Some highs, good; other highs, bad

After getting home Saturday, I turned around and went back to the clinic Monday. Dr. Alyea said he was very pleased with my counts: White, 12.5; hematocrit, 29.5; and platelets, 64.

The white was actually higher than normal. I asked about that, and he said it was probably a sign that I was still fighting a virus.

So again I was able to leave without a transfusion. That was good news.

But I left a little bummed out because my liver function number, which was slightly lower the past week, had actually doubled this week. I had already increased the prednisone from 10 to 20 mg. a day when that number had been too high a few weeks ago; now I will double it to 40 mg. a day. I hope it is better next week. Diane said maybe it was high because I missed a few doses during that crazy week at her house when we couldn't get ahold of all of my drugs, one of them being prednisone. (Once I got into the hospital I got all of my drugs.)

When I talked again about the hospital week with Meryl, she said, "You had a virus just like everyone else. You're so normal!"

Interesting way to think of it.

I had left Maddie at Jane and Jim's house so I could have a weekend where I didn't have to stay up late and get up early to walk the dog – their idea. What good friends. They said she totally fits into their routine with their two other dogs, Blue and Shelby. Blue sleeps in their room, but he has a big crate downstairs. When they start getting ready for bed, Maddie runs into Blue's crate and settles down for the night.

Their hours are kind of the opposite of mine. They get up at 4 a.m. and go to bed at 8 p.m. When I came to get Maddie, she looked back and forth between Jane and me, like she couldn't make up her mind. I felt bad, like I was stealing her away. I also wondered if she was going to be on different hours, but she was fine, staying up until around 11 p.m. and sometimes sleeping or just hanging out until 10.

Good dog.