That’s right!  I took my last cyclosporin (or “cyclo” to those who know it well) this morning, and I just realized now that I didn’t properly celebrate.  I guess I forgot it was my last one!  I’ll celebrate by having some hot cocoa with Reddi Whip for my dessert!  :)  OK, that’s not really a celebration ’cause I have it almost every night, but it’s still something to look forward to!  I will also take my last Dapsone tonight (an antibiotic).  The only Rx’s I will continue are the Acyclovir, Fosamax, Xyzal, Nasonex and Yaz…hmmm, actually, that’s a lot, and I think I’m even forgetting one!…plus several supplements.  It feels like less because the Cyclo is such a big deal; no more big fat grey, skunky smelling “tick” pills for me!

Tomorrow’s a big day!  I go in and have the first bone marrow aspirate/biopsy since before I left Seattle.  I’m looking forward to good results, so I can attribute these aches and tiredness to transplant effects.  I should have some idea of the results tomorrow night when Dr. Kales calls me after looking at the cells, and I will certainly let you know ASAP!

I have a couple mouth sores right now, so I started doing salt rinses to prevent GVHD of the mouth.  They’re not painful, but they sure are ugly–just reddish-purple marks on the inside of my cheek.  I’ll mention those tomorrow.  I’m also taking along my handy little notebook so I can ask all my questions.  I don’t think there have been many visits when I didn’t go in with comments and/or questions.  They loved it in Seattle, and I’m pretty sure Dr. Kales does too. 

OK, enough medical stuff…on to my exciting weekend.  My dad’s friend, Charlie, came out Saturday to do some metal detecting.  I guess I should explain a little more so you know why he would want to come out to our house to do it!  We have a mill site on our property down near the creek, somewhere I would go when I was little to eat lunch and explore the woods with friends.  It’s from the 1800’s, and if you didn’t know what it was, you might just pass by, thinking it was an interesting pile of circular rocks.  :)  I just tried looking up specific info about it through google, but I couldn’t find anything.  I’m not sure if it’s because it’s privately owned or what, but I do know that many years ago, a museum wanted to take the stones to display them, but my mom said “no!” because she figured they are more appreciated in their natural setting, which is definitely the truth!  If I walked by some mill stones in a museum, I’d probably say “Oh look, mill stones” and move right along.  If I’m walking in the woods behind my house and come upon them, well, then it’s part of history!  Anyhoo, this is a long story, isn’t it?  I just wanted to give you some background on the site and our neighborhood so you could understand why metal detecting could yield such wonderful results!  And just to add to your knowledge just a bit more, the neighborhood was once owned by the Simpson family.  There is an original house (the farmhouse), a barn (which was turned into a very cool house many, many years ago), and a cemetery.  I always thought the cemetery only had graves for three or four people because there are not many headstones, but I discovered this tidbit of information: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/vr/cem/cem273.htm which taught me otherwise.  In my younger days, we would walk up to the cemetery at night with a baseball bat, Agatha and Sherlock (our Border Collies), a patrol belt (OK, I only wore that once, just so people would know I was in charge!), and try and scare ourselves.  The bat and the dogs were for protection, in case we came upon any crazies while out walking.

Moving ahead with my story though, our adventures in metal detecting taught me a new appreciation for history and our own property.  It’s pretty cool to think of soldiers camping in our woods during the Civil War.  The mill site and and the creek would have been very important to them when picking a place to camp or rest.  Luckily, it’s not a well-traveled woods, so running into a lot of modern-day trash like bottle caps and today’s modern bullets would not pose much of a problem.  I included pictures below of what we (well, technically, they, ’cause I’m not allowed to go digging around in the dirt–I was just there to photograph the events) found. :)  We only worked on a small section of the woods for a couple hours, and they found all those relics.  I was (and still am) quite excited about it, and I’m looking forward to having Charlie come out and do it again someday.  Something he mentioned that I found quite interesting:  I asked him if he was allowed to hunt at battlefields, and he said no, and that actually some battlefields have had planes fly over to drop lots of nuts and bolts and metal that’s worth nothing.  This way, a relic hunter would be discouraged early on, and wouldn’t disturb the battlefield.

When we came back home, we were all hot, hungry and tired (even though I didn’t do the physical labor involved…digging, filling dirt back up, holding the metal detector for extended periods of time).  I also came back with ticks…three of them!!!  Now why hasn’t anyone invented the “tick detector”, a device that acts as a scanner and you aim it from your head down to your toes so you know whether there’s a tick on you!  They’re so gross!  I had two on my left leg and one on my left shoulder.  Needless to say, I treated myself to a nice, long shower.

Saturday night, I made a picadillo (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picadillo) and we stuffed it into tortillas…it was delicious, if I do say so myself!!  It had ground beef, raisins, olives, black beans, red peppers, onions and lots of delicious spices.  My dad already requested that I make it again this week.  I think it would taste great in an empanada, so I’ll have to try that someday.

Sunday, my mom and I ran some errands and enjoyed the beautiful day.  In the evening I drove downtown and ate a superyummy Italian dinner with Kristi and Dave.  Thank you again for having me—it was a wonderful meal, and I enjoyed the company too, of course.  :)  I forgot to take a picture of you two for the blog though!!  Next time.  It was a beautiful drive down and back, and it was wonderful to spend time with them and catch up.

Well, it’s gettin’ late…it’s 12:48 AM, so I officially wish myself a Happy Six-Month Julaura birthday!!  I have a big day tomorrow, so I better hit the hay.  Oh, and more importantly, I’d like to wish Tiso a HAAAAAAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!  I hope you have a great day, Tiso.  I know I will!  No cyclo, no dapsone, 6 months out from the transplant, and getting ready for my 18th bone marrow.  Yes, I’m even excited about that last part because it will give me peace of mind.  In six more months, I’ll be back in Seattle for my check-up, and I’ll be ready to paint the town!!

Lots of love to everyone, and remember:  “Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.” - Dag Hammarskjöld …..Deep thoughts by Dag…I’m lookin’ at the horizon!  I’ll be really pissed if I trip on something while I’m trying to find the right road…I’ve had enough hiccups in life, and it’s time to plow ahead.  —-I mixed so many metaphors there, and it was great fun, but I hope it makes sense.

Julie