Geeking out

Dear Friends,

The platelets continue to be problematic--they dropped significantly today. The oncologist called the ge doc yesterday and discussed the necrotic patches in the food pipe, wondering if they might be clots caused by the heparin induced antibodies. Then he tried to call a radiologist, wondering if there might be some sort of test we could do. The radiologist was out, so no answer for now. Nor any chemo due to the low counts, nor any procedures (PICC removal/port installation/esophagus stretching/g tube installation) due to the risk of clotting. Doc said my case is complex, difficult to decide the best treatment right now.

Again, I'm strangely unworried about this. Jeshua will take care of it, one way or another.

The liquidation of our primary investment mutual fund wet through, so we have enough cash on hand to close on the Florida house. Seems to be on track.

The garage sale happened today. It was way hot, so I mostly stayed inside after a blood check at the clinic. We got rid of a lot of stuff to make the next move easier, and made a few hundred bucks too. Deanna worked very hard to pull it all together.

I've been able to geek out with some new toys the last few days. Our Verizon contract was up for renewal, and they offered us a good deal on new phones and a netbook. Elizabeth's phone had only four dial out numbers and the battery in mine was very poor. Plus, our laptop has a stuck down "4" key and a failed "f" key. So we renewed the contract, got two new phones for Elizabeth and me, and a netbook to replace the laptop.

The netbook has no CD drive, so I spent most of the day figuring out how to get it to see the CD drive on our desktop through the wireless LAN. Then I was able to load up MS Office and some other software, as well as print from the netbook to the desktop's printer wirelessly.

Elizabeth is dying to go to the beach vacation with Deanna's family, as we have done each year for some time now. But we're not sure it's going to work out. If the blood count is too low, I can't go because I'll need the daily checks and shots. If it's too high, I can't go because I'll get chemo and maybe some surgical procedures. Which means we have to decide among options of: Elizabeth goes without us, Elizabeth and Deanna go, or none of us go.

I think the most likely situation is that I will be pretty much like I am now, which would mean that I would stay here, but Deanna and Elizabeth could go.

Deanna has been working so hard this week. But I think she will get to throttle back a bit this weekend. She needs some r&r.

God Bless,
-Mike