I have been trying for three days to post this blog but I keep getting an error banner, which won't let me finish the blog or let me post it. However, it seems to be working ok for now so I shall finish rather quickly so I can keep everyone up to date on the sick and afflicted.
Jeri has been doing really well the last several days and is getting stronger every day and she has some excellent PTs & OTs and no one can complain about that. I think she may come home on the ninth of November; it will be great to have her home. she has be away from me for almost three months and that is way too long for me.
This blog will be post as of this date 11/1/09 but covers last Friday and Saturday and today, which is Sunday.
I think I have discovered the problem of not being able to post a new entry on my blog; it seems that we were having trouble with the Internet; technology is wonderful when it is working but can be rather bothersome when things are going to pot.
Today was the first day of regular Mountain Standard Time, and it was rather dark when I came home about five-thirty. It is my prayer that dialysis goes as well tomorrow has it has in the last several days, oh, by the way, there is a woman from the Rose Park area that has treatments the same day as Jeri does but neither of them feel like talking very much, but then Jeri has never been a long talker. I hope this thing continues to work like it should and I shall post again tomorrow. Just keep those prayers coming if you don't mind.

I went to bed last night about ten and awakened this morning shortly after seven, which is early and late for me. When I got to the hospital Jeri was eating her breakfast and shortly thereafter I was wheeling her down to therapy. She did really good this morning even if it wasn't like it was a couple of weeks ago, however, it is obvious to me that she is getting her feet back under her, so to speak.
At eleven the bus was ready to take her to dialysis so the way she went and I left about the same time but I was there many minutes before they finally arrived and shortly thereafter she was hooked up and her blood was being pumped through a machine, and that continued for three hours; they removed 3 litters of water out of her system, which is a really good amount and she had no blood pressure problems. While she was hooked up to the machine I went to Del Taco and bought each of us a soft shell taco and some fries, which was rather cheap, less than three dollars. When I opened the sack I could see why they were so cheap; they were really little but tasted pretty good. I asked Jeri if she was no longer hungry and she indicated she would like one more taco so I went to Taco Bell and bought another cheap taco, which cost a dollar and a half and it was about the same size as the first one but this was enough for Jeri so my shopping for food was finished for today. I have been wondering if there is a taco war here in Bountiful. When Jeri arrived back at the hospital she got on top of the bed and said she was going to have a nap until they brought her dinner so I gathered my stuff together and came home. I think she had a good day today.
When I went to the hospital this morning it was raining with a few snowflakes in the air and it was rather cold, 41 degrees on the porch.

I was up and going rather early this morning; I was showed and dressed by seven. I garbed some food and was on my way to SDCH and was there before eight-thirty. Jeri was eating breakfast and at nine we went to the PT room and she did PT and OT for two hours; it seems to me that her feet and legs are, very slowly, getting better. Sometime around noon I went to Alpine Medical to change the wheelchair that we rented on 9/11 for on that was a couple of inches wider but they didn't have any in but will in a few days; I was told it was on the truck and should be here in two or three day; I think time will tell us just how much they know about transportation. When I returned to the hospital I dropped off the wheelchair and I headed for Dr. Rasmussen's office to have some more cancer removed from my skin that covers my left jaw bone but when I got there he said that after he had looked at the information all he had to do was to burn some more off. He put on his torture suit and began to zap a lot of places on my head and face; I am surely glad that I took a Tylenol 3 before I went. I was glad that he didn't have to cut any more of face off; it is getting so there is not too much left as it is. :) I got back to the SDCH about four-thirty and I whimpered and whined hoping for some sympathy and I got it. About five-thirty when Jeri got her dinner I came home and transferred some more of my blog into my journal.
When I got home it was 43 degrees, it seems that winter is trying to get its foot in the door and I think it is way to early, however, we can use the water next summer. It seemed to me that Jeri is getting a little better every day but then what but the what I know?

I didn't go to bed until almost eleven last night so I didn't wake up until seven, which is not enough sleep for a busy fella like me. When I left the house this morning the temperature was 31 degrees, which is right down chilly for October 28. When I arrived at the hospital Jeri was eating breakfast and it looked pretty good to me and she said it was. She also said she had an excellent night. I wheeled her down to therapy shortly after nine and she worked for over an hour and did really well. While we were there the lady from the Business Office to talk to us about Jeri going home and I expressed my opinion that she need the rest of the week and all of next week, however, she said the insurance people say that she doesn't need to be in the hospital after this week. I talked about the numbness in her legs especially her right one and the therapist agreed with me and then the business lady talked to the therapist and the therapist agreed with me, which kind of irritated the business gal a little and she then said she used the therapy records that she was walk hundreds of feet without any difficulty I said that was two weeks ago and her legs are not like they were then; so the lady talked to the therapy people and they said they would send her the newest information. The lady said she would talk to the insurance people and see if they will extend the time with the new information and then she said I will call and tell you if they won't extend; and then I said, "does this mean that if I don't hear from you today that they have extended the time?" And she said yes, and she didn't call so I think Jeri will leave SDCH on the ninth of November.
Jeri had a good session on the dialysis machine and she didn't have any blood pressure issues; it must be the pill that they gave her. When we got back to the hospital Jeri laid on her bed and shortly said;"Jay, you might as well go home because I am going to sleep for awhile so I gathered myself to gather and came home. I pray that tonight will be as good as last night.
When I got home it was 43 degrees, which is much to early for such cold weather.

