And she'll have fun fun fun until her doctor takes her liberty away

At A Steak in the Neighborhood (restaurant
in downtown Tucson)

Dinner and a show last night.  Yes, I couldn't let Heidi show me up in the hat department.  Nice steak dinner and then opera.  Three weeks ago I went to the opera by myself—definitely not fun, fun, fun.

Yesterday morning we hiked in Catalina St Park.  Heidi did phenomenally well, considering last week she was too weak to leave the sterile 3NW wing of the hospital.  Considering two months ago she was too weak to walk up the driveway.  We tried to reach Romero Pools.  Heidi didn't make it all the way, but she got damn close.  She stopped after several miles, up a couple thousand foot elevation gain.  She stopped to rest and I ran ahead.  Only took me 10 minutes to reach the pools, but that was enough for Heidi.  After I came back to her, we headed back down the trail. 

Resting on the Trail

I'd like to ask the oncologists how many of their leukemia patients hike like that between Induction and Consolidation phases of chemotherapy.  I'm guessing not (m)any. 

Today was a trip to Phoenix to watch the Seahawks move to sole possession of first place in the NFC West.  Just for the skeptics among you, I should point out that most of the people still there when the final gun sounded were wearing blue.  Mostly dark blue with that other shade of blue.  Blue on blue.  Lots of blues.  You get the point; no red.

I almost forgot about the doctor appointment on Friday.  That was pre-fun.  Actually, no surprises.  Heidi is going back in for Consolidation chemotherapy, probably on Wednesday.  The doctor is going to time it so that on Thanksgiving she will be out, but her blood counts shouldn't be too low to go see her family in Costa Mesa.  We'll drive to Costa Mesa—about an eight-hour drive.  That will make it easy to make last-minute plans based on her blood counts and the relatives viral status (that means no cold or flu symptoms).  I'll probably have to precede her entry with a can of Lysol spray and wipe everything with alcohol wipes.  We'll have a bottle of hand cleaner at the door for everyone to use.  It will seem like overkill to everyone else, but getting sick there would screw up many things, including our trip back to Tucson.

My hat is better, but apparently I need a fake flower on my lapel.
And the Seahawks Won.

The consolidation phase to 3NW at University Med Center will probably last a week.  She gets Cytarabine three times.  This is the same drug as one she received last stay, but at a higher dose and without Daunarubicin, the other poison she received last time. 

I'm trying to think of a clever way to end this post, but I'm coming up empty.  And it's late.  So I'll end with a heartfelt thanks to all you who watched the hair-cutting video.  Now up to 1130 viewings.  Probably won't be any more hair-cutting during the Consolidation phase.

Oh, and still no word on whether either sibling is an HLA match.  Should know this week.