Another battle has begun....

I wanted to do something good this summer. I wanted to do something domestic. I wanted to paint my house. Unfortunately, I don't go up on ladders. So, I asked my neighbors to help and they accepted my offer of $1 a day plus 1 oz. of water per hour. My end of the bargain was to buy all materials, and to start to repair my porch which I though would be mainly replacing trim, some molding, etc... Little did I know. What started out as a simple project has now morphed into me considering tearing my whole porch down and spending $$$$$ to have it replaced. I hear your cries. What happened? How did it come to this? I shall explain....

I had a little mail slot on the side of my screen door. I noticed the bottom trim piece needed replaced. I took it out. I noticed then that the whole side piece (about 1' by 2') needed replaced. No problems. Just some quarter round and some thin plywood. I THEN noticed that the floor boards beneath the piece were rotted out. No problem, only about 1 foot of boards needed replaced. I removed them. I THEN noticed that my floor joists were rotting way! I started to remove that wood and then discovered I had carpenter ants. Ugh. I then started going deeper and deeper and further to the sides and I now have to replace about 12 feet of floorboards, am still digging to see how far my floor joists are rotted and found out that one whole corner of my porch has virtually NO support whatsoever, save a few strands of wood the ants and water havent touched yet. SOOOOO, if you have any discretionary income and wish to have your name permanently attached to one of my floorboards please send $$$!

On the Leukemia front, I will go for another round of genetic testing and a mutational analysis to see why the medication isn't working as well as it shoud.

Peace!

A redux of sorts....

Hello all, my name is Joe and I have Leukemia! Its been almost three weeks since I posted here. I have some news that is not great now, but probably will be ok. I got my genetic tests back a week ago and they are not where I want them to be. My PCR test only went down to 16% (down from 18% in April). While that might seem ok, most docs want PCR levels much lower at this point. I have been in touch with my Doc, and I will go for further testing this month. Best case scenario is I stay the course, continue with my current meds and live happily ever after...until my NEXT test! Worst case scenario is I must switch medications and start being typed for Bone Marrow Transplant.

Its funny, this disease seems so darn innocuous sometimes. I feel good, there are no visual signs of disease or sickness (unless you consider a full blown case of "good-lookin-man" a disease). I really do feel somewhat fortunate. I just found out yesterday that a friend of mine will be having a double masectomy, a parital lymph node disection, and both ovaries removed at the ripe old age of 30. All of that due to breast cancer. I can't even begin to imagine the pain she is going through. Once again, make the most of your time! You don't know what lies around the bend.