When I awoke at five-thirty I saw snowflakes in the air and on the lawn but none on the streets, which is a really good thing. When I got to the SDCH Jeri was eating her breakfast and said she had a good night. After she finished with her breakfast she laid on her bed and had a nap and missed the 9:00 am therapy, however, shortly after lunch I wheeled her down to the therapy area and she had a good session of therapy; I think it will take a while to get her strength back, especially in her legs and even more particularly in her right leg.
I think this was her best day in a few weeks, and I hope she continues to improve. I think there is a slight chance that she may came home on Monday, the first of November but then I have been wrong before. If Jeri wants to come home next week that will be just right with me.
When I came home tonight she was feeling good and and was sitting in the wheelchair, oh, by the way I called the place where we rented the wheelchair and asked if we could trade it for a bigger one and of course they said yes, when the weather is better I will do the swap.

Today started about the way I like it. Jeri had a good night and was bright eyed and bushy tailed and was ready for a dialysis treatment. I, and a couple of staff who know how to move people that are having trouble with their leg put Jeri in our pickup and and I transported her to the center and some of their staff helped her into the facility and got her ready for the treatment. They were careful to keep her blood pressure where it needs to be so she had a fairly good session. While they were doing the treatment some one got the idea that maybe she would have a better session if she had a pill that increased her blood pressure for the duration of the dialysis, which sounded good to me. Oh, by the way, we arraigned for the facility to transport her back to SDCH, which was another good idea.
Shortly before three o'clock we put Jeri in Jayci's car and we were on our way to Dr. Litton's office for a chemo session but when Ann, a PA-C, got all of the information about Jeri's legs she talked to Dr. Litton and he decided that maybe it would be better to go to some other regimen that is not as invasive as the one she is on know. And, by the way, it was Jeri's Idea.
And we know she is not coming home until the first of November; I am not going to fight it because I think that is what she wants to do. We did come to the conclusion that she needs a bigger wheelchair so I am going back to the place we got it and see if I can get a bigger one. I believe that she was better today than she has been for a few days.

Well here is a total waste of an hour; I have tried to log on my computer but I couldn't so I am using Jeri's.
Jeri had a really great night until about six thirty; she needed to use the rest room so she called for help and an Aid came to help her and in the process her right leg gave out and she fell to the floor and damaged her right calf. She thought she heard a cracking sound but when they did an exray her bones were all ok, which was a really good thing. And they think she is ready to come home. I arrived about eight thirty and when I heard what had happened I asked what the doctor said and I was told that they don't call a doctor during the night, which didn't set very well with me, but I discovered that hardly anyone cares how I feel about things, however, during the day her leg did get better and she had a better day than I thought she would. I am pretty sure that the problem with her leg is due to the Velcade chemo and the Thelidomide, which both have the side effect of numbness and weakness in the feet and legs. I am hopeful that tomorrow Dr. Litton's people makes some changes. The Bishop and hiswife came and visitged with Jeri for a few minutes and I am sure that she thinks I talk too much and that makes people stay too long.
It was really cold this morning and any water was solid and they say it is going to snow on Tuesday.
Tomorrow Jeri has a dialysis session and then we go to Dr. Litton's for the chemo; I pray that something is done to get this problem fixed.

Well here is a total waste of an hour; I have tried to log on my computer but

Well here is a total waste of an hour; I have tried to log on my computer

I was up before six thirty and was at the hospital before eight thirty. When I asked Jeri how her night went she said she had a good night and had very little pain; I suspect she had a pill or two. The staff have been very thoughtful and do what ever they can to make her life better. Shortly after noon I moysed down the street and bought me a sandwich and a root beer, which was pretty good. When I got back to the hospital Mike and Christian was there visiting with Jeri, it seems that our family is very concerned.
However I think she is much better than yesterday and hopefully she will be better tomorrow. When I left about five-thirty she was listening to the BYU football game and I am sad to say they didn't do very well against TCU. It rained today and we need it so we can get a good snow pack and 'they' are saying we will get snow here on the valley floor this comming Tuesday. I am praying that tomorrow will even be better than today.

