Day 7-0--Only 30 More to Go

Dr. Tse called last night to say that Torger's tacrolimus levels were a little high, even though we've been gradually reducing his dosage. (Tacrolimus is the immunosuppressant.) So we got up this morning and went over to the BIC (BMT Infusion Clinic...our regular hangout) for another test. One of the other doctors is watching Torger's labs while Dr. Tse is in Europe, so we don't get to slack off. That temptation to slack is one of our biggest challenges right now, since Torger's been doing so well. Here we are in Denver, where some of our favorite people live, and where there's lots to do and plenty of tempting restaurants. But Torger tires out quickly, has to wear a mask in public, and his digestion is really sensitive, so things like shopping and museums and eating out aren't any fun for him...they actually make him feel bad. We have gotten the OK to get an occasional piece of pizza out, since it's cooked at such high temperatures. But after a couple of attempts, we haven't even been in a hurry to do that again because all the medicines have interfered with his sense of taste, so pizza seems slimy to him. And the one time we went out to look at a bookstore...when it was slow, during the middle of the day, with Torger fully masked...I got so paranoid about all the people coughing and sneezing around us that we cut it short and went home. This isn't a vacation, even though we're staying in a hotel. It's work. And every time we start to lose focus, hearing one sneeze is about the only reminder we need as to why we have to stay so isolated. So for now, a trip over to the nearby Walgreen's to buy bottled water is a big outing for us. It has made us both aware of how much frantic running around we do in our normal lives. It's actually kind of nice to have a good reason to sit still.

Day 69--No Smell of Pine

OK, that's one of my worst rhymes yet. But it applies...we got a 3-foot tall fake Christmas tree for our hotel room, and it doesn't smell like pine. But it looks very cute. (I'm going to try and take a picture of it to post on here tomorrow, so we'll see how that turns out.) Today, Torger had a CT scan and labwork, then we had our last appointment with Dr. Tse for two weeks because he's going to Europe for the holidays. He squeezed us in for an appointment today, then we'll skip next week and see him the following. We'll still have to come in every other day for labwork, but it will be nice not to have the clinic appointments, which tend to stretch into hours because of all the other tests that get scheduled around those sessions. And the latest good news is in: The recent bone marrow biopsy results came back and Torger's cells are now 98-100% donor cells, which is outstanding. And there are no leukemia cells showing up, which is even better.

Go Rams!

And "Yay!" for CSU for winning the New Mexico Bowl today!

Day 67--Yachtzee!

We're just hanging out tonight playing Yachtzee and listening to "Excursions" on KRFC (the radio show that Torger normally does with his pal Randy). Torger has really been missing the chance to do their annual Christmas show, but Randy's been doing a great job flying solo. So far he's played some Julie Andrews, Claudine Longet, James Brown, and Flaming Lips!

We're having a restful day after a pretty hectic week. On Wednesday, Torger had to have four separate biopsies so they could check different parts of his body for levels of GVHD: back, arm, inner thigh, and face. He was pretty miserable for the rest of the night after getting four shots and then having four chunks of skin cut out. But the results came back last night and the doctors are happy with his GVHD levels, so that was good news. We did learn another interesting tidbit this week: Since the transplant, Torger's developed a couple of deep, parallel ridges on each of his fingernails. One of our regular nurses, Erin, told us that's because fingernails often fall out after transplant, but apparently Torger's nails resisted it. Yikes! We're kind of glad we didn't know that one at the time.

Day 61 And Still Not Done

This has been a pretty uneventful weekend. Torger just got off the phone with his dad and is waiting for the television event of the season on the SciFi Channel: "Sharks in Venice." He is, of course, disgusted that the sharks that will apparently be the villains of the movie are great whites--and not even a kind of shark that could possibly, under some far-fetched circumstance, ever stand a chance of winding up in the Venice canals. But he plans to watch it anyway because, well, it's a killer shark movie. Set in Venice. Meanwhile, I'm making dinner (like the sharks, we're also having Italian ). I've been trying to get Christmas cards written in between going through bills and trying to keep up on the filing. My friend Jean advised me early on in Torger's treatment to start a file to keep bills and insurance statements coordinated, and keeping up with that file has been both time-consuming and essential. There are so many bills for so many different providers that it becomes really hard to keep them straight, and it would be really easy to pay something twice without this system. There's one unit of the hospital that has twice now neglected to bill our insurance and just sent us a bill for the total amount due, which I might have paid if I weren't making a point of matching all these things up. So while Torger is watching sharks, I think I'm going to enjoy a quiet evening collating.

Day 58--Just Need to Wait

Torger went in on Wednesday for his Day 57 bone marrow biopsy. We won't know the results until next week, but Dr. Tse did warn us that we have to be on the lookout now for pneumonia and fungal infections, which tend to hit hard after Day 50. Just when we thought we were almost in the clear! But we'll just wait it out. We're very much in waiting mode now as we get through the second half of the hundred days.

Torger hates the biopsies (with good reason--they hurt), but they're the only tool we have to know if any leukemia cells are coming back. Otherwise, Dr. Tse is very happy with how Torger's doing. He continues to have just the right amount of GVHD showing up on his skin, and his kidney and liver function are doing much better. We got a little bit of a laugh when Dr. Tse told us that the BMT team is "all very fond" of Torger. That's such a nice thing for a doctor to say. (Of course, Dr. Tse is also the one who, in his medical notes outlining the initial transplant protocol, described Torger as a "pleasant 52-year-old white male.") We chuckle because of Torger's well-established reputation as my Old Man Grumpus, but the truth is, he really has been a good sport through this whole thing. Of course, he's back to being grumpy today because he's sore from the hole they drilled in his hip to get the marrow out. Having watched the biopsy, I think he's more than entitled.

Day 56--Everything's Fixed

The car's all fixed now...new window, new battery, new keys, even a new pair of wiper blades. It's like Christmas for our Honda. We're doing better, too, now that we've had some time to regain our perspective. We're also pleased that the Denver police have assigned a detective to the case because we were able to get the video, so maybe they'll actually catch the guys with their car trunk full of other people's blankets, mittens, and owners' manuals. Ha! (Sandy, the hotel manager, said she thinks these kinds of car break-ins tend to pick up around the Christmas season because this is the way the thieves go shopping for their presents.) Our 5-year-old nephew, Will, assured me that they don't have robbers and burglars in his neighborhood because they're not allowed there. I think Will's on to something. We just need to start posting "No robbers allowed" signs.

Otherwise, life is back to "normal." Dr. Tse called to congratulate us on doing a good job of keeping Torger hydrated this past week. I think we do deserve congratulations on this, since it requires a little bit of work. In addition to his daily fluid infusion, he has to try and drink up to two liters of water or non-caffeinated beverages every day--but no tap water and no ice made from tap water. We've found an unsweetened, decaffeinated, bottled green tea with no preservatives that he likes, and it sounds like it's working for his liver and kidneys. Yay!

Torger's dad, Jon, called on Saturday, and he offered an interesting observation. While he's counting his own life in terms of years, Torger is counting his in terms of days. It's a good reminder to appreciate every one of those days and not let the creeps of the world spoil any of them for us. The creeps in the world are WAY out-numbered by the good guys.