Tuesday +48 (10:00 PM) CMV update

We just returned from the hospital for the nightly CMV infusion. It seems Jackie still has a tiny level of the CMV virus floating around. The viral copy count is 500. If you will recall the count first started at 2000, then 2500, and last week the count was 4000. A count of 500 is the smallest unit the detector can detect. If I am not mistaken if they locate one virus copy it gets counted as 500. We will get a better idea of how they wish to continue tomorrow morning when we see the doctor. My guess is they will wish to continue the Ganicyclovir for another week on a once-per-day schedule.

Jackie's counts declined a bit today. Her RBC (Hgl) was down to 9.0 from yesterday's 9.9. Her WBC count declined to 2.2 from yesterday's 3.1. Her platelets declined to 116 from yesterday's 125. It could be an anomaly, or it could be a sign of something else taking place. She has not had any fevers, so we will need to wait and see what tomorrow's counts look like. Hopefully it isn't a trend and she will rebound tomorrow.

I think I mentioned this, but the entire apartment building is filled with Middle Eastern Arabs. Lots of guys dressed like shieks and women in the full-cover burkas. I spoke with the maintenance guy today and asked if he had ever met the owner of the building. It seems he is from Dubai and the penthouse is reserved for the owner and his family. It is never rented out - ever! The maintenance guy told me the owner has never visited the place since built. It seems he built the building for his "subjects". I think they get to stay here free! Ok...it's the redneck coming out in me...but I'm paying a small fortune for the apartment and a small fortune to fill up the car at the pump. Something doesn't seem right. Hopefully the Mayo Clinic is charging those guys twice as much as me to make up the U.S. balance of trade. Like Larry the Cable Guy I say, "Git R Done".

Until later,

Bruce and Jackie
From Rochester, MN