Gilead Lake's "Sad Duck"...or is he a goose??

Ron saw "sad duck" swimming by alone this morning, heading for the public landing where he usually hangs out after his Canada geese family is flying. I first told you about sad duck in the November 13 post. This picture was taken during the summer when he was accepted as a part of a goose family.

One More:

Feeling thankful...

What a great Thanksgiving week celebration we had! It is still hard to believe that we were at a point in Ron's recovery that we could take an eight day road trip to Ohio, Maryland, and Virgnia. (especially after learning that Ron had bloodclotting in his left leg below the knee)

We did have some challenging driving experiences on the D.C. Beltway and Pennsylvania Turnpike...Ron is not driving yet. When travel advisories warn not to travel on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons of Thanksgiving, I can vouch that that would be excellent advice.

So we enjoyed Joey and Jack's birthday party to kick off the trip in Ohio with Cale's family; finally visited Andy and Lisa's home and Abby's school in Germantown, MD; and celebrated Thanksgiving at Niccole and Cole's home in Fredericksburg. Andy's family also travelled to Fredericksburg for the turkey feast. All so very thankful!

Medical update: Ron has tolerated the daily lovenox injections well. (treatment for bloodclots) I continue to learn (or to validate) that you can do things you never imagined possible. Driving home in holiday traffic on consecutive 7 and 9 hours days and giving abdominal injections were not on my radar, but you do what you must do. ...not too old to have a reminder about human nature.

Lisa made the arrangements for Ron's MD weekly blood test, and he has had another one back here in Michigan. His platelets # has consistently improved. Ron will have his next AA check up December 12. Physical therapy resumed today, and the swelling in his leg is almost gone.

Hope you are beginning joyful holiday traditions. As a card received last year said, "Christmas is not just about being merry but also finding hope and a sense of peace."
I thought those were such inspirational words.
Love to all, Ron & Jan

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Just a quick update today...later, more about Thanksgiving travel. I will tell you that Ron and I have seen more traffic than we could even imagine. The 78 mile bumper to bumper drive from Andy's in Germantown, MD to Niccole's in Fredericksburg,VA took 4 and 1/2 hours!
Ron had a bloodtest in Michigan and one in Maryland to check the progress of his med (lovenox)for the blood clots in his left leg. It is working well! The next test will be next week.
We are extra thankful this year for family, friends, Ron's bone marrow donor, and the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic at U of M. Thank you. Thank you.
Love to all, Ron & Jan
GO BUCKEYES!

November Monthly Check-Up

We traveled to Ann Arbor Sunday for Ron's now "monthly check-up". His appointments started early on Monday morning. It wasn't quite as smooth sailing as we had thought it would be. His bloodwork continues to show improvement in the production of platelets and red blood cells, and his other bloodwork values are improving with many in a normal range.

Ron had had swelling in one leg over the past two weeks, but there was only one day when it was significant. We had been out and about for an extended time that day, and with elevation, it diminished greatly. It didn't seem like anything new because over the past 18 months there had been leg and feet swelling on several occasions. What was different as we look back now, this time it only involved one leg. The doc ordered an ultrasound of his legs yesterday while we were at U of M, and it was discovered that he has bloodclots in his left leg below the knee. The treatment is daily injections in the abdomen of lovenox (to help dissolve clots) and weekly bloodwork to make sure that his platelets don't go too low. We had skills training for doing the injections and also what symptoms to watch for that would mean an ER visit.

The cold weather has returned, so Blue is not asking to go outside. He is a fair weather cat. We enjoy seeing the migrating birds on the lake-- various ducks, swans today, and too many noisy Canada geese to count. We are so thankful that we have only a few geese during the summer. There is a white duck that lives here year around and is part of a Canada geese family during the summer. When the geese resume flying in the late summer, he cries and cries when they take off, so I always call him "Sad Duck". He misses his family and feels lonely; I am sure. During ice fishing, he begs for fish from the fishermen. I don't know who takes him in or provides enough food and shelter than he can survive the winter, but we have seen him for a few summers now. The field camera shows deer in the yard every night. The buck has returned, too. We have an acre across the road where our garage and garden are located, and they pass behind it as they roam. The deer are moving again, and in the past 5 days I have seen a total of 4 bucks crossing the road...none up close thankfully.

Love to all,
Ron and Jan

Deer in my fenced in garden...

Both Ron and I are enjoying the field camera that the kids gave Ron. We had seen deer in the yard last evening, and now we have proof that they were in the garden, too. Notice the times and temperature!
Ron had PT today, and the two Amish ladies (a mother and daughter) who clean for us were here this morning. They have become good friends of ours. They first cleaned for us when I had my rotator cuff surgery in 2009.

Cruising...no longer grinding

Blue loves to sleep on our laps. More of a fair weather cat, he isn't meowing to go outside as frequently. There were deer in our yard today, and after a hard freeze of 20 degrees last night, the last of the leaves are falling. We made arrangements to have someone plow our driveways for us this winter. Now we just wait for the first snow.
Next week we will travel to Ann Arbor for Ron's check-up. We are anticipating tapering medication again. That is an on-going process until he is able to no longer take prednisone. Because of the prednisone and compromised immunity, he also has to take antiviral, antibiotic, and antifungal meds. BUT SO MUCH BETTER! I looked back at October and November 2011 on the blog and felt so thankful to be well beyond those months.
So grateful that Election Day is tomorrow! We will vote in the morning at Gilead Township Hall which is located out in the country. The polling locations were listed in the newspaper. Ours does not have an address...other than at the corner of Snow Prairie and Booth Roads.
Love to all,
Ron and Jan