A Busy Week

Medical Front

This week has been busy with three trips to Temple for tests and a doctor’s visit.
We had a positive development on Wednesday when we learned that Jana’s white cell count had dropped from 186,000 to 162,000 in one week. I don't know if that is good (whether or not the values might randomly rise and fall by 24,000 from day to day), but we were glad to see that the change was in the right direction. She sees the doctor next week following the next blood test, and we'll be able to quiz her then.

My news was not as positive. They use a scale from 0 to 100 to measure lung function. Without a right lung, they would want a score of 40 or higher before doing the surgery, and my score was only 35. The doctor said he would probably offer the surgery to me, but I still have a couple of other tests to do--an echocardiogram and a max-ox test in which I breathe through a tube while exercising to exhaustion. That test, which will not be done until July 14, will indicate the extent to which my body can process oxygen. I have time to recover from my little surgeries and get in some good walking in order to perform my best. Unless the PET scan turns up cancer in the left chest cavity, I expect I will go for the surgery if it is offered.

I had some interesting tests this week that I'll write up in another post.

Housing Front

We feel very fortunate and relieved to have found a house that we like near the hospital, and we signed a lease yesterday. The address is

3414 Chaparral Drive
Temple, TX 76502

We get the house on July 5, and our household goods from San Antonio (our Okinawa shipment) will be delivered on July 6. It is an older home in an established neighborhood, as you can tell if you check out the address on Google Maps. Even though it is an older home, its energy efficiency was upgraded a few years ago with the addition of insulation and high efficiency windows. I estimate that it was built in the 70’s; however, the kitchen has been upgraded with granite countertops, and other improvements have been made. It's not perfect, but the location and the timing made it the best choice.

David