, but it does make us believe that we will not be going early enough to be there for anything other than graduation. We will have to wait for our Wednesday appointment to know for sure. We are keeping our fingers crossed! (Okay, not really, but we are hoping and praying that things improve in time for us to go home for Chase's graduation.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to Linda!
We love you!

Just another day!

We went to a blood draw this morning, stopped at the pharmacy, got our new schedule and had a short visit with our nurse. There really is no news for today that is different than yesterday. Terry continues to feel exhausted and yet needs to get in some exercise.

We came home from the clinic and he rested and slept for awhile and then we went to the grocery store. We had been putting that off since Saturday and were finally out of milk and eggs and yogurt and ... we needed several things. So, walking the isles of the grocery store was the exercise for the day. Not enough for what they want, but enough for what he wants. The weather is not cooperating and we don't want to get wet so we will probably wander the halls and take a few stairs later today, but right now there's a game on!

Here's what we learned at todays clinic visit:

- "Things are going well."
- Kidney function is better, almost normal.

- Some concern still with the liver and spleen.

- Remain at 1 liter daily hydration. (This is the IV fluid, which is in addition to his drinking and eating amounts.)
- White blood improving, is at 2.4
- Neutrophil improving, is at 1.64
- Platelets are good.
- CLL improved from about 5% when we started to about 2.7%. "But it's still early!"
- Chimerisms - "Well engrafted at this point." (this is where it tells us how much is Dennis' vs Terry's blood) 70% Dennis and 30% Terry. "It was a slow start, but this is a good number. We usually like to see it at 50% or better at this point, so we like these numbers."
- Red cells are "being chewed up faster than normal" and cause some concern. They are looking into this and trying to figure out why this is happening. This is usually a concern for patients who have a donor that was not a perfect match, but we had a perfect match, so they are wondering about this a bit. This necessitates more blood draws - which meant we went back to blood draw today, for a second draw, and will have daily draws until it is no longer necessary. Blood transfusion could be in his future if it does not improve itself. This count actually explains his lack of energy. His get up and go, kinda got up and went ... without him.
- One more medicine is added to the mix. But only two days a week. That is only four pills a week more than now, so that is good for Terry, but it makes things a bit more hectic to schedule and remember.
- Next bone marrow aspiration at day 56.
- More walking! "Get out more!" Just like they told Fival - "Keep walking!" They want Terry to spend some of the energy he doesn't have! That's harder than spending money you don't have. But, we can do hard things!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to Shannon!
We love you!

day 30

It seemed that day 7 took so long to get here, as did day 12, and then it was finally day 20. It was great to have day 27 because it was an informative day for us, and then day 28 which is a "mile stone", and now, today we are at day 30. Nothing special about that number, except that it's 30 days closer to the end of life in Seattle as we know it. (Oh, the silly things we celebrate! Well, we are not really celebrating it, I just thought I'd mention it. It's always difficult to decide what to write here. Okay, I'm rambling - back to the matters at hand.)

Um! About Terry -
He is still nauseated . . . , he has been fine - er :) but he is fine! You should know by now that he is always fine.

We had a great visit from Bishop Derek and Carly today. It was good to see them and we appreciate their kindness and hospitality. These little visits from family and friends make home seem a little closer. They brought us a delicious lunch and we had enough for dinner too, so what a great "easy" cooking day.

PS - We can hardly wait to hear how the swimming went.

Update!

The bone marrow aspiration went well yesterday, except for the nausea and vomiting. That doesn't sound so well does it? Actually, it wasn't very pleasant at all. So what went well? They got the samples they needed on the first try and didn't need to "go in" again. We got back to the apartment and Terry slept for a few hours. All in all it was a good day to have over and he will remain a bit achy for a few days.

Today is a little better and we received some good news that he can stop taking one other medicine. It seemed that when he started taking this medicine it made him feel a little more "icky" so we hope that it wasn't just coincidence, and he can start feeling even better now. This last week has been a little more difficult for him because of the things that are happening inside his body.

