Monday +47 (10:00 PM) Memorial Day

Today was hot and sticky in Rochester. The temperature climbed into the 90s today. It reminded us of April in Oklahoma:)

Jackie had a fairly good day today. She had some nausea yesterday and today. This is likely as a result of trying to stop her nausea meds. She had discontinued both her Compazine and the Scopolamine transdermal patch. Today she went back to using some Compazine to ease the discomfort. Because of the nausea and one instance of vomiting during our hospital visit they gave her an IV shot of Ativan. This is a muscle relaxer and anti-nausea med. They did this while I was out of the room. The shot was not necessary as her nausea is usually very short lived. As a result of the shot it put her to sleep for several hours. Once she awoke she felt good.

We ended up having a late lunch at the Olive Garden (again). Her appetite, although small, continues to improve. When we returned to the apartment we found that we had water all through the kitchen and creeping into the living room. It seems our tiny Italian-made combination washer/dryer had sprung a leak. I shut it off and called the apartment office. After about 30 minutes someone showed up to check out the problem. By this time I had the water mostly mopped up with the doors open and a fan blowing air across the wetter areas. They didn't want to call in maintenance due to the holiday. So, tomorrow we will have the maintenance people in fixing whatever is wrong. I've decided the Italians are much better at making food than washers and dryers!

Jackie's blood counts showed a good improvement today. Her RBC (Hgl) improved to 9.9 from yesterday's 9.5. Her WBC count improved to 3.1 from yesterday's 2.5. Her neutrophils are at 2.02. Her platelets continue to creep up. Today they were 125 up from yesterday's 122.

We just returned from the hospital where she received her nightly Ganicyclovir infusion. Due to the holiday they did not have the results of her CMV PCR test back. Hopefully they will have it early tomorrow. If not, then I would think by tomorrow night's treatment it should be available. My guess is that it will show improvement. The reason? Jackie's counts continue to improve in the face of the Ganicyclovir treatments. The Ganicyclovir is notorious for depleting blood counts. The CMV virus is also notorious for depleting counts. I believe her improvement is due to a lessening of the CMV viral load. Once we receive the counts we will know for certain.

I just noticed that yesterday's video had 46 viewers. Since it proved so popular I'll try to do some more. I'll get some shots of the Mayo Clinic from the inside and the subway system and the stores located below ground.

Until Later,

Bruce and Jackie
From Rochester, MN