Sunday +32 (Sunday 10:30 PM)

I just lost the Survivor pool at work. My Survivor made it to the final 2. Congratulations Duke!

Jackie had a good day today. With no hospital visit we were able to sleep a little later today (8:30 AM). After getting up and taking her normal morning dose of noxious pills and potions we headed off for the flea market again today. Yesterday Jackie was able to make it through 2 of the 11 buildings. Today she made it through another 2. I ended up making it through all 11 buildings.

My big purchase of the day was a bicycle. It is a lady's model. I gave $30 for it. It hasn't been used much. It is a cheap model, a Murray (stop laughing Derrick!). Little did I know that I could have purchased a new Wal-Mart model for about $60. It would have been the correct size. Oh well, this one should work OK for a couple of months and I won't feel too bad leaving a $30 bicycle behind when we leave. I ended up buying $24 worth of tools to make adjustments to it. The brakes, shifter, seat, and handlebars needed adjustments.

I ended up taking a ride of about 10 miles around the river located about 2 blocks from our apartment. They have a great set of bicycle trails that rival those of Nantucket. I'm not certain how far they go, but at 10 miles I didn't find the end.

Jackie's nausea has been much better the last couple of days. She is still fighting bouts from time-to-time, but it seems to be getting better. She still has little desire to eat. Both days while out I offered to take her anywhere she would like to grab a bite to eat. She asked to go to Burger King for a cheeseburger. She was able to eat about 1/2 of the small cheeseburger on both days.

Since we had no hospital visit today I have no blood counts. I will have Saturday's results tomorrow.

I think we will likely graduate to doctor's office visits tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted. For now, it's back to reading some medical trials on the Internet that deal with CLL, killer T-cells, and dendritic cells and how they work in relation to pulmonary functions. They all come into play for people with CLL when they try to get a flu shot. Interesting fact: flu shots and pneumonia shots don't work on patients with CLL. The problem is patients with CLL often are hospitalized (and yes die) due to simple pulmonary infections, pneumonia, etc. A drug exists for basil cell carcinoma (Aldera) that offers hope as a cell booster in CLL patients. It will be going into clinical trials soon. Of course, Jackie to some extent is past this problem due to her transplant. Her immune system would still have serious problems with flu or pneumonia, but within a year it should be to the point that flu and pneumonia shots will once again work for her just as it would on anyone else.

Until later,

Bruce and Jackie
From Rochester, MN