He's had a blood draw every Sunday for awhile, but they have given him this Sunday off, and it should remain that way if things continue to go well. The changes in meds and blood draw have to do with the rise in white blood count and the engraftment that is taking place.

We did get an outdoor walk in this afternoon. No rain while we were walking, but it was kinda chilly and windy. Somehow the fresh air helps even if it is a bit cold.

The last few days have been kinda full, and today included getting new bedding for the beds here in the Pete Gross House. They have to be laundered before they are put on the beds so we add that to the list of things to do.

The green is of course the one that fits the twin bed and the brown sham on top is the color of the queen bed that we use. (It's not ready yet!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to Brayden!
We love you!

Day 27

We had an informative clinic visit today.

The white blood count is creeping up, and other counts are also improving. This means that the engraftment has begun, though it is moving slowly.

Terry is experiencing some hip bone pain and they credit that to the engrafting. The last couple days he has felt a little more nauseated and exhausted, also possibly due to the engrafting and all the work his body is doing to "fix" itself. We received instruction to stop one of his meds that they say is a culprit in making him feel nauseated. This med is stopped because it is one used to prevent GVHD (graft verses host disease) and there is no sign of it in this early stage. This doesn't mean he will never experience it, but it isn't happening now, and that's good. Don't worry that he isn't protected against GVHD, as he continues taking other meds to help prevent it.

Terry's liver is better, even good. His hydration has gone from 1.5 liters to 1 liter per day, from 6 to 4 hours, and hopefully that means he can get more rest at night due to fewer trips to the bathroom.

Doctors are still watching his counts and are "encouraged" by his recovery. "Things are going well!" (quotations directly from the doctor)

Terry has a bone marrow aspiration tomorrow. They look forward to the information they gain from that procedure, but we will not know the results until after our clinic visit on Tuesday.

PS - The internet in our apartment in not working, so I had to use the lobby computer. This is not very convenient or even always available, so there may not be a post from me again until ours is up. They are hoping for Thursday, but no promises. We hope you find this post informative and encouraging, as we do.

We send our love to all!

Sunday / Monday

The internet was down Sunday, so we couldn't post, but we had a good day!

Sunday was a special day for sure! Gregory brought the kids over for a special occasion - Anthony received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of Deacon. Usually this type of thing happens in the bishops office at the ward meeting house, occasionally it happens in one's home, but for Anthony it happened in our apartment, here in Seattle.

It was so awesome to see the boys in their white shirts and ties, with their sister, walking up the street to the door - a sight that definitely pulled on the heart strings. Then to see them in the family room after the blessing/ordination, giving hugs and enjoying the special moment, was another ... well, special moment.




It was a quick trip for them. They came and took care of business, ate, and had to leave after a little visiting. But, we had a good time together, ending it with banana shakes and berry smoothies before they headed home.
Try this one:
Summer Very Berry Cherry Smoothie (it takes longer to say the name than it does to make it :)
1 cup yogurt (Cherry Vanilla, or any berry yogurt - we had raspberry)
3/4 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
3 ice cubes
Combine in blender or processor until smooth. Enjoy!

I know it was just yesterday, but we look forward to the next visit already :).

Because our internet was down, we couldn't watch any General Conference talks online. We did put in a DVD from Time Our For Women and watched it. We enjoyed the music and the message. Each speaker had a one liner that I thought was clever and useful to remember. I'm going to have to watch it again to write them all down. One was; "All you can do is the best you can do, and that's all God expects. They (God and Christ) can fill in the rest."

