We didn't go anywhere today and just stayed in the apartment.
Testing starts tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. but there will be blocks of time in the testing where I will have some free time. I would have preferred that I would be able to get it all done at once but my last appointment is about 3:30 tomorrow.
Thank you all for your nice comments and Joanie for your offer to help us get back home. We should be able to make it just fine but thank you.

There is not much to report today. I am still coping with the pain from the lesion in my upper back. I was scheduled for 10 radiation treatments on it but I was only able to get 5 before we left for this trip. The pain medication I take works pretty well until it gets up near the time that it is time to take more and it gets pretty painful. I was not having any pain at all from this area till about 3 weeks ago. I was hoping that the radiation treatments would stop it before I left to come on this trip.
That is all for now.... Jerry

We traveled today from Jackson to Little Rock. We were able to get an apartment from Home Away from Home but this apartment is at Palisades. It is a very nice apartment but we don't like it as well as we do the ones at The Lofts.
We stopped and visited with my brother in Memphis this afternoon. We didn't arrive here until after dark. During the next two days we plan on doing nothing but resting and relaxing and just enjoy doing nothing. My first appointment on Monday at 6:30 am.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.

We were disappointed to find out that I did not qualify for the car T-cell clinical trial. I did not qualify due to the having a mini-stroke stroke back about four years ago. The car T Cell therapy is apparently pretty risky. The research nurse told me that everybody was not suited for this treatment. The doctor was very nice and told me about other clinical trials that they had going on that I would qualify for. One of them they talked at length about was one that I could not start on until March of next year. It would require me to be hospitalized three days for the first treatment and then 3 days for the second treatment but after that I would not have to be hospitalized.
We didn't receive the answer that we were hoping for today but the door is not closed and we still have hope. The doctor felt confident that I could get on a treatment now that would slow down the progression of the myeloma. It has progressed very quickly in the month.
We will continue and go on to Little Rock for testing and then meet with Dr Van Rhee next Tuesday. We are spending the night in Jackson Tennessee.

December 14, 2017

We left this morning at 6:40 a.m. headed to Nashville. We are in Crossville now having breakfast. The place where we normally stop at Exit 347 was closed due to remodeling. We are both really nervous about what we will learn from the doctor today. Please pray that we will get good news today.

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.