Good news

Yesterday, Vern, Hannah, James and I went up to Atlanta to visit with Dr. Keller. James was weighed (he keeps gaining weight and is now 12.5 kg or 27.5 lbs), measured (I forgot to ask how long he is) and milked for blood (for some reason they finger pricked him and then 'milked' his finger to get enough for the labs they wanted to run. It probably wasn't any worse than being stuck, but it wasn't really any better either.

Dr. Keller was really tickled with how well James was doing. When we left the hospital last Thursday, he was confident we would be fine until this Thursday. Evidently, he was the ONLY one who thought we would make it. We were hopeful, but not optimistic and all the doctors and nurse practitioners were SURE we would be back before our appointed day. James counts were good for him, all things considered. His hemoglobin is a little low (8.4), but not low enough for a transfusion. His platelets were a lot lower than they were when we left the hospital (down to 280), but that is good. I've forgotten his white counts, but his ANC, which indicates how well his immune system is working, was 2.8, which is on the low end of normal.

Dr. Keller was confident things would only get better for this next week and a half and so James will be scheduled to return to the hospital 21 May for a new port and chemo. This should be about a four day visit if all goes well.

In other family news:

Neighbors brought by four baby bunnies they uncovered while mowing their grass. Really they should have just left them, as wild baby bunnies do not do well in captivity. These made it for about nine days despite everyone's best efforts at nursing them around the clock. We understand is pretty good.

We have had some lovely weather here. It has been like warm Minnesota days. There is lots of green in the trees, but we could use some rain for the grass. Today is supposed to be hot.

The house and property we were considering is no longer available. The fellow who owns it has decided he wants to keep it in the family for now. He has no children.

We are considering a piece of land. A seven acre pie shaped piece. It was clear cut several years back and the overgrowth is pretty thick, but we have been visiting over there lately and are beginning to develop a possible vision for the land. The wide part of the pie piece is relatively flat, as best we can tell, and could be slowly cleared over time with the help of goats and some pigs. There is a lot of forest debris on the ground and the soil underneath is sandy. This could make some nice pasture as we work to 'take dominion' over it. The pointy part of the pie piece is much more sloping and looks like is would have a few nice potential home sites where the home could be nestled into the slopes.

Behind the land is a large parcel owned by a wealthy man in the area. He told the current owner when he purchased it a few years back that he might be interested in selling him additional land in the future.

The biggest challenge, I think, will be figuring out an affordable living situation. My personal preference would be to find a way to live on the land for a year or two before we build our home. There are a number of mistakes we could have avoided if we'd been able to do this in Minnesota.

Well, today's responsibilities are calling me and I need to move on.

Thanks for stopping by. Love, Stephanie