Monday has not been the best day for Terry as far as feeling really well, but he was able and willing to let me "drag" him around a bit. We didn't have a clinic visit so we ventured out to find a Walmart store. We made it, and to Macy's too. Terry walked the Walmart store with me but sat in the car while I went into Macy's. We took care of some wedding preps and headed back to the apartment.
We are continuing Terry's hydration and he is resting after the busy morning.
These roads are crazy around here and I think I like driving to TriCities or Wenatchee much better :) At least I know where I'm going to some degree, and I could always find my way back home. I get so turned around here, it's awful. The only directions I can really feel are that up is up and down is down, but North, South, East and West keep changing on me :) Terry tells me that they are staying the same, but I sure can't find them when I need them most. Oh Ya! Their on my mirror, but I didn't think to look there. I just ask for directions from the nice guy beside me - yip, that's Terry. Samantha tries to help us, but sometimes she just confuses us. At least she recalculates for us in a hurry.

We walked to the clinic for hydration this morning. Terry receives 1.5 liters hydration daily and it takes about 6 hours. It is nice that we can do this on our own instead of in the clinic for that many hours every day. It is also convenient that the pump and bag of fluid can be carried in a back pack and go with him wherever he might wish to go, if he is feeling up to going somewhere.

A few minutes after we got back from the clinic we had a nice visit with Katie and her friend. They stopped in for a few minutes before attending a wedding in the area. It was a pleasant addition to our weekend.

After lunch we went grocery shopping, then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the apartment and doing the laundry.


Our next appointment with the doctor is Tuesday. We'll let you know if we learn anything new. For now, Terry is still nauseated throughout the day and feels weak, but he is doing well.

A few shots for the day!

This photo represents the beginning of our walk to the clinic today for blood draw.

The second and third photos represent what we see while at the clinic.

See the "duck" in the first of these? Every time we see a duck out on the water we remember the ride we had. It's a good memory. Thanks for the memories!

The second of the "lake" photos is just a paddle boat that we saw today. It was a busy day on the lake, planes and all kinds of boats coming and going.

The last photo represents the walk we took just before dinner tonight. It was just a simple recap of the walk we took yesterday but today we had the camera. Look at that - we were at the center of the city. Awe the excitement! :) Is that cool or what? :)

Other than a few problems with our email, all is well!

Here's what's happening here!

No clinic visit, but we did go to the clinic to pick up prescriptions and to check out a sidewalk sale in front of the SCCA building. The gift shop was selling some of their overstock and/or unsold items. Not too much to ooh and aah over, but I guess we have now "been there and done that!"

Terry is supposed to exercise or walk for 15 minutes, three times a day. So because the weather was good today we walked to the clinic and back, which at this rate does take us 15 minutes each way. We also walked a few blocks before dinner. That walk took us longer than we thought, about 35 minutes. Yeah us!

On days when it is raining he wanders the halls and stairs of the apartment complex, pump in hand. He is feeling okay, but not his best. I can't describe how he feels, and he doesn't really complain, so I'll just say that he feels icky. He has been loosing quite a bit of hair the last few days. We keep thinking he won't have any left, but he still looks great. He does have a lot of hair so it's not too noticeable to others who don't know. We do wonder when it's going to stop.

I've been working online a bit making a guest book for Skyler and Lisa. It's a fun project to spend time on.

We've been doing some word search puzzles and learned something today. Did you know that the word repaid spelled backwards is diaper? Nothing profound, but kinda funny.

All in all it's been a good day. We hope your day has been a good one too!

we are at day 21

Our clinic visit today went well, though we learned nothing new, except that Terry only needs 1 1/2 liters IV fluid each day for the next three days. Things are still going as expected, with no major changes in anything, so we continue to wait.

We visited with Anthony on the phone a couple times today. Happy birthday to him! He received his presents when he was here with us last weekend, so he got nothing but cake and icecream this morning, except for a surprise this evening. As we visited I created an email account for him. He can now email us and receive from us, and others of course. If you'd like to wish him a happy birthday you may do so at ahebdon@live.com.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to Anthony!
We love you!

Did you know?
He is our caboose! 12 years old this year! He is just barely taller than his Grandma Hebdon.