I was up and going shortly after six-thirty and was at the hospital before eight-thirty. When I asked Jeri

I was up and doing things about six-thirty and was at the hospital shortly before eight-thirty. Jeri said she ha

Today was a very interesting day; I awoke around six this morning and I was up and going shortly thereafter and was at the hospital shortly before eight-thirty. Jeri was up and eating her breakfast, which looked ok to me.
About nine-thirty a lady from the business office at SDCH came into Jeri's room and said that the insurance company thought she could get the same results if she went home, this coming Monday, and had home care come and help her at home, which I didn't agree with, I suggested that she wasn't in good enough condition to go home just yet but maybe about the first of November. She said she would talk to the insurance people and let me know what they said this afternoon but we didn't see hide nor hair of her.
Jeri had a pretty good day during her dialysis; they decided not to take too much liquid off her body so her blood pressure was good for the three hours she was hooked up to the machine. However, when she was walking out of the dialysis center she had to use the restroom so Lee helped her, after she was in the rest room Lee called for help because Jeri couldn't get off the toilet and fell to the floor and hit her back and head on something hard so I hustled into the restroom and we tried to lift Jeri onto the wheelchair but we pitiful things couldn't get the job done so we had to call for some strong young people that were there. When we got back to SDCH we talked to the staff members and asked if they could help Jeri finish the project she started as she was leaving the center. The staff got some young strong people to help and they worked with Jeri and they helped her walk into the restroom. I told Jeri if that had happened at home I would have called 911 and had her taken to IMC's ER for help; I bet the insurance company wouldn't have thought that was a good decision. The staff that looks after my sweetheart was very kind and helpful toward Jeri, which is exactly what she deserves. By the time I came home she was feeling better but the people that are in charge of things shouldn't be in Ivory Towers making decisions with out listening to those who have some knowledge of what is going on.
Oh, by the way, the Charge Nurse looked up the side effects of Velcade and Thalidomide and both of the time can cause weakness in the feet and legs, so Dr. Litton's crew has to come up with some new stuff to do.
When I left, Jeri seemed to be in good spirits and feeling ok.

I was awake very early this morning; I was showering before five-thirty, I think it might be against the law to be showering at that time. When I was through getting clean I worked on printing my blog. I arrived at the hospital shortly before eight thirty and was settled down to help Jeri do some therapy but her feet and the lower part of her legs were numb so she canceled her therapy, which I thought that the PT thought she was not as bad as she said she was; boy that is a lot of words that start with an s!
Shortly after noon I called Dr. Litton's office and talked to one of his staff and explained about Jeri's feet and legs being numb and that she was having a lot of pain in her left hip and leg and asked her what might be the cause and what could be done to correct the problem. Lee came to the Hospital shortly after noon and shortly after one we were on our way to Intermountian Medical Center so Jeri's heart doctor could check the pace maker to see if it was functioning as it should and sure enough he proceeded to proclaim he had done a really good job, well maybe it was me that said he did a really good job; she has to go back to have it checked again in April, which is a GREAT month.:) Oh, by the way, President Eyring and his wife came into the waiting room while we were waiting; it is great to be in the presence of a Prophet.
On our way back to the hospital Dr. Litton's triage nurse called me and told me that the chemo they are using is probably the thing that is wrecking havoc with Jeri's legs, and then said they would probably make some changes next Monday when they start the two week regimen, which made Jeri rather happy as it did the nurses and PTs that are helping her at SDCH.
When I left SDCH I was glad I had called Dr. Litton's office about Jeri's legs.
I am hopeful that Jeri will come home on November 1st.

I was awake rather early but I stayed in bed until about six-thirty and then I was up and getting ready for a new day. I arrived at the hospital about eight-twenty and Jeri was eating her breakfast, which is almost like it is every day. The therapy people came to get her at nine but she said her legs were numb almost to her knee so they decided to wait until tomorrow. At eleven the transportation person come and got her for dialysis and the way she went; I didn't know where they went but after a while they showed up and Jeri said they had to pick up another person and take them to another facility. She tolerated her session fairly well; I can't figure out why they are trying to take so much liquid off her body when it has such an effect on her blood pressure and they have to quit taking the fluid so her blood pressure will go back to normal, but then nobody asks me for my opinion but I am always ready to give it to them whether they want it or not. Lee was there and visited with Jeri and me; she is a great help to us. After the dialysis was over Jeri was doing quite well and it seemed that she was bright eyed and bushy tailed, and she wanted to watch TV so she indicated that it was time for me to go home; It was five-thirty so I came home and do what I do best.

