After Thanksgiving

Medically I had 3-units of platelets on Tuesday... red cells were holding (that's good). I am having labs again today and seeing the doctor so I can be ready to travel to Houston next Tuesday for Bone Morrow Extraction and Chemo. You see, you have to be well enough to get sick again?! What ever!

So, tonight is when my Niece Shawn arrives from Denver, late. And my Cousin Rachel arrives from Louisville on Saturday. We're all going to get together on Sunday to tour Las Vegas valley away from the Strip and maybe have lunch at the Salt Lick inside the Red Rock Station Casino out here on the west side of town. Rachel won a trip to LV for her outstanding work as business manager for a high-end restaurant in downtown Louisville -- I think. I'll know more about that when we see them. JW

Thanksgiving Photos

Photos of my brothers and of Mom and Dad are now available on Flickr for those of you who have not seen us for a while. JW

Thanksgiving Done

Mom prepared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner for the bunch of us. And what a wonderful setting on their patio overlooking the backyard landscape and the smells of Florida. Seated at the table were brothers Don & Tony (behaving badly), Debbie, Aunt Tootie and Roger and Mom and Dad. Jim and Nancy from next door stopped by for dessert. Actually, the whole 3-days of my visit has been Thanksgiving for me.
I have really missed Kathy. She says this is the only time in 23-years that she has not prepared Thanksgiving dinner. But as she says, "It's all about you." I try not to take advantage but I can be needy and high maintenance at times.
Tony and Billie are traveling to Florida for Christmas with their 5th wheel. Kathy and I will be decorating for the holidays but staying home this year. Thanks for the dozens of calls, eMails and messages we received this week from well-wishers and loved-ones. We hope all our family and friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. JW

Wednesday in Florida

I still don't know the results of my blood tests. At this point I don't care as long as I feel good and I'm just having the best time.
We called Aunt Vivian and Uncle Leon this morning who was packed and ready to leave Louisville. This is normally their annual winter trip to Florida. However, Leon has found blood in his urine and she is very concerned about him and taking him to the doctor!
I don't think they will make it down here to see Tony and me before we leave and that just breaks our heart. She has been such a big part of our lives! We'll have to figure out a way to make up for this missed time . Our thoughts are with you, Vivian.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family on the blog! A very big thanks to my wife for insisting I take this trip -- thanks sweetie you're always putting me first! And to Billie for suggesting Tony join me here as well. JW

Here in Florida-Tuesday

My brother Tony and I traveled all day Monday to reach our Mom and Dad. We finally did so around 6:30pm. Tony drove us back to the house since Dad's night sight is not the best. Even though we have been up since 3am yesterday... we stayed up talking until after midnight tonight.
I had labs today to check my blood levels while I'm away from my Las Vegas Hospital. There is just too much love here to be sick...for now. My brother Don and his wife Debbie joined us this afternoon for Pokechops (if you are from Kentucky, you know what that means) and more talking, listening and laughing. These moments don't happen very often. JW

One All-Nighter

My labs tell us how well my body is producing blood. And this month has been a good one with only a transfusion of platelets back on November 6th. However, I finally needed 3-units of red cells and 2-units of platelets this last Thursday that started in the afternoon and ended at 5:30 the next morning. It was important to be done by sunrise because I had a 7am schedule for hair cut and a pedicure!

I followed several meetings at the office with a scheduled visit with Dr. Sanatinia at mid-morning along with Kathy to review my progress. I seem to be producing fewer platelets right now and he wants me to have my blood checked while I'm in Florida in case I need more. I sure was hoping to have a week away from all this while visiting Mom and Dad.

However, I am very excited about seeing my brothers and my folks along with several aunts and uncles who are wintering in Florida. Mom will have about 15-people for Thanksgiving! My going to Florida for Thanksgiving was Kathy's idea... sure wished she was going with me. JW

Round trip Report

All went well at MD Anderson, Tuesday. So well they had me folded, stapled, released and even scheduled for my next trip in December before I could leave the building.