We're doing fine here in our home away from home!

Still playing the waiting game!
Blood draw today, and we have not received a call for any changes, so we keep on keepin' on.

We did receive a package in the mail today, filled with some fun things to eat, do, and use to help us with that keepin' on. Thanks so much for the kindness. So many have been so generous - Thank you! We feel your love for us and send it right back - hoping you feel it too!

Terry was reading in The Progressive Farmer magazine and found some quotes we'll share. They seemed quite fitting for the life we are presently living - here in Seattle, happy to be here to take care of Terry's health needs, but our thoughts are definitely drawn toward home.

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to." John Ed Pearce

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." George Moore

"My home is in heaven. I'm just traveling through this world." Billy Graham

"The most important work you will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes." Harold B. Lee

"The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship." Amelia Earhart

"A child on the farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place... A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and thinks of home." Unknown

"I'd rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world." George Washington

"I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself." Maya Angelou

Manic Monday & Missionary Michael & Medical Madness & More :)

MANIC MONDAY =
Wow! It's nice to have a small apartment today :). I cleaned and sterilized every inch of the place today. It smells a lot like bleach though, and it's too chilly to open the door for long. I've needed a lot of water today as I have been working and I have so enjoyed the good well water. We've had a hard time with the water here. Terry's taste changes even make it worse. So our kids brought us a couple containers of our own delicious hard water to enjoy for awhile. What a treat! Thanks so much! I feel cleaner as I drink that great water :)

We also changed Terry's bandage, so he's clean too :)

.

We woke up to rain this morning, (yip, more about water :), so the fun chalk art was washed away, but there were some cute little bubbles running down toward the drain, due to the excess bubbles that were dumped and still on the cement. It was fun to watch for a few minutes. We feel pretty lucky to have the largest private deck in the building. It created more space for us and a place for some great activities.

.

MISSIONARY MICHAEL=

We got some photos from Michael last night after I blogged, so I am adding them here today.

This is the group of students that they are teaching English.

I know that I said this already in yesterday's post, but he is doing well and we are pleased!

.

MEDICAL MADNESS=

Terry is doing well. He has had a few moments of feeling kinda tired and icky, but is doing well for the most part. He has spent much of the day doing some bookkeeping and reading.

.

MORE :)=

Mother's Day continued, as we got our mail and found a card from Brandon and Megan and some fun scrapbooking stickers - perfect for the occasion! Thanks so much!

AND

We do have some great news. We saved the best for last, so that those who made it all the way thru the post would receive the greatest news ;) and it would be fresh on their minds. :) We wanted to not share it until .... Well, we wanted to hold off for awhile, but this news is just too good to keep quite for any length of time.

Skyler and Lisa are getting married!! Yep! August 10th, in the Columbia River Temple. Awesome huh! I'll have to get another photo of them, but until I do, just refer to the January post with the photo of the 3 Royal guys and the 3 Moses Lake girls. Lisa is the gal with Skyler.

Congrats to Skyler and Lisa!

A Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

We've had as many as four people in the apartment before, but this weekend we had 13 people, and oh how we filled it, and oh how we loved the visit!

Gregory and Thomas and their families slept in a nearby hotel and Skyler, Connor, BrittanyJo, and Anthony stayed the night with us.

We took many photos, so I'll share a few here:
We met here together each day and ate and visited ...

and blew bubbles...

drew with side walk chalk...

"grew" sponge dinosaurs...

and opened several gifts:

We had so many birthdays that we sang "Happy birthday's to us!" What a silly song that sounded like, but still a fun thing for our memories to come. We sang to us all, but we didn't all get gifts this weekend.

Anthony's birthday is Wednesday, so we opened his gifts first.

Brayden's birthday is the following Wednesday, so we opened his next.

BrittanyJo's birthday is the 29th, so we opened hers next.