Well, I have had two people tell me that I didn't post last night and I was adamant that I did but it looks like I didn't so my apologies to those who I spoke to.
Jeri had a very busy morning this morning because she had to make up for three lost days of therapy; 'they' didn't come and get her on Saturday or Sunday and they thought that she was having chemo on Monday so they didn't come and get her yesterday so she had to make it up today, which took two hours and 10 minutes. I will bet they don't make that mistake again.
There was some conversation this morning with Jeri to see if she thinks she is about ready to go home. I think she may come home on November the 1st, which is great news for me. She thinks she can do everything she needs to do at home, and she will have some 'Home Health' for awhile and maybe some in home therapy.
Now for a weather update; when I got up this morning it was raining and in the low 40s and it rained off and on all day but the temps were in the 50s, which is fairly good for this time of the year.
It is my hope that Jeri is ready to come home in a couple of weeks, so keep those prayers going strong.

I was rather late getting out of bed this morning but I was on my way to SDCH shortly after eight, and I had written a check for the bishop and stuffed it into Mike's car door so he could give it to the bishop. When I got there I awoke Jeri, however, it appeared to me that she was getting ready to get up. When I asked her how her night was she said she had some pain; I'm going to ask the doctor what is causing the pain the next time we go for chemo but that will be next week. Starting tomorrow it is back on the three days a week on the dialysis machine from noon until three o'clock; I hope it is as good as it was last week. This coming Thursday she gets her pace maker checked. I think she will think that this week is surly not as hectic as it is when she has her chemo sessions. This afternoon Jeri asked me to have a piece of paper affixed to her door informing everyone that she doesn't want visitors after seven o'clock. It is interesting to me that people can't figure it out for themselves but everybody is not as astute as some of us are.:)
After Jeri had some Lortab this afternoon she was feeling much better and was resting better also and she was watching football; she surely likes sporting events. Lorene called me tonight and I answered the phone by saying 'Joe's Pool hall, Joe speaking," and she was very confused about who she was talking to; it took me a few minutes to convince her that it was I that she was talking to so I shall be careful in the future how I answer the phone. I told her that Jeri has her bad days and her good days but I think she is gradually getting better. With that said I ask for your continued payers in her behalf.

I kind of arose not so early today; it was about seven, which seems late to me. I got to the SDCH about eight-thirty and Jeri was eating breakfast, which didn't look to appetizing to me but she has to eat what the give her. She didn't sleep very well last night because of pain in her back and hips but later in the morning they gave her some Lortab, which helps a lot. She didn't have any therapy today; I guess she has met the time that is allotted for this week. Berdeanna (I know that most of you don't know her, and that is a good thing for you) left the house today after she had used all of the time that her insurance would pay for; she surly hated to leave. We went for a walk shortly after noon and we went outside for a moment and Jeri was complaining about how cold it was so I wheeled her back inside the house. After she had her lunch she had a Lortab and then she had a fairly good nap.
About four o'clock she started asking me if I didn't want to go home and rest; I was surprised at her worries of my comfort but then I discovered it was time for BYU to play San Diego so I set everything so she could watch the football game and then being very obedient I wended my way home:) and I was the only one there. So I did just what I wanted to.
I think Jeri would describe today as a somewhat good day but not as good as some have been.

I was out of bed just before seven and was busy getting myself ready for a day at the hospital. Just as I was getting ready to leave, Patrice came upstairs and we had a brief conversation about what I thought was an error on someones part and she suggested that I talk to the Director of Nursing, which I did. When I went to his area I saw a young guy that I have talked to before and I asked if he was the director and he answered in the negative but said he would talk to the director and tell him I would like to talk to him. Shortly thereafter I was walking to get Jeri a cup of ice water and met him, the director, in the hallway; he recognized me and we chatted for about 10 seconds and then he said he would go down to the room and talk to Jeri. When I got back to the room they were having a very calm and serious conversation about the errors' made on her blood draw and he said he would talk to people to discover what had gone wrong. After awhile he came back and he and Jeri, and I was chirping in every so often, was having a conversation about her blood draws and he mentioned that there was a draw just a day or two ago during the night and Jeri said that was impossible without her knowing about it; after we talked for a very short time I was convinced that he was going to get to the bottom of things. While this conversation was going on Jeri asked if it was possible to get one of those machines that just takes a finger-prick and would not need a blood draw because of the difficulty of the blood draw and he acted like he thought that would be a good idea but would have to talk to Dr. Shield before any decision could be made. We are very hopeful that things will be worked out and things will get back to normal. With the conversation we had I think Scott Anderson will get things like they aught to be.
Shortly after this happened there was a young guy, in his late 20s or early 30s, that was being transported some place; it appeared that SDCH didn't have the facilities to do for him what was needed, and wouldn't you know that this was going on just as Jeri was supposed to transported to dialysis. She was a few minutes late but the people at Liberty Dialysis are pretty laid back and takes things in stride. Jeri had a good session on the machine and no problems with her blood pressure, which is the thing that causes her most of the trouble. Over all it appeared that she had a fairly good day and I can see that the PT & OT are helping her with rebuilding her strength; I head someone say that for every day you stay in bed it takes a week to recuperate and Jeri was in her bed for several weeks.
I have to add a part to the conversation I had with my girl friend in India; it is ok if I have a girl friend in India. I mentioned that I was 77 years old and she told me she talked to a guy from the US of A the other day and he told her he was 80 years old, and then she said, "he told me new word while we were talking so I asked her what it was and she said it Coot and she asked if I knew what it meant and I said yes; it is a word that is added to Old to make it Old Coot, which means you are really old, and then I told her I would give her another new word and it is Geezer, she then asked what it meant and I said that when men get to by my age some very rude people refer to us as Old Geezers, which caused her to chuckle some and then she said we never use such a word to describe some old person; so I told her they were much more civilized than we.:)

