Saturday +51 (10:30 PM)

Today started off bad for Jackie. Her back was really bothering her early this morning. Fortunately it improved throughout the day. This was helped by the ingestion of a couple of Oxycodone tablets.

We spoke with the doctor this morning and he wants to do some imaging studies of her back and neck to see if there is anything other than medicine that might be causing the pain. We really do not expect to find anything. She will also see the neurology department for a consult. Again, likely nothing will turn up but they are taking every precaution. To help ease the pain they are tapering her off the Mycophenolate anti-rejection medication. This will (hopefully) allow her new immune system to help fight the CMV which would lead to a reduction in the Ganicyclovir anti-viral treatments. They want to make certain the CMV remains in her blood only and does not settle into any solid organs. When that happens the problems becomes more serious.

I do not have any blood counts today. Why? Because they did not do a CBC. This means that they feel she is stable enough to skip some days. I'm not certain how often these will now be drawn. Perhaps every other day or every third day will be often enough. When we found we had no CBC counts we were almost depressed! We are so used to following these and charting any progress (or lack thereof) we didn't know what to think.

This afternoon we took a long drive over into Wisconsin. We drove to Red Wing, MN and around the Mississippi river. It was really a pretty drive. We were able to drive on a road along a lake formed by the river for about 30 miles. We saw hundred and hundreds of motorcycles making the same trip. This included a group of about 40 Cushman scooters. I'm not certain how far they intended to travel. As I recall from my teenage years they only go about 40 mph and were subject to all sorts of mechanical problems! When I was a kid you could have taken your pick of old Cushman scooters for $50. Now they are collectable and worth thousands!

Our "starlet" agreed to do another video. I've included her latest work! This time she is far more upbeat. The video is a bit longer. It is the second video. Watch the first video before watching the other. It is a portion of the one that we were sent from Pryor. Once you see it, some of Jackie's remarks will make more sense.

Here is the first one from Pryor:


Here is Jackie's video:


Until Later....

Bruce and Jackie
From Rochester, MN