We took our time coming home from Cookeville and arrived home about 3:30. We saw plenty of fall color on the way to Little Rock but on the way back it appeared that most of the leaves had already fallen.
We will have to return to Little Rock the week before Christmas. We both appreciate so much you reading this blog and the comments and the prayers. Thank you all so very much.

We left Little Rock this morning about 10 a.m. We were not able to get away any earlier because after we ate breakfast and cleaned things up and got everything packed it was 10. We did get up at 6 a.m. with the anticipation that we would try to get an early start but it just didn't happen that way. Seems like it just takes forever for us to get ready to leave. We had a good drive and the traffic was not bad. Tonight we're staying in Cookeville because it got dark about 5:30 and we just didn't want to continue driving after dark. It sure feels good to be able to rest now since we've had a really hectic and tough week.
I want you to know I really appreciate the comments you have made in this blog. I also appreciate the email and text that I have received. Thank you all so much for the prayers. I don't know what I would do without you all.

The news we got today is not the news I wanted to hear. I don't know where to start telling the news I got from the doctor but I'll do the best I can. He said basically the treatment I have been on has not worked and the myeloma is very aggressive and has advanced. I am on the strongest treatment now that I am suited for. That is the treatment that matches my gene expression profile  He showed me the PET scans and MRI scans and it appeared to me to be as bad as it was before I got the stem cell transplant. He's taking me off of the drug Viracept and putting me on an old drug cytoxan. He is doubling my dose of dexamethasone and continuing with Kyprolis. He was very compassionate and caring as well as his APN, Diane, that we think so much of. He suggested that I consider going off of treatment and starting palliative care. I told him I had never given up on anything and I didn't want to start with this. I will continue treatment. He went so far as to say that I should spend as much time with family this Christmas as I could.
I keep in mind that the doctor is not in charge of what's going on with me. I will continue to do what I can to help fight this disease and trust God to take me through it if He so chooses.
Thank you for your prayers. I sincerely appreciate them. A special thank you to Kathy, Joanie, Shirley, and Darlene for your caring and supporting comments.

We are still at the Myeloma Institute. We have seen the doctor but we have several things yet to complete before we can leave.

Just a short update. We're still at the myeloma Institute and we have not yet seen the doctor. We have seen the APN and she has explained some things from the testing. I will explain that later.

Today was a long and hard day. We arrived at the myeloma Institute at 7 a.m. and we were able to leave at 6:50 p.m. tonight. My hemoglobin has not been running low recently at home but it has dropped quite a bit with these tests I had yesterday and today. They told me I would have to have a unit of blood and that was where the problems for the day came in. We completed the scheduled treatment just fine and left to go to another appointment for an echocardiogram. When we returned from that appointment I thought everything would be ready to go with the unit of blood but I was wrong. I had another appointment scheduled to start at 2:15 for the PET and they are not flexible on when a person arrives. If you're not there on time, they take you off the list. I realized while I was getting the unit of blood, which took about an hour and 20 minutes, I was not going to be able to make it to my appointment at 2:15. I called them and told them of my dilemma and they said to come whenever I finished getting the unit of blood. When I got there someone else had been assigned to my slot of time and I was scheduled for 45 minutes later. That movement in the schedule caused me to run into another conflict with my scheduled MRI. They took me off the main MRI schedule and put me on a another schedule where they would work me in as time was available. This was due to my not arriving at my scheduled appointment time. This MRI was 45 minutes whereas the MRI scan yesterday was only 30.
I'm sorry these posts are later than I'd like for them to be especially since most of you are in another time zone, but we just finished eating supper and getting things cleaned up.

Today was a long day at UAMS. We were there all day and got back to the apartment after 5 p.m. I got all the tests completed that were scheduled for today including the bone marrow procedure. Tomorrow will be another full day of testing including getting treatment while I'm here. I will also have treatment again on Wednesday morning. Thank you Kathy and Shirley for your nice comments and prayers. They are much appreciated.

November 5, 2017.. We enjoyed our Sunday with having no obligations and no where that we had to be. The next three days will be kind of hectic since we have appointments starting at 7 a.m. each day, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I am scheduled to see the doctor on Wednesday afternoon.

November 4, 2017.. We left home at 7:40 a.m. to go to the myeloma Institute at Little Rock. We stopped to spend some time with my brother in Memphis and also in Forrest City to get groceries and arrived about 9:15 Central Time in Little Rock. The traffic was light compared to most Saturdays we have driven down here. We were able to get an apartment from home away from home at Park Avenue Lofts.