The 24th day. I drove to my 8am appointment at the apheresis unit at Albany Medical Center this morning, met by nurse Paula. As luck had it, my favorite hematologist, Dr. Taft, (who is also my personal doc) in the group was on duty. Dr. Taft has enough faith in my and my nurse's judgement to allow us to decide to go ahead with the pheresis before the blood tests come back from the lab. We merely procede with the vitals and hookup to the machine and away we go. Since I hadn't slept so well the night before, I dozed for about 2/3 of the time. In less than 2 hours, we were done! A record.
Midway through the procedure, Dr. Taft came to bedside and asked if I had been hiking: "hiking...no," I said, "Well, you will be, if not this summer, then next." I responded "is that a realistic possibility?" "Absolutely," he replied. "We'll use the apheresis to keep you flushed out and the prednisone will keep the antibodies down and do it's work."
Great news.
Tonight, I took the bags off my Beemer and went out for a spin to try out my new seating position. I put a lift kit in the bike to raise the front of the seat so I wouldn't slide forward while riding and it is a huge improvement in comfort. As I rode around the Berkshires at twilight, I decided to stop at Stockbridge Bowl in Stockbridge to have my picture taken. After the picture, I called my friend Gabriella, who lives just around the corner in Lenox, and asked her if I could come over. She said she was going to her office and to meet her there. Five minutes later, we were in downtown Lenox in her lovely carriage-house-turned-doctor's-office.
Gabriella was genuinely happy to see me, and I her. I truly respect her and husband George as fine and dedicated physicians and wonderful parents and friends. Gabriella ran a clinic for myasthenics in Hungary before coming to the US 18 years ago, so I get a wonderful and helpful perspective on my disease and its management. She really made me feel encouraged tonight with her wealth of knowledge. Her kids are doing great and will make wonderful lives for themselves, too.
See the day's events in my picture offering below.
At Stockbridge Bowl - Stockbridge, Mass.
Gabriella Kovi, M.D., at Her Office in Lenox, Mass.
Nurse Paula at the Apheresis Unit at Albany Medical Center
