SICU Day Four

            I’ve got to get to bed, so this will be short and ecstatic. The results are just preliminary and David still has a very dangerous disease, on top of recovering from major abdominal surgery.

            The bone marrow biopsy of yesterday shows no cancerous blasts. This one biopsy is not enough to declare “remission”, but we’re at least getting closer. Of course, I’ll keep you posted as the more detailed molecular analysis is completed.

            The three vials of CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) they removed during the lumbar puncture yesterday show no sign of infection or leukemia. Again, this is not the final analysis, but it is very good news.

            David was moved back over to the hematology/oncology ward: 5 West, room 3. I never thought I’d be happy to see my son put in an oncology ward, but now there won’t be a “SICU Day Five” blog post. The transfer took 2 or 3 hours, mostly of waiting and chatting with the Fort Hood liaison, Sergeant Josh Smith, who represents the First Cavalry here at Wrenmimic. Turns out he was born and raised in Charlestown, just down the hill from the Bunker Hill monument. So we talked about Boston, the Revolutionary War, including the winter of 1775-76, when General Henry Knox moved 59 pieces of artillery, including 43 heavy cannon, 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Dorchester Heights, overlooking the Boston harbor. (See Henry Knox Brings Cannon to Boston). Josh calls the earlier June 17, 1775 engagement the Battle of Breed's Hill . I love it!

            After David was all settled in on 5 West, room 3 (the third room he’s been in on the oncology unit), I walked to Bethesda Center, to activate his new ATM card at a machine and find some supper. Had a delicious meal of pork, snow peas, ginger, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and brown rice. I’ve never liked the thought of eating alone at a restaurant, it seems so publicly ALONE, but I reveled in it tonight.

            And after a week of never hitting 6000 steps, I did 12,012.

            Earlier today, I got a visit from four “senior missionaries” who serve at Wrenmimic: a married couple I had met back in March, and two brand new sister missionaries. FYI, a senior missionary is usually over 50. They were the same tags as the 18 year olds you see all over, but they serve in a variety of ways. These missionaries spend much of their time helping people at Wrenmimic. I told them that David was well taken care of by his Washington D.C. 2^nd ward, but they said, “We’re here to help you.” They listened to me pour out my heart and the story of my life since March 19^th, including the huge stresses of this past week. It felt so good to be able to talk to women who could be my older sisters and to share my experiences with such empathetic listeners. One of the sisters said, Consider us your visiting teachers. (Visiting teaching is organized in each congregation. Every woman in a congregation can have a pair of women who help her in any way she wishes: spiritual, physical, emotional, social. I have loving visiting teachers in Massachusetts, but it feels great to have a pair that serves right in Wrenmimic.)

            And now to bed. To paraphrase Phil Connors: It is the end of a VERY long week.