Time with the Grandkids (Aug 30 update)

My daughter and her family paid us a visit this past weekend which we were thrilled to have.  She and her husband Marshall are doing very well.  The three and 2/3 children they brought along are doing very well. (Can grandkids do badly? They are perfect!).  We had not seen them for some time.  Abigail is four and a half, Jude is just about three (born the day before I was transplanted with a new heart) and August is 15 months.  The doctors tell us the new baby due in late November will be a girl.  Rose is pleased for another girl as the mix right now is in favor of the boys.  All together from the three families we will soon have four granddaughters and five grandsons.  They bring a lot of joy to our lives.  We were missing them in the evening on the day they left.  Here is a photo of Papa showing everyone a YouTube clip on the Ipad of a Penguin and the group of Killer Whales (click here).  This video became the subject of a new game the next few days.  The grandkids were the Penguins and Papa became the Killer Whale.  We reenact all the close encounters from the comfort of a big soft chair.  The story ends with the penguin being set free safe from the ravages of the whale. 

Now I will give you an update on my health.  I saw my oncologists at the end of August to check the concentration of the Lambda Free Light Chain (λFLC) that is in my blood stream to determine how the disease is progressing.  This is one of several indicies to determine the status of the disease.  This is the protein that causes the damage with AL Amyloidosis.  As of the end of August, the values had not changed (up or down) over the past 30 days.  This is good news as an increase in the λFLC could trigger another round of Chemo.  So for a while anyway, I get to continue to recover.  This chart shows the ride I have been on since first diagnosed back in February 2009.  You can see on the right portion of the chart (January 2012), I had a very good response to the second stem cell transplant in December 2011.  But now the disease seems to be on its way back again.  The levels have never been in the normal range shown on the lower portion of the chart.  If the values get much higher I will start a new regiment of chemo.  My doctors want me to recover more and gain some physical strength from the last big push in December.  I am realizing a gain in strength.  Though as I have mentioned before it is very very slow.  I was pushing myself more this last week and got some muscle aches in my calves.  It was as if though I have gone on a 20 mile hike or run a very long distance.  I have started some physical therapy to reverse the Bells Palsy on the right side of my face.