Random Notes from Salt Lake

The Missoula to Salt Lake drive on Thursday was nice.  We added a little extra loop so that we could drive south along the western edge of the Tetons and through the Targhee National Forest, some territory we had never seen before.  It added three hours to our trip, but it was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day, we were in a fine mood and enjoying our "new" car.  Since Roger has been feeling better, life seems much less stressful.  We wanted the day to last. 

Today we took the new-used car to the dealership to get extra keys made, because there is no Volvo dealer in Missoula.  Apparently you can't just run in to Ace Hardware and get an extra key cut out from a roughly shaped hunk of metal anymore.  Each key has to be specially programmed for the car.  And it takes a couple of hours and costs a pretty penny.  (gulp. what have we gotten ourselves into?)  So we dropped the car off early this morning and got a ride up to the LDS hospital  where Roger was poked, prodded, checked over and biopsied.

We won't have the test results back for about two weeks, but here's a sneak peek.  Everyone seems pleased with the results of the T-cell Infusion.  To the naked eye, it appears to be working. Roger has gained 8 pounds, his blood counts are nearly normal.  He has lots of energy.  Here we are at 8pm, just getting back to our hotel; we've been on the go since 8am.  This is the first time in nearly two years I've seen Roger with this much energy.  There is no sign of GVH.  We're told we might be getting the Graft vs Leukemia effect without GVH.  That would really be ideal if, in fact, that is happening.  Will these remarkable results last?  That's a question no one can answer.  Doctors, nurses, PA's each in their turn advise us to "enjoy this."  We will take that advice to heart.

We had a nice reunion with Roger's two sisters and his brother/donor this afternoon.  It was wonderful to see everyone.  Tomorrow we are rushing home just ahead of a big snow storm that's supposed to be heading our way.  At least, we hope to stay ahead of it.  No side trips this time.

Here's a quote from that book I picked up in the bookstore the other day:

"Having a not entirely reasonable expectation that things will go well turns out to be exactly the sort of delusion that increases your chances for success in this world. If in fact you are skating on thin ice, the last thing you want to do is slow down and think about it." --- Mark Vonnegut, M.D. Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So

Mark Vonnegut is the son of Kurt Vonnegut Jr, of course a huge favorite author from the 1960s-80s.  This autobiographical book is a description of Mark's remarkable life, his triumph over mental illness and other life challenges.  It is funny, smart and inspiring.  I may share more quotes later.