The View from My Room on the 14th Floor

The view from my room thanks to a wonderful nurse who moved me from the dungeon in back when this room opened up over the weekend. Full size windows on 2 sides with views of Lake Michigan, the Chicago Water Tower and Water Tower Place, and the Museum o Modern Art (respectively in the photos above). It certainly brightens my day to look out and see all that is going on. The weather is so nice I keep expecting some boats to come cruising through the harbor but no such luck. All in all, a wonderful place to be if I have to go through such a lengthy stay.

An Update for 2017

It has been awhile since I have blogged. Not sure exactly why. I'd  like to say that it has been because I have been living a life apart from being a cancer survivor as many of you know, but also, as many of you also know, I have been challenged by the multiple myeloma and required an ever changing series of treatments to keep it under control. Some required hospital stays with long recuperations followed by maintenance treatments that occurred weekly, bi-weekly, or, if lucky, monthly. Some of those days would require 10-12 hours in the clinic.
I am writing you now because my last series of treatments was not as effective as the doctor would have liked so I am now in the hospital again for a 96-hour (4 day) infusion of an 8 drug cocktail to see if we can knock it back. I am feeling fine now and have a beautiful room which overlooks both Lake Michigan and Michigan Avenue. The view today is gorgeous. Many thanks to my nurse who knew the room was opening up and moved me down here from my room with no view.
The infusion will end Tuesday, but then my counts will fall and the crash begins around the end of the week when fatigue and other side effects will set in. The doctor wants to keep me for at least another week and a half or so until my counts (and my immune system) come back up. That cycle is the most difficult time and I do not look forward to it.
Terri comes to visit everyday and Elizabeth stops by before/after her shifts as she is a transport nurse for Lurie Children's hospital just across the street. I enjoy those times together as well as calls from Andrew checking up on me. Both Andrew and Elizabeth, as well as Katie and Mike, share tales of our grandkids which I love.
I'll try to keep you posted as the days progress. In the meantime, please keep both Terri and me in your prayers and your thoughts. Feel free to share our story with others in your church or social groups. We know how miraculous prayers can be working together. I would love to hear from you via  email or text although I can't always assure you that I will respond especially as my strength fades. Know I will appreciate and enjoy them very much.
As always thanks for your care, love, and support for both of us. It means so much.

Bob and Terri

Pet Scan Results from July 1

I have gotten the results from the PET scans done last week and preliminary results are GOOD. They indicate that my current course of chemotherapy is controlling, and in some cases improving, the multiple myeloma. I'll know more when I meet with my doctor early in August. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and good wishes. If you are so inclined, please continue to pray that it be so . Praise be to God!

Latest News

I am still feeling okay. After a week in Michigan with my siblings and their families I realize how much further I need to go to build up my strength and stamina, but I am happy that I am able to do most things I would like to do if with a little less vigor than before. We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect for being on the beach, regardless of age.

I had my monthly chemo treatment just before I came and I also had my semi-annual PET scans done at the same time.  Needless to say, it was a very long day so it was great I was taking off for Michigan the next day. The PET scans are the best indication of how I am doing with this current course of treatment so I am waiting to hear from Dr. Mehta for the results.

I am still dealing with low white blood cell counts so I fight different kinds of infections from time to time. Hopefully we can find the right combination of medications in the chemo treatment to bring my counts back to the normal range.Right now I am trying to clear up some skin infections.

In the meantime, Terri and I are enjoying the summer as much as we can. It is great for us to get away to our stuga in Michigan for a little rest, relaxation, and fun. Hoping that the weather continues to improve as we will have our whole family up here the last week in July. Time with the 5 little ones on the beach is lots of fun.

Please hope and pray that the results of my PET scans show that the multiple myeloma is contained and I can continue doing what I am doing. Thank you.

Chemotherapy update

I had my monthly chemotherapy infusion yesterday. Unfortunately because my white blood cell count was low making me more susceptible to infections, it was decided not to give me one part of the cocktail which can have a negative effect on those cells. My oral chemo pill can also have a similar effect so we are working to find just the right combination so that my white blood cells can remain in the normal range. So please understand if I don't shake your hand when we meet. Just my way of trying to avoid any future infections.

