Room With A View

I was surprised to see Jim in the chair when I arrived to his room this morning. He is tired but his counts are still hanging in there. Dr. Giralt and the team came by. It will be his last day on service. Everyone that sees Jim are taken back at how strong he looks. Giralt explained that he will feel pretty crappy in 2 days and for the next 2 weeks. He also told Jimmy "it was an honor and a pleasure." Neha Mehta-Shah, Dr. Horwitz's fellow, poked her head in for a visit. She has been working on Jim's case for the past year and is a very kind and gentle doctor. Lastly Dr. Sauter stopped in. We were talking to him about why Jim's counts haven't bottomed out yet. He said the chemotherapy dose was lower than what he had before when he did the transplant with his own cells. His values will decrease but they will not go to zero like we thought. His original cells have to hang around a little until the donor cells take over. It is the donor cells that will kill any remaining cancer in Jim's body once they take hold.

This weekend is the girls trip to Shrine Mont to scrapbook. We go twice a year. This will be the first one I missed in 10 years. Thanks to Laura I am there in spirit. She printed a picture of me and attached it to a stick to take along with her. I feel a part of the gang still. Thanks Laura!

We met the physical therapist today. She came in to work with Jim on setting goals for each day during his stay in the hospital. It is easy to lose strength and muscle mass when you don't feel well and can't leave your room to walk around. That's why they have the phrase "the chair is your friend".  Just the little activity of getting out of bed to sit in a chair helps the muscles move and reduces the chances of pneumonia because you are using your lungs more. She gave Jimmy light exercises he should try to work on 30 minutes each day. There are even exercises to do in bed if he is too tired to get out of it.

The most exciting thing about the day is Jim was moved to a different room. It's just down the hall but the windows are twice the size of his old room and instead of looking out onto the side of another building we now can see the sky, trees and a bit of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. The room is more spacious so Jim won't feel as claustrophobic.  Seeing the sky and sunshine is important in maintaining peace of mind. Today was a good day.