Journal
Hello friends and family,
We had the best intentions of posting an update on Day +180, but time flies and it is now Day +280 post bone marrow transplant (June 16, 2023).
We have a lot to be thankful for. Jim continues to improve, slowly but surely. He was healing well, however around day +150 the lab numbers indicated that they needed to call Dan, Jim’s brother/donor, back in to take some more blood cells for a couple of boosts in order for his cells to fully take over in rebuilding Jim’s immune system. It was all out patient and did indeed turn the numbers in the right direction. However, Jim did have a reaction that required a long and high dosage of prednisone with all of the side effects that come along with it—sleepless nights, talking non stop, ordering off of Amazon in the middle of the night, Marcia needing to hide the car keys for a while, etc. Fortunately, the steroids tamped down the reaction and after a long taper off the drug(s), blood counts are returning to normal. We are still waiting to see if Dan’s cells completely take over, so prayers are appreciated specifically for that to happen.
Jim began to get his “baby shots” at the first of the year and just finished the second round. They have encouraged us to begin to venture out a little more, in small healthy groups. We still mask in public most places and don’t go to restaurants yet. A recent highlight was having our daughter, Clair, with us for two weeks from South Korea in February. We also took a short trip to the Lake of the Ozarks to be with part of Marcia’s family about a month ago.
As anyone knows who has ever recovered from a long illness, healing is a journey that takes its own time. It is also not a straight line and sometimes it is uphill. But we have learned to enjoy the pace healing sets and the people who have shared this road with us in spirit.
peace+,
Jim and Marcia
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