Hi everyone,
We've been talking for a long time about how we want to do an update. Lots of reasons for this, but mostly, Wow, look how far we are from this time last year! Last year, Doug and I had just moved into a wheelchair-friendly apartment on a busy street in Mountain View. We were taking 45-minute drives to the Stanford outpatient clinic every other day so he could have tests and transfusions/infusions for platelets, red blood cells, and potions that protected him from flu, pneumonia and so many other things. The nurses, techs, PA's and docs at the Stanford ITA (Infusion Treatment Area) were our lifelines. We love them so much, and visit the ITA when we go to Palo Alto for our regular monthly checkups.

Doug will be writing an update, soon. (Or so he's been saying for weeks!) Tonight Doug's at the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue monthly meeting. He went early before the meeting because he has in mind a short-person skit to put on with some of the others on the Team, and they're going to practice. Since the Sierra Valley Art and Ag Trail craft fair in September, he's been making more and more Jeffrey pine wood art with his saws, chisels and paints in the yard and selling it by the armfuls to people walking by with their dogs (and families).

Last summer he had one of the setbacks the docs have warned us about. His body is hosting an epic battle of immune systems - the old and the new. They pick different locations (organs, usually) for flareups. In the past, it's been the skin, but this summer the systems went crazy in his liver. Doug had to start a steroid, prednisone, and it zapped all of his strength and energy, and whatever calmness he had. It also made him puffy. He couldn't mountain bike, road bike, stand up paddle board, or even hike. But he could make art - so the Art & Ag Trail was a savior! Good news is, the liver has recovered and he's almost off the prednisone. He's one plucky guy.

He gets a twice-monthly blood report, and I'm attaching the results of his blood tests today. We live by these numbers. It is amazing. The HGB (the hemoglobin count we watch) is almost normal. It's been as low as 6 and now is inching toward the normal range, which is about 13-16.5. Platelets are coming up. Those help his blood clot. And WBC, white blood cell, is within normal. Recently we both had colds, and the docs said to let his immune system fight his off. We're still deeply afraid of germs, though, and he won't get any vaccinations for another 8 months or so, so the measles epidemic is super scary.

Thanks for reading and for keeping us in your thoughts. We're following closely the progress of other people locally who have their own issues to deal with right now. We love you!