There were other gifts, but those photos might be on other cameras (but that isn't bad). It was, of course, also Mother's Day, and there were some awesome Mother's Day gifts, in addition to the awesome visit from family. One was a very cool apron, made by BrittanyJo and Adena. Elaine is wearing it here while preparing chicken for lunch.

And here is an awesome frame full of family photos.

It was a great weekend of celebration.

We also spent some time at the motel pool Saturday evening.

Tawny and Brayden loved jumping in.

Auger didn't want to get out!

So much fun!

Terry tossed pennies in for Anthony and BrittanyJo to get off the bottom of the pool.


Early Sunday morning Terry had a blood draw so those of us here at the apartment walked to the clinic and met those who stayed in the motel.

We took everyone up to the 6th floor to see the great view from the waiting room there.

We eventually had to say good-bye :(

We had 13 in the apartment, but there are 17 of us all in all. We were crowded, but we would have stuffed more in if it were possible. But, we know life is full of opportunities and responsibilities that makes it impossible to do what we want all of the time.

We missed Michael, but we know he is where he is supposed to be, so that makes things a lot better. We had a wonderful visit with him on the phone tonight, a call we look forward to for several months. He sounds good and is good! He loves the food, loves the people, and loves the work, and is presently in Omuta. He is doing well.

We missed Chase, who stayed home to attend a prom, and to participate in a tennis meet. He drove his grandparents to church today and spent the afternoon with them and some other great relatives :).

We also missed Brandon and Megan, but enjoyed a phone visit with him too. They are doing well and enjoying life in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

It's a bit late to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day, but we do hope that you had a great day and may you have a life full of joy.

Today was a day much like any other here for us the last few weeks; we went to a blood draw and then to a clinic appointment. Things are going as expected and experts are taking good care of Terry. We continue to feel that we are in good hands.
Terry's blood counts remain low and we learned that they will probably bounce around for a few more days still before they start heading upward again. So, we play more of the waiting game, and that's okay! The waiting game is going pretty good as we know it presently.
We did have a great mail day and thank the thoughtful senders for their thoughts and prayers and generosity. You're awesome! Thanks!

Terry is doing well!

We took a quick trip to the clinic for fluids and supplies, came back to the apartment and started Terry's fluids, and then had some visitors this afternoon.
My mom and dad came for the afternoon and we had a nice visit. I completed their photo albums and they were able to take them home with them.
It was nice to see them and have them visit us here.
It made for a great day! Thanks mom and dad! We love you!

A quick look at today:
- early blood draw.
- IV / hydration, all day (or so it seemed), but he is done for the day! Yeah!!!
- can take 2 fewer cyclosporine pills each morning and evening (so he's down to only 3 of the icky pills each dose).
- Becky brought us things from home. (Thanks so much! What a service to take time out of your busy schedule to think of us and help us out! We love you and hope you have a good week and an even better next week :)
- sorted and read the mail, paid some bills.
- did some online searching and even some creating.

Still to come:
- trying to solve a broken car problem the guys have at home.
- watching a movie tonight /don't know which one yet.

Labs and clinic visits today:
- Add one more medicine for blood pressure. (Common for transplant patients.)
- Stop using the mouth rinse for thrush. (Because it's better.)
- Add a second liter of hydration today and tomorrow, making 2 liters each day - wow! Started that late in the afternoon due to the clinic visits this morning, so we'll be hydrating till late tonight.
- Cyclosporine levels are high - caused some potassium increase, eat foods containing low levels of potassium, come in next day for blood draw to determine dosage of cyclosporine meds thereafter.
- Got new supplies and med refills.

Especially for Dennis and MaryAnn :)

Back to the 60's - Oh No!
And I don't mean the 1960's.

