Monday, October 15, 2007

Flashback to April

Seems like I am back to my situation back in April. Though not scheduled for a Dr appt for another two weeks, I sensed that my hemoglobin was low. I was tired, out of breath with little exertion, dizzy spells and getting slight headaches. So this morning, I called in and arranged for a blood test this afternoon. Turns out that my Hgb was 8.4 and white cell count was 2.3, both the lowest that they have been since I left the hospital in late May. My platelets are up to 133, the highest since before my BMT.

So, I will be in for a blood transfusion on Tuesday and the Dr has increased my prednisone. I have been on 20 mg every other day and now moving to 60 mg every day. I assume that after this, I will feel pretty good again. I was approved for long term disability pay through insurance and await a response from Social Security. I am seriously considering going back to work 1/2 time to see how that works out. It will seem like April again, working with regular trips to Dr for blood transfusions.

Over the past month, I have been taking inventory of my old TI99 computer collection and plan to travel to Chicago for a computer faire on Saturday. My son will help drive and we will stay part of Sunday to sightsee as well. My first home computer was the TI99/4 in 1980. I now have about 10 spares, 150 cartridges and miscellaneous hardware. There were close to 500 different cartridges produced, many after TI discontinued the computer in 1983. My most recent addition was a newly developed hard disk interface with a 2GB HD. There is still an internet based user group with over 500 members, 50 of which will probably show up in Chicago.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Joel -- I'm sorry to hear that you are not feeling as well as you were; hopefully, the transfusion and the increased dosage of Prednisone will help. I hope you and Andrew have a great time in Chicago, and that you enjoy the computer faire!
BJB and Family

Anonymous said...

I think I remember you showing me that computer. I was very impressed.

Hope the Prednisone works and you can go back to work half-time.

Ken Brandt

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your update Joel. You are always in our thoughts and prayers. I'm glad you are in the caring hands of specialists. Enjoy your trip to Chicago with Andrew.
Becky, Emily and Jenny