I'm not saying I'm old, but I am getting a crown replaced, getting knee treatment, and getting cataracts fixed. I'm a coward so this is tricky for me but every medical person I deal with is so kind and sweet about my phobias.

Now the cataract in my left eye has been fixed. This involved more eye drops than I could count and some good meds. They taped my eye open, which was the only way that eye was going to stay open. Every person along the process asked me to confirm which eye was being done; not sure that was necessary since they drew a purple arrow over it! Now, under that arrow, is a wide open pupil.

It will stay that way for a couple of days and it's very sensitive to light, of course. So here I am, protecting my very odd eye from perfectly normal light. So stylish....

Neighborly after the storm

Hurricane Helene passed us by but our neighbors weren't so lucky. During the night a section of their carport roof was lifted up and twisted around, to bang on their house roof. The next evening Randy and Jonathan from down the road flipped it back on to the carport roof and temporarily tacked it in place with screws.

While we were tidying up, Jonathan told me that an hour earlier he had stood in our backyard and watched several manatees in the canal, nibbling on the greenery around our dock. Next time call me!!!

Hurricane Milton comes to town

The approach of Hurricane Milton had us reviewing our plans. We like to leave the state when a hurricane comes to call but it seems less of an option right now, with Randy's health concerns. His entire medical support staff is here and while things can be transferred, it could be complicated. So we decided to ride it out in the church building again. 

This time we were counting on our generator to keep our refrigerator and freezers going; it can easily keep them cold if we rotate it between them. Unfortunately, although Randy had run the generator beforehand, it decided not to run when we needed it. So the day before the hurricane we were looking for trouble-shooting videos and taking it apart. Randy was able to disassemble it and clean enough parts that it started working again - great! Then we spent the hurricane night at the church, sleeping on couches and waking to look outside all night. In the dark there was nothing to see, especially after 3 am when the power went out. 

Next morning we headed home; most of the roads were clear but we had to take a detour around Eagle's Nest road - it was completely blocked by a huge tree across it.

We were happy to see that our place only lost a few pieces of the roof trim. Our neighbors on either side had worse experiences with the loss of an enclosed porch and a carport roof, but their actual houses are intact and they were not home so nobody was hurt.

All we had to deal with (besides helping neighbors) was the loss of power. No internet, no lights, no phone (unless we got in the car and drove into town). The generator did a great job of keeping our food safe. We got Stavros' pizza a couple of time and the leftovers got us through. In the bathroom we had the "hurricane bathroom survival pack" - 5 gallons of water for the toilet, battery-powered candle, and wet wipes.

A trip back to the Bone Marrow ward, but this time for a good thing

We went back to Shand's again for another checkup and were so blessed that Randy's numbers are good! Good enough that he got the first of his immunization shots. Since his immune system was completely killed off, he needs to get all the "baby" shots again, like measles, chicken pox, etc. This time they only gave him a pneumonia shot; they are saving the rest for later. 

As an extra blessing, we walked over to the Bone Marrow ward and met up with Brittany again. She's the nurse who saw him through his chemo, transfusion, and most of his recovery. She had been promoted to Charge Nurse shortly before Randy arrived in June but she came out of retirement to do one more transfusion, and boy, were we glad she did! She prayed with us, interpreted medical jargon for us, encouraged us, provided comfort items (like those elusive shower shoes) ... anything and everything she could do to make Randy's life better. We will always appreciate Brittany, as well as many other people on the 7th floor.

Continuing the journey at home

Since we've been home Randy has continued to struggle with loss of appetite caused by an odd, uneasy nausea. Eventually Dr Dean told us that it was probably because his digestive system was sloughing off what was killed by the chemo. That has been getting a little better, thank God.

We have been self-quarantining since Randy started chemo treatments in February. For someone as social as Randy that is a very long time to be away from the people he loves. Fortunately the journey is made easier with support of others. The texts and calls from friends mean so much. People have sent us cards and gifts, and now are bringing us meals. The local Weight Watcher group that Randy has attended even sent this lovely hand-written quilt!

The cycle continues, and we are on a high note again

For several weeks I have had nothing unusual to write about because the days have been the same. Randy has been in a state of extreme exhaustion, trying to come out of it enough each day to eat something and do a little activity. And every Friday we have driven back to Gainesville to get his blood tested again. At the high point in the hospital his ANC was over 6,000. Unfortunately it has been going down steadily and as of last Friday it had sunk to about 1,100, and we were getting concerned. 

But today his ANC was (drum roll) 4,590!  And his WBC and Platelets are normal, too! So much good news in one day!

Home at last

 Zzzzzz...