Friday Morning Update

Hello again "bloggers:"

We can't tell you how much we enjoy every guestbook entry . . . thanks for showing your prayerful love and concern. And we are blown away by the sheer numbers of blog visits. A sincere and hearty thank you to each of you.

Thursday's activity for Trudy and me was simply another day at the hospital outpatient clinics. We arrived at 7:00a.m. for some lab work. Later, we met with a mid-level practitioner for consultation on the lab results. There was an obvious need for Trudy, her counts had bottomed out, she was quite weak, and she needed a transfusion for a boost. The process for that is pretty much . . . S L O W. Consequently, we did not leave the hospital until 8:30p.m., but Trudy now feels so much better. During the "low count" periods, this kind of event is expected and will be repeated every few days. So, while she is an "outpatient," we have come to accept that this only means that there are some days that you "don't" have to spend at the hospital.

Her side effects thus far have been manageable. She feels pretty good most of the time. But she never knows when the fatigue will hit. When it comes, she simply has to stop everything and rest for awhile. She has some "pains" that seem to us to come from a combination of low counts and a side effect of her twice a day injections (Trudy here: "Robert has gotten so good, that I no longer dread these shots"). Robert here: "Amen!"

Again, thanks for the wonderful thoughts and prayers. We appreciate and love each of you,
Robert and Trudy