Round and Round and Round

It's been a little over two weeks since my last post, and I'll probably sound like a broken record, but that seems appropriate. That also goes round and round and round without seeming to make any progress. But sticking with my favorite "road trip" analogy, these last couple weeks have felt a little like this post's picture. We're going along OK, maybe not at full speed, but headed in the right direction, and then we come to a roundabout. Sometimes we just cruise on through. Sometimes we feel like we're going in circles. Sometimes we exit one roundabout and find ourselves entering another. And sometimes we just get off at the wrong exit.

Cruising on through - Becky started driving in the last couple weeks. We did a couple short trips in the neighborhood and to her weekly Quest appointment to start. Last week, she drove herself to the Quest appointment. She's also pretty much over the cold that had been dragging her down for a few weeks.

Going in circles - Eating has had its ups and downs since the Dobhoff tube was removed. Most days she's trying to eat a little, but she feels full after just a few bites. Every once in a while, she eats what might almost be considered a meal. I'd like to see more of those days. Some days her nausea and stomach issues kick in and she hardly eats at all. That and the cold have limited or cancelled most of her recent physical therapy appointments, so we'll need to reschedule those. At one point last week, the stomach issues resulted in a new roundabout.

Entering another roundabout - On Wednesday night last week, Becky's stomach issues cranked up a notch to more severe cramping and outright pain. So, we made another trip to the emergency room. We left with a "diagnosis" of "splenic infarction" (yeah, we had to look it up too) and thought maybe we had some insight into something going on with her spleen that could be treated/corrected. However, the transplant team assures us this is a condition that Becky had before the transplant and that it would not account for her ongoing nausea or the more severe stomach pain. We're still asking questions about next steps including a possible endoscopy and further GI testing.

Wrong exit - In my last post I mentioned that we were trying to figure out the logistics of getting a new Aranesp injection every week to help with her low red blood cell/hemoglobin counts without us having to make a weekly trip to Dallas. We're still trying to figure that out. Becky was derailed a bit by the ER trip. We'll need to see if we can figure that out this week.

So, there you have it. My summary of another leg of our journey. Yes, most days we feel like we're on the right road. Becky's getting more and more independent, and my work schedule has returned to mostly normal - except for those trips to Dallas and occasional ER trips. Yes, we know (because the doctors keep reminding us) that this will be a long journey since Becky was so sick - being "one of the sickest people in the hospital" is not easy to recover from. Some days knowing that is not enough to keep us from being road weary, but we keep going.

As always, we thank you for your continued support and prayers! They are felt and appreciated!