We took a little walk down to the office to pay our parking and get the box you/Dennis and MaryAnn, sent. Thank you! We will certainly enjoy!
After getting the box we went down to the lobby to get our mail. We had a letter from Brandon and Megan (thanks!) and a couple for someone who must have lived in this apartment before we came, so we took it back up to the office. After we left the office we went back to the stairs to come back to the apartment and started walking down the stairs ... um! ... we live up stairs from there. As I rounded the corner to head down another flight of stairs it dawned on me that I was going the wrong direction and Terry was traveling right along with me. Wow!
I don't know what was going on in my head to send me down instead of up, but we had a great laugh all the way back up those flights of stairs and to the apartment. I'm still laughing.

... I know, it must have rubbed off of the box! :)

This little senior moment has added some fun to our day. Maybe we just needed a good laugh. Thanks guys! We couldn't have done it without you.

This post will make sense mostly to Dennis and MaryAnn, others may struggle to find the humor. But, we had some fun senior moments with them while they were here, and they seem to be lingering.

OH! Maybe Dennis' cells are really kicking in!

All is Well!

I'm not sure what to write today.

Terry is doing well. We have discussed the fact that we expected worse than what he is experiencing and we are pleased that it is better than we thought. It is no picnic, but it is better than we thought.

Today is T-11, which is transplant day plus eleven days, so with 89 days to go we realize there is a long road still ahead and so much more to come. We hope we are ready!

We visited with the kids on the phone and on skype for awhile today. It is always fun to hear them and see that all is well.

I've mentioned a few things about the sights and sounds of Seattle in our past posts. Surely there will be more of that to come too. But it seems that today is just a simple do nothing day, with nothing much to say, except - All is Well!

God be with you till we meet again!

Our Adventure!

We decided to brave the roads today and drive to the clinic for our appointment and then go to the grocery store (and to a shoe store if I could talk Terry into it).

Well, we got to the car and it wouldn't start, so we walked to the clinic for his blood draw. When we got back Terry waited at the car in case someone would come by and he could have them help jump it, and I took the fluids we picked up at the pharmacy up to our refrigerator. By the time I got back down to the car he did have some help - many thanks to the kind lady! We have been so happy to ride with Dennis and MaryAnn while they were here and use the shuttle that we have left the car in the garage since we got here. It has been 19 days since we parked it there. That is a long time for us. I guess it just got tired of waiting and didn't want to go anymore.

We drove to Safeway where I did the shopping and Terry stayed in the car, leaving it running so we would have a way back. We also found a US Bank open and did some banking that we needed to do. We then found a place to purchase a battery and came back to the apartment. Terry began to work at replacing the battery and I began to carry groceries up to the apartment. I decided that I had indeed purchased too many groceries since it took me so many trips back and forth.

I helped Terry a little with the battery and by the time we were done and back to the apartment we both felt so exhausted that we sat to rest a bit.

We got a call from the clinic and learned that Terry has no fighting white blood cells, so he now needs a new medicine, starting tonight. So, I walked to the clinic for his meds, leaving Terry here, connected to his pump getting his fluids.

When I returned I told Terry that I had seen over 2 dozen boats on the lake, and looking out our window to see what we could see from our little view we saw the two sail boats that I mentioned in yesterday's post, so I got this picture from our deck.

That wonderful power pole is in perfect view isn't it!?!?!?

Terry suggested that I go up to the roof to get a better photo. I'd never been to the roof before, but had thought it would be a fun place to see.

I took the stairs just outside our door, and guess what? The door was locked and I couldn't get out onto the roof. So I went down a flight of stairs and walked around to a different set of stairs and then back up to the roof. That door worked!

This is the view I had when I walked out the door, onto the roof.

No wonder I couldn't get out the door on our side. That door does indeed go out to the roof, but it's not a patio roof, just the ugly roof top that the mechanics would want to get to.

Here is a view of the roof from the other direction. It isn't a large place, but it is the roof.

And this is the view of the ships on the lake from the roof.

I really don't want to climb any more stairs today and I don't want to walk to the clinic again. The clinic is uphill both ways. Really!

Oh, we never did make it to the shoe store. Maybe that will be an adventure for another day.