Dr. Kantarjian said my blood numbers are holding and that I won't need to start another round of chemo soon. He wants my Las Vegas doctors to monitor the numbers weekly and have me return to Houston, December 4th. It means the chemo I finished in September is still working. That's a big YEAH!

So, the 2nd clinical trial of Clofarabine will be put on hold until December following a bone marrow aspiration (those are fun) to see if my stem cells are working better. Hey, I feel better just having played golf with my friends on Monday.

Just wanted everyone to know that things are looking good. I learned from my doctors Personal Assistant that my stem cell donor dropped out last month because it was discovered through all of his preparations for the transplant that he had hepatitis.

Maybe... I saved his life! JW

Hearing Voices

I heard from my old friend in Denver, Ron Cisco. Even with the blog it's still great to hear a
friends voice. He never fails to call me monthly. My calendar reminded me that it was
Terry's Preble's Birthdayt. She was my first "girl friend" back in high school. I called her just to hear her voice. I know that she reads the blog every other day from Austin, TX. She told me she bought a larger home just to move her father George from the nursing home in
with her. I spoke to George for the first time today in 35-years. He sounded
very much the same as I remember.
The voices from our daughters Julye and Laura today were as welcome to me as I'm sure my voice is to my Mom and Dad living in Tampa. I'm grateful that they are there to call. Seeing my folks and my brothers over the Thanksgiving Holiday will be wonderful but saying goodbye to them for possibly the last time will be the hardest moments of my life. I am so grateful that Kathy insisted I go. JW

Everybody Wins!

Kathy and I had a wonderful time in Mesquite with our family - Kathy brought money back from the casino and I completed 18-holes of golf (don't think I broke 100 but I completed 18-holes).

Labs yesterday showed my numbers to be holding so I won't need a transfusion this week - YEAH! So, avoiding any infection over the weekend, I'll fly to Houston on Tuesday with a mask and my squirt bottle of Vicks Early Defense to begin my chemo plan.

My niece Shawn and cousin Rachel (who have never met) will be in Las Vegas early December where I plan for all of us gather some place... like maybe our home! JW

Fun at Home

Following my long stay in the hospital, I stayed and worked from our home office. Kathy entertained her girl friends for lunch on Friday. Her sister and her husband Joe arrived that afternoon and spent the night. We must have burned through 2-logs setting on the patio...we talked all evening...making up for lost time. It has been 3-4 months since we have seen each other and the gathering was wonderful. By the way, most of you are not aware that Joe has known my wife since she was 7-years old.

We had breakfast Saturday morning at The Original Pancake House..no, it was nothing like The Waffle House in Tucson, Arizonia.

We spent most of the weekend relaxing following the move back home to LV and my days in the hospital.

I have labs today to check my blood levels and then again on Thursday. One or both of these days will probably require a transfusion for blood or platelets. Meanwhile, we're headed up north to Mesquite Wednesday. It will be nice to get out of town just for the day.
I'll play golf with some of my best friends and Kathy can break in the new video poker machines at the Casa Blanca Casino.

The next big event will be to travel to Houston for the day to begin my 2nd Chemo treatment; that will be on Wednesday 11/12. JW

Medic!

In case you are wondering why I disappeared...Kathy whizzed me off to the hospital last Saturday. My temperature was moving north of 102-degrees around 10pm that night and Kathy threw my ass in the car and we rushed to emergency.

Antibiotics took hold of me about 3am. Southern Hills Hospital has probably never seen a normal looking person with blood counts as low as mine. The hospital staff began moving me into multiple tests to figure out where in my body the infection was occurring. In the end and four very long days later, it was just an infection I picked up around the time of the Passport chest implant.

Gad! I may have to start wearing a mask anytime I'm out of the house. I will be running any business from my home office until Monday. It feels wonderful setting here working and being home! Whew! That was close. JW