Watching the snow fall, fall, fall...

This is a good time to finish my Christmas cards which have now morphed into New Years cards! We are a few hours into the next snowstorm which will last about 24 more hours. I have finished the laundry and am remembering how when we first retired, I would laugh because it had been over 30 years since that had happened. The real miracle was that I washed and dried Ron's hearing aids, and they still work. Yes, I always check his pockets--especially for Kleenex but those hearing aids are tiny, and I missed them. Could have been a several thousand dollar mistake!

Time to update you on Ron's progress. We traveled to Ann Arbor for the last two days of 2013. Ron had two extracorporeal Photopheresis treatments. ECP. He will continue to have a pair of treatments every other week. We are so glad that Medicare took over the cost from Tricare when Ron turned 65. The treatments help to take the edge off the aggressiveness of his T cells which continue to attack his skin and have made his lungs have chronic issues. His bloodwork December 30 was stable except it showed that his immunity is very low now. Ron did not want to travel to AA in the upcoming week, so his infusion IVIG to boost immunity is the following week. We will spend 3 days in AA.

I am trying to let Ron eat more things of his own choosing...which means a lot of gummy bears, candy bars, Tom's donuts and rolls, cookies, sweet drinks, etc. amazingly his weight stays close to 180. I look the other way and load up the insulin injections. This decision is based on the nurses' input to my concerns about his diet. If this food adds to his quality of life, so be it. And I feel more balanced on this tightrope of monitoring things.

So looking ahead, I will be glad when he has had his IVIG infusion. He usually feels better because his body is infused with antibodies from over a 1000, yes 1000, blood donors. If you are a blood donor, you are an amazing person. Thank you!! Ron has had numerous white blood cell, red blood cell, and antibody infusions since he was first diagnosed with leukemia AML in April 2010. The infused antibodies help control infection. Ron also takes 3 antibiotics and antiviral and antifungal meds. His body needs a lot of medical support to fight infections.

The snowfall really is beautiful, and when I got up at 6:00 this morning, there were 3 deer under the apple trees right outside our windows. While Ron and I looked out the bathroom window, Blue jumped up on the bathroom chair, put his paws on the windowsill, and he watched too. A surprise from nature that catches your breath.

Love, Ron & Jan