Now I am talking about getting out of bed early. I awakened shorty before 4:00 am thinking about the printer and the software problem so I got up and went on a scavenger hunt for the software disk but I couldn't find it so I decided I would look for some help from some other source. I found a phone number that I thought might help me so I gave it a ring and I was talking to a very nice young lady in India, and of course I can't remember her name. I asked her to register my new printer and then I told her of my problem and she said; "I can help you if you will let me have control of your computer. After some conversation she convinced me it was a good idea so I gave her permission to take over my computer and in a lot of minutes she had downloaded all of the drivers that was needed and when I tried it out it worked really well. So now I can print from my computer and in a few days I will have a disk that has the software that I may need some time down the path. I said last night that they hadn't heard the last from me.
Jeri had a great PT session today; she walked the walk and she did it twice plus all of the other things they have her do, plus the OT was also completed and she was feeling good when it was over, however, she did lie down and rest for a few minutes while she waited for her lunch. Lee showed up about noon thirty and then we waited until shortly after one and started our trek to the cancer people for her chemo therapy; as we were leaving the SDCH 'they' gave Jeri the meds she was scheduled to take and the way we went. When we arrived at the Cancer Center I got a phone call asking me to tell Jeri not to take the blood thinner that was in the packet of pills because her INR was at 5.3, which didn't sit well with us. We had a conversation with some of the staff about no blood was being drawn so how did anyone know what her INR was. When we got back to the SDCH I had a chat with the nurses and anyone else around the area about the blood draws that were not being done, oh, by the way we were told either this morning or yesterday that 'they' were taking blood every night. We challenged that because we all know that getting blood out of Jeri is harder than getting blood our of a turnip and it couldn't be done without her knowing about it, however, they did do a draw this morning and of course Jeri was awake when it was done. It will be interesting what the excuses will be when we have our chat about it.
Now that has all be said she still had a rather good day, and some of the credit goes to the steroids they give her doing the chemo session. It appears that her numbers are looking ok.
Oh, it rained this morning and the temps are not so hot.

I was up rather early this morning but I just puttered around until about eight; I knew Jeri would be eating breakfast shortly after eight and I didn't want to take her mind off of the meal.:) We got caught up on the things of the day and then at nine the PT person came and got Jeri and she had a pretty good work out and then we returned to her room. We did some more puttering and at eleven the transportation people came and picked her up for dialysis so she rode down in the bus and I had to ride in the pickup; it just doesn't seem right to me.:) Shortly after twelve o'clock I moseyed up to a fast food place and I shall not do that again; every high school student in Bountiful was eating fast food so my food wasn't all that fast.:) I made an oath that I will never do that again. Jeri tolerated the dialysis rather well but when we got back to SDCH she was tired so shortly after four-thirty I came home and found my new printer from HP, so I started in putting it together and with a little help from Chris, he did the cable work under the computer stand, which was a really good thing for me. I inserted the ink cartridges into the printer and it worked. I then started looking for the software and it wasn't to be found and I searched high and low. After I had looked in every conceivable place I called HP and told a lady of my problem and she tried to help me but the best thing they would do was ship it so I would get it in five days, which didn't make me very happy; and they haven't heard the last of this episode. I told this nice lady what I wanted her to say to her supervisor and she said she would but I don't think she really will, however, I am not through with this episode; I thought they ought to 'overnight' it to me but she didn't think that was going to happen.
Now that I have that off my chest I will tell you that Jeri seemed to have an alright day, and tomorrow will be better because that is a chemo day and she always gets some steroids which 'picks her up'. I am starting to treat her better because I don't want her to get those big muscles from the steroids and put me in my place.:)

I got outa bed really early this morning and was showered and cleaned up before six am, which is very early for me. When I got to the hospital Jeri was eating her breakfast and I asked her how her night was and she told me it was really good and that she slept most of the night, which is just the way she, and I, like it. About nine she went for PT and OT and I just kinda followed along. She had a pretty good exercise and then when we got back into her room we had a couple of women that said they were from the hospital business office and explained how much more time she has on the insurance, which I am sure is more than enough to accomplish what she needs to do, however, we are going to have a meeting with the therapy people and some other people I have never heard of before to talk over what they and we think needs to be done before she comes home; I want her home as soon as she can get here but I want her to be able to do the things she needs to do; I don't think I will agree to let her come home any sooner than she thinks she can do the things she needs to do to take care of herself.
Well, I don't have my new printer yet, but it should be here any day now. I have removed the old one and I have deleted all of the things that pertained to the old printer so I can install the software as soon as I get it and have time to work on it.
A short time ago I went to the front door of the house and it was raining; I am glad I rolled up the windows.
I have to prepare a place for me to park the pickup off of the street after the first of November but that will only take a couple of hours and some sweat.
It is my prayer that Jeri can come home soon and feel good and be able to do the things she wants to do, however, I don't want it to be one minute too soon for her good!

