Homemade PT

Jon had to get to Kaiser twice today -- once to get his blood typed (as if they don't know his blood type after a bazillion blood draws) and later in the day to get an infusion of platelets. This is a fair amount of effort, getting out of the house, into the car, into Kaiser  in a wheelchair and then back again. Also a fair amount of effort for Rebecca who is now starting to really notice how hard it is to get off the couch. But they did it and neither seemed to be too exhausted by the trips.

And in addition, Jon has had a particular recipe in his mind and he really wanted to make this lemon chicken soup. We weren't sure this was really the right time, but he did it, every step of it without help. He ate it for dinner. No discussion.

None of us really understands why he had to rush to get platelets since he hasn't had a bloody nose since the day before yesterday and this infusion doesn't have a chance of increasing his numbers to any relevant level (as in, no one is going to let him have chemo with these numbers). But somehow his doctor decided this was important.

All of this is to say that he is doing more each day. He also gets to his desk and does stuff, mostly for the farm. If I even suggest that Rebecca might do this or that task, he instantly barks that he will do it.  

We left him by himself for several hours while we went to a premier event in the greenhouse -- the Farm Follies. It was an ambitious production, created and produced by PVF workers  and associates who fit all the rehearsals in around the edges. We didn't count perfectly, but we think there might have been 19 songs (all from musicals, re-purposed with farm themes). Jon would have loved it. Lots of people recorded parts of it so he will get a taste.  Rebecca came home in the middle to switch Jon's TPN bag. The show was over three hours long, they fed everyone dinner and dessert. It is going to take days and days for them to put everything back where they found it. Every single market table came off of every market truck and I have been wondering what was happening to all the sheets and blankets we used to have to cover vegetables (now curtains and backdrops).

In summary, Jon had a pretty active day for someone who is tethered to a pole and he was fine when he was left alone and he is getting more ambitious by the hour. His back still hurts all the time, and that is something that never goes away.

One day at a time. 



Comments

  1. Laurie LevineOctober 14, 2025 at 3:09 PM

    That is the BEST soup! Joanie and I made it together in vegetarian form. I am so impressed that he cooked it with such low energy. The follies sounded like so much fun! Hooray for a good day!

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