Other than that, everything went smoothly and I am resting comfortably at home today. Even drove myself to get a haircut. Biggest problem is getting the furnace fixed which went out last night. Glad the weather is warming up although it was a little cold sleeping last night. Had to get out the winter comforter.

Tom Brokaw and A Lucky Life Interrupted

I hope you had a chance to watch Tom Brokaw's excellent special on his journey with multiple myeloma. While MM is a very personal type of cancer, there are many similarities which I recalled as I watched the show. I have been fortunate not to experience the extreme pain that Tom did early in his diagnosis for which I am most thankful. However, there were many things I could empathize with Tom about, including the extreme fatigue, multiple bone fractures, constant back pain, chemotherapy and radiation treatments that bring one down, the danger of catching the ordinary flu and spending 2-3 days in the hospital, and the loss of height and weight among others. (I have gone from 5"10" to 5"6" and now look up at most of the guys I know and my weight is slowly coming back after hitting bottom at 145 lbs.)  I am sure that Terri and Elizabeth could add other similarities.

There are differences too. While Tom was able to achieve a complete remission through chemotherapy, I have undergone 2 stem cell transplants, one of which put me in the ICU for 6 weeks in 2011 (the result of catching the H1N1 virus--not the stem cell transplant) as many of you will recall. That stem cell transplant brought about a complete remission. My most recent stem cell transplant in 2014 brought about a near remission and I am on chemotherapy to keep the disease in check. It has been a long road back from that one. The medications Tom is taking no longer work for me so I am on a regimen of some of the latest drugs available. Pray that they will work.

I am glad that Kathy Giusti, founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, was featured on the show. Her organization has done much to advance research on the disease and we support it every fall when their Race to Research comes to Chicago and the Twin Cities. We hope you will support us again as well.

Most importantly, Tom stressed the need for family and friends to help break down the isolation barrier that surrounds a person with MM or any other cancer (and his caregiver). How fortunate I have been in that area. I have been so blessed to have an unbelievable caregiver in Terri. She has walked every step of this journey with me as she has taken care of me and I need to make sure she takes care of herself and that we both find time for rest and relaxation. Elizabeth has been a wonderful medical advocate, translating everything that has happened and reminding me of the many things I have forgotten. Andrew, Mike, Katie, and my siblings have offered wonderful support, as has the rest of the family and our friends And the grandchildren born during this journey have been a great joy!

Tom did say how it is important to take life one day at a time--a lesson we learned a long time ago. What he did not mention is the power of the prayer of others who are with us on this journey. We know that God is at work in our lives and we are so thankful to all of you who have offered words of support and especially prayers on our behalf. Thank you.

If you haven't seen the show, here is a link to it online.

Tom Brokaw A Lucky Life Interrupted

Lung Biopsy

Today I had a lung biopsy to check out something that showed up in a CT scan of my left lung during my last stay in the hospital in March. The biopsy went smoothly. We are just waiting for the results which won't be known until next week. We don't think it is anything serious and are praying that we will get a clean report. We would appreciate your prayers too.

Spring is Finally Here, Summer is Coming

It's been awhile since I have blogged. I just want to let you know that I am doing okay. I am still having problems with bladder infections (UTIs), but I have also been able to begin the maintenance therapy for my multiple myeloma on a monthly basis. It's nice now not to have to go to the clinic so often. I did contract another gastrointestinal virus in March that required 2 trips to the emergency room and a 4 day stay in the hospital, primarily for dehydration. That was not a happy time but I am much better now. I'm happy to say that my strength and stamina have slowly been improving and my appetite has come back which is GREAT!

On the plus side, Terri and I were able to get away to Florida for a few days in February although the weather was cool and overcast most of the time. We also took all of the grandkids to Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park in the Wisconsin Dells for a weekend in March and I felt good enough to celebrate nephew Wylie's wedding to Kristen Redman at the end of the month. What great times! And we were finally able to get up to the stuga in Michigan for a long weekend just this past week. Time to get it and the family summer house ready for summer. It felt good to do so and to connect with all of our friends up there. If you are so inclined, please pray that my health continues to improve and that we will all be able to enjoy a glorious spring and summer.