Another day has almost lost its life. Considering what Jeri needed to do today it was a fairly good day. She was supposed to be picked up by the transportation people at 9:15 but we were told that they had forgotten so I pulled the pickup into the pickup area and she got in the pickup; and a nurse helped me lift the wheelchair into the back of the pickup and the way we went to the dialysis center and the guy there helped me lift it out of the pickup; the reason I needed help was because the wheelchair had a cylinder of oxygen on the back of it that wasn't secured very good and I was afraid that it might fall off and maybe knock the nozzle off and we would have a run away cylinder flying around the parking lot.:) Soon after she was in the facility, about nine-thirty, she was hooked up to the machine and away it went. She was on it three hours and she tolerated it very well.
While this was going on Lee showed up and helped me complain about the transportation people but it didn't seem to help. About one o'clock we were back to the hospital and after a while we were on our way to IMC, I love that place, after all they saved my sweetheart's life. She had an appointment at three-thirty and we were on time; in fact we were a little early, so she was started on the chemo a little early. Jeri loves this part because she gets some steroids, which gives her a boast in energy. About and hour after we arrived we were on our way back to Bountiful.
While we were there I called Dr. Osborne's office and made an appointment for Thursday afternoon for Jeri to go to his office to have her pace maker's integrity checked; it is a good thing that Lee goes with us every place we go so she can make sure we are where we need to be when we need to be there.:) When we arrived back in Bountiful Jeri made a remark about how the foot of her bed would not go down to the level of the head of the bed so we said something to a nurse and she got one from another room and brought in for Jeri, and she was very grateful; I have learned during my life that you always catch more flies with honey than vinegar so I am always on my best behavior,:) and of course Jeri is always appreciative of every thing that is done for her.
Tomorrow will be a lot less hectic because the only thing she has to do is have some PT and OT, which will take and hour or so. Adios for now!

I arrived at the hospital shortly after eight and Jeri was eating breakfast; lucky her. She had some pain yesterday so the nurses thought she needed more pain relief so they gave her a Lora tab and then later some Tylenol and then even later they gave her another Lora tab, which knocked her out until about ten this morning; they thought they were doing her a favor but she didn't think so, she hates being groggy! About eleven I took her to OT and that lasted for a short time and then we were back in her room waiting for Bob the PT to show up, which he did about noon, so he had to wait until she finished her meal and then we went down to the PT place and she worked-out some and then we went back up to the second floor where her room is and finished up her PT. It appears that they want the insurance money!
I asked Jeri how she would describe how this day was and she said the forenoon time was groggy and the afternoon was good; of course it was there was football on TV. When I left, about five-thirty she was eating dinner and they brought her a regular meal instead of a renal one, she decided it was better to eat this one while it was warm and not wait for a renal one.
I think she had an OK day but not a spectacular one.
Oh, by the way, congrats to Tiffany!! That will get everyone guessing

As I am writing this I am listening to BYU beating UNLV 17 to 7, which is just the way I like it.
Jeri had a pretty good day today after she got some pain medicine this morning. Her hips and back were hurting and she finally got some Lortab. When Bob, the PT guy, showed up she was ready to do her regimen and she did all of it without much trouble. The rest of the day was a very usual good day and she enjoyed visiting with Lee & Cliff, who filled her in on some conversation with other members of the family. It is wonderful when she is feeling good. And all of the staff are very kind to her and help her do all of the things she has to do; but then who wouldn't be? It was a rather cool day but it has been colder this past week. Bishop Haskell called today to inquire on Jeri's doings; he is a very kind and gentle man. I hope she has a great night!
As always I ask for the prayers to keep coming and I know they would be even if I didn't ask for them.

