What I Learned Today

The first thing I learned today is that Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin is 64. Seems every radio station in the Providence/Boston area is paying him homage by playing the band's tunes. The next thing I discovered is that I can drive myself to Boston and back and not get in a wreck. I haven't been on a highway since August, and wasn't sure if my baby blood was up to the task. I heard many many Zeppelin songs during my drive to Dana-Farber. The CD player in my car had one lone CD in it, the musical Camelot. Shows you how much I drive. Darling Marty must have loaded that. I still hate musicals.

I learned at the clinic today that my blood counts are completely in the normal range for the very first time since the last time I drove on a highway. I saw my doctor and he said I'm fine and I said I felt fine so that was that. He told me to cut back on one of my immune suppressant drugs (prograf) and to be on the look-out for any signs of graft v. host issues. Curious about how my spanking new immune system is doing, I asked what my CD4 count was. A healthy person's count is 500-1500 t-cells per cubic millimeter of blood. Last time mine was checked, over a month ago, it was 4. Geez Louise. Fragile as a Ming vase, I must remain a hermit.

Yesterday, I learned something very sad. One of our dogs that we left behind in Costa Rica had to be put to sleep last Friday. Her name was Allie and she was a bouvier de flandres we'd rescued when she was 2 years old. She was a full sister to our dog Asta, and a half sibling to our Turbo. Our friends in Costa Rica adopted her and continued giving her the good life, complete with complementary mangoes. Here's to you Allie, a good loving dog who no longer has to be terrified during thunderstorms.

Allie, November 1997 - January 2008