Day + 94 " 'S Wonderful"

I woke up …. AND I AM HOME!!!!!!

I guess some of you can relate to what I went through today… someone who had to work out of town for a while, or whatever. But the experience of walking through my front door after 3+ months away was spectacular. The only thing that could rival it was landing at Oxford Airport in a little 12 place Pilgrim Airlines plane  in a driving rain storm and finding Ruth Ann, my Mom and a bunch of other people waiting for me.

We drove down the street, only to find a sign on the front lawn that said “Welcome Home Don” (with a small Italian flag in the corner!). Ruth Ann beeped the horn to alert Art and Mike next door and we parked. Then we saw a planter with Basil, Rosemary and Parsley near the front door. Ruth Ann unlocked the front door and commented “Gee, the alarm isn’t on”. We walked in to find the ENTIRE posse (less the Clark’s, who are in Colorado). What a surprise!!!! It was so good to see them all together again. Lee had done her magic with the “Italian Mac and Cheese”, Mike did a salad Caprese, and Lee also did her wonderful popovers. But before we could eat, the entire bunch helped Ruth Ann and I (mostly RA) unload the Blazer… it was full to the gunwales!  I can’t believe how much stuff we had accumulated in three months… all to make our little (and I mean LITTLE) apartment a little more like home.

These people… these 8 great friends (along with Becky and Sean) were the lifesavers during my stay in Tampa. Everybody pitched in to do stuff, whether it was taking care of the cats, riding heard on the house painter, or just being a companion to Ruth Ann. We couldn’t have done it without them… no way, no how.

The other people we could have not done without are YOU… yes, YOU. For your prayers and good thoughts, for your e-mails and Facebook comments and “Likes”. You know Ruth Ann and I could NOT have done this if wasn’t for you. I value all of you as real friends… some of you for 40 years or more… we LOVE YOU!!!

As to the results of the tests: Blood work was spot on… all as expected, no surprises and really quite good. Both the CT and P.E.T. were as expected, too. Not what the Doc wanted, but what she expected. There are still a couple of spots, but with an adjustment in the meds, we’re going to give the new cells a chance of attacking those spots… giving them a little “elbow” room to do their thing. The good part is that there was an oh-so-little decrease in size and no increase at all. I’ll have to be a little more careful with infection with the med change (the stupid looking duck bill mask is still “my friend”). Doc said we can change to another mask, and we will go to Home Depot tomorrow to look for it.

It’s late and I’m beat… Ciao to all. Buon Notte!