My sweetheart had a really good day today; she had a good PT & OT session. She walked around almost 500 feet, which is what she has been doing the last few days and she 'worked out' for over an hour then she had a short rest and then we moysed on down to dialysis where Terry met us a short time later. She had a good session on the dialysis except for a very few minutes when they had taken to much liquid from her so they stopped the removal of the liquid and finished the last 10 minutes filtering her blood. We then came back to SDCH; by now it is after 4:00 pm and she was doing really well. I left her for a few minutes to go to Costco to get some candy bars that the dialysis people recommend because they are a big source of protein. I then kissed her goodnight and came home and bought me a new printer over the Internet; now don't go and blab to Jeri because she already knows I was going to do so. It has been great having Terry and Joan here for a week. Tiffany sent a picture of an inch of snow on her lawn this morning; I am glad it is there and not here. If Jeri has a good night tonight she will, in my opinion, have a great weekend but Monday is going to be a busy day because she has to have dialysis early in the morning so she can have a chemo session in the afternoon. I love what the chemo is doing to the Myeloma. Well, that's all for now folks.

When I arrived at the hospital Jeri was eating breakfast and looked and acted like she was feeling well. At nine 'they' came and took her to Pt and of course I went with her; it is really cold in the PT area. She did some preliminary stuff and then she went for a walk with the therapist hanging on to the strap that is around her waist and I was following behind with the wheelchair so she could sit when she got tired and she had a really good walk around the hospital. When she was through with the PT stuff she started on the OT stuff and there was a new person on duty. She started Jeri doing some things that hadn't been done before and I could tell Jeri was not doing as good as she usually does. After the session was over we went back to her room and she had a spell of not feeling very good so the usual things were done to see what was going on but they were not able to get her back to normal; her blood pressure was a little low. And while this was going on the nurse wanted to give her a shot of Lovenox (I'm not sure that is spelled right) to bring her INR into the therapeutic range, I wanted more info so I asked the nurse what her INR was and it was 1.3, which is too low so I stopped talking and let the shot be given.
She ate most of her lunch so she can get the minerals that she needs and then we (Jeri, Lee, Terry and I) headed for the Cancer Center (CC) for her chemo. When we got there she was given some liquid to drink and then she started feeling better and as the day wore away she kept on getting better. The nurse at the CC said she needed more liquid in her system, which is not what the dialysis people said but I think we will go with the drinking of more liquid.
As the nurse was putting the line in her vain she drew a vial of blood to be analyzed. When the treatment was over the nurse gave us a copy of the results and they were wonderful; the kidney function was very improved as were the red blood cells, which indicates that the chemo therapy is working, which is a very good thing. After we arrived at the SDCH the nurse told Jeri she should drink more liquid and talk to the dialysis people tomorrow. The day started pretty good and then turned crappy and then finished with a bang; she was doing really well when I left at six-thirty. My hope and prayer is that she will be able to come home soon but not before she is ready.

WOW what a day this was. When I arrived at the hospital shortly after 8:00 am Jeri was sitting in the wheelchair eating her breakfast. When she was through with that I helped her change into her 'going to PT' clothes and then we waited for a few minutes for the therapist to come and get her for her therapy; she had a great session even though it was only a half-hour long she did all of her regimen. (On Monday, Wednesday and Friday she has short sessions because she has to go to dialysis.) We waited for a few minutes for her driver to come and wheel her to the van and then away she went to dialysis; now comes the really great part of the day. She was on the machine for three hours and when she was through it was as if she had spent that time on her bed. And the rest of the day was spectacular. I think this is the best day she has had in a very long time, and another good thing she has another session of therapy tomorrow morning and then right after lunch, we are on our way to the Cancer Center, for another chemo session and these only take an hour or so. I say once again that our prayers seem to be helping her recovery.

Today was a really good day for Jeri. She went to PT about nine-thirty and had a great session. She did all of the things 'they' asked for, including walking up and down long hallways, and walking sideways and doing the things she does with the weights on her arms and legs. She also did the OT they asked for and after an hour and five minutes, they decided she had done her time; and the time depends on whether 'they' get paid or not so you know she does her time. Oh, they had her do a new thing today called the bridge; this is when you lie on your back and with your knees bent you arch your belly toward the sky, which is a strain on some muscles that have not had much use lately. When we got back to her room she rested for a while and then Judd came and visited for an hour or so, and then I decided that I needed to eat so I went to a hamburger joint and had a sandwich and a root beer. When I got back she was wide awake and bushy tailed and Lee was there visiting with her. Later in the day Mike came by and visited with her and then Terry and Joan came to visit, and all of this didn't seem to have any bad effects on her at all. In fact I think she had a great time with all of the visitors and of course she was glad to have me there all day to wait on her 'hand-foot-and finger.:) It was wonderful to see her so perky and enjoying every thing that was going on; may it be so always. Now with all of this said it is time to keep those prayers going up to Heaven, and pray that she will be perky after the dialysis tomorrow. If I put anything on these post that you might not know what I am talking about just go to the comment area and ask and I shall explain what I am talking about.

