May 24 - Another Bump in the road

On Friday, May 20, we headed for the outpatient clinic, fighting the morning commute which Nancy LOVES (not!). Since she has to do the driving, she's had a crash course in commute driving in Portland. So far we're surviving that and she's doing very well. I'd been having fevers for the previous few days so they ordered more tests and, with the weekend coming, decided I needed to be in the hospital. We spent the rest of the day waiting for a room and were finally checked in by dinnertime. Am in my 4^th day here and they're still looking for the cause of my fevers, which go up and down. They're pumping me with antibiotics and running more tests. The doctors say this sometimes happens and they aren't always able to pinpoint the cause but we hope it will resolve itself. They also say most patients hit a couple of these "bumps in the road" along the way and they don't seem to be overly concerned. It's a long journey, but my white counts and platelets are going up and I'm headed in the right direction. I'm at Day 39 and they say at Day 60 (mid-June) some of the restrictions should be eased (like, I may be able to go out to eat, though still on a low-bacteria diet.) and at 100 days (latter part of July) I will be off the low bacteria diet and less restrictions about germs, crowds, etc.

We are in a different room, on the back side, without the view of the city and Mt. Hood, but we have a pleasant view of houses, hillside, blooming rhododendrons and dogwoods, and the sunset (when the sun is out). We enjoy watching people and cars coming and going. One interesting sight is the med-evac helicopters coming in for a landing on top of the building next to us, the Emergency Room heliport. We've watched a variety of helicopters, including a large Coast Guard helicopter. They don't come that often and the noise isn't bothersome.

We had hoped to be out by mid-week, but not sure now. It's hard being here again and not knowing what's going on, but we have confidence in the doctors and enjoy the nursing staff and their sense of humor (like writing "Welcome back!" on my event board.) Everyone is so friendly and encouraging. This unit is almost like a family.

As an added complication, we are in the process of selling the house in Eugene, which we had purchased from my mother a few years ago. We were very happy to have 3 offers in the first week and accepted one. It's been a challenge trying to sign papers back and forth from Eugene. Brett has been helping us by e-mailing the papers back and forth for us. It's a great relief, of course, to have a sale pending! `