Sue Charen

Saab Story

It was a horrible sound. We were just pulling into the parking lot of a deli, when we heard a huge crunch. We knew it was bad when the oil gauge immediately lit up. Pulling into a spot, getting out and looking at the short path, one could see the contents of the oil pan splashed all over the slight protuberance of a rock about 3 inches above the ground.

Fortunately, Sue had just finished her hospital tests and gotten great results and many happy shouts when for the first time she used a walker to come up to the blood testing area (as opposed to a wheel chair).

Sue followed up that show of strength by hauling herself up into the cab of the tow truck and then back down with mainly just spotting by me.  The tow truck took us to the  local Saab dealership (which is somewhat far from downtown Baltimore. Since it was going to be the next day before the Saab garage could fix the car (fortunately they had a replacement oil pan). So we decided to extend our anniversary trip by going to a nice nearby hotel, the Hunt Valley Inn. We hung out going to the hotel restaurant and in the room which they let us stay in until 3pm, when the Saab dealership picked us up.

We had an uneventful trip back to DC where I was able to administer the anti-fungal treatment that night (an eight hour long treatment). And were happy to be back.

Paper

Sue and I just celebrated our first anniversary. We had a wonderful time at a french country inn outside of Baltimore and then stayed at a nice hotel in Baltimore. Yes, it has been a very rollercoaster of a first year, but thanks to the love and help of so many friends and family we have much to be thankful for.

Sue has been doing much better and that made the celebration that much better.

There is not much more news, but I will post what there is tomorrow.

Paperwork

Well, we found out this week that the bone marrow transplant will take 5 to 8 weeks to set up, mainly getting the donor program to process forms (the insurance company has just given their approval for coverage). So, we are looking now at the end of April or beginning of May.

There are positives and negatives about waiting. One big positive is that Sue can get much stronger before going into the transplant procedure. Everyday Sue seems stronger and more back to normal. Her feet still have pain and numbness, but she is now taking a medicine that may help (apparently, diabetes patients with peripheral neuropathy are the biggest users now). Of course, no one is looking forward to losing an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time.

We are getting closer to making a decision about where to stay in Baltimore.

Barely any news

Sue continues to do well. Feet still hurt so exercise is hard, but otherwise feels good. Last week's MRI of the liver showed not much change, essentially the infection is about the same as it has been or perhaps decreased a little bit.

We are still waiting to find out the exact time for the bone marrow transplant. We may learn more when we go back Tuesday for her now weekly visits to Baltimore.