Today started out on the wrong step; the driver was late picking up Jeri for her dialysis session, which put her in a funk and of course the dialysis always takes energy out of her so she sits very quietly for three hours while this process is done, however, her blood pressure stayed where it aught to be and of course her heart rate was right at 70 bpm. After that session we had to hurry back to the SDCH (South Davis Community Hospital) so she could get ready for her doctor's appointment; yes it was necessary to change her clothes. With all of the hurrying we just made it on time for the appointment and shortly we were invited into an exam room where we were conversed with a PA for quit a long time and she told us to do some things that we didn't think we should do so we didn't, however, she did give us some info that Lee already had and Lee had to bring her up to date; it is really good that Lee goes with these two 'old folks' and takes notes so we know what we are supposed to do. When we were through with the PA we were 'handed off' to a nurse that gave Jeri her chemo, which took almost an hour, and that includes the prep and the clean up. While the nurse was doing the chemo thing she took a blood sample and had it analyzed and the results were that her blood cells are almost where they aught to be, which was music to our ears; that reinforces Dr. Littons comment that the regimen is working on the Myeloma. Oh, by the way Terry was with us during the dialysis session and his presents was part of the things that pepped up Jeri.
It appears to me that all of our prayers are working so lets keep it up and get my sweetheart back home.
Oh, by the way, there is a rule that no one can comment on my spelling!!!

Another day that is almost history. Today was not a really good day, in fact it was a mediocre day. This morning she didn't have much energy and spent most of the morning in and out of sleep, which is a good thing for her to do. This morning we watched conference and it was really good for the soul. She had a fairly good lunch and then mid-afternoon Terry and Joan came to see her and in my opinion it kinda perked her up and then Lee, Cliff and Chris Denton came and I think the company helped her overcome the fatigue, but then I may not know what I'm talking about but that is my perception. It was a cool and rainy day and it was enjoyable to look out of the windows and see the clouds move by and the rain kiss the ground. This moisture will be very good for the winter storage of moisture. Tomorrow Jeri has a dialysis session at 10:00 am and then an appointment with Dr. Litton at 3:00 pm for a shot of chemo; I suspect that when evening gets here she will really be worn-out. Once again I say; keeps those prayers coming and she will be better sooner than later.

Last night and today were not very good for Jeri; she didn't sleep well and when I arrive shortly after 8:00 am she was sleeping and I could tell she was in some distress. I am not sure when it was that she rang for the nurse and when she came in Jeri said that she was having some distress in her chest and back so they got a nurse that knew what to do and she thought it might be an upset stomach so she gave her some medicine that would take that away and gave Jeri a couple of Tylenol tablets and that seemed to make her more comfortable.
When they brought her lunch she saw some grapes on her tray and made the statement that she couldn't eat one more grape; so I moseyed on down to Albertsons and bought her a pear and some raspberries, she was really pleased to see the raspberries. Now I have a new assignment to stop every morning and get her some fruit, that means I have to get my memory in gear and stop at Dick's or some other place for fruit but it is worth it if helps her eat her meals.
I went to General Priesthood Meeting with Mike and Chris and it was really good.

I kinda slept in this morning but I was at the hospital about eight. Jeri was alert and bushy tailed and had a really good PT session; she walked 200 feet with a very short rest and then she did the OT without any stress. She was whisked away about eleven for that three hour dialysis session. This session was not as good as the therapy because she kept losing her blood pressure, which causes her to get very weak. The people at the dialysis center asked her when she was given her blood pressure medicine, and the answer was in the morning. They suggested that she should take it after the dialysis was over; so when we got back to the hospital I asked them to change it to the afternoon so they scheduled it for 4:00 pm, which I think will have to be flexible because of all of the other doctors she will have to visit, such as Dr. Litton's for her chemo session but I don't think that will be a problem. I really like the people at the dialysis center and at SDCH (South Davis Community Hospital), both of these places are very attentive and are quick to respond to questions and suggestions.
When I left tonight Jeri was watching the BYU vs Utah State football game and it looked like she was enjoying the event. I hope she has a very good night.
Once again I ask that you keep those prayers coming; they are really helping!!

Today was a great day! Jeri did really well doing her PT session and walked one stretch of 100 feet, and she did another 100 feet with just one stop and she did really well with her OT as well.
But that is not the really good news. She had an appointment with Dr. Litton at 3:40 and we didn't have to wait very long to see him. He had a nurse take a blood sample and then he came back with the results and this is where the really good news comes in. All of the blood things, which means I don't remember exactly what they are but I do know her red blood cells are almost at the normal level and all of the others are really good. Dr. Litton said that is a good sign that the regimen against the cancer is starting to do its job. He is going to start the liquid chemo again next week so she will have to have her dialysis rather early in the morning and then go get the chemo in the afternoon; that will be a tough day but if it is doing its work it is worth the effort but that is easy for me to say. The doctor said he is going to keep the Thalidomide at the current dosage because she is tolerating it really well. This is a small report of such a BIG event that I can't wait for until tomorrow; Jeri and Lee will be able to remember every detail but that is not what I do now days. As I said before, keep the prayers going.