Happy Birthday Arnie

It's Friday March 6th. Arnie's special day!!

Arnie was born fifty-five years ago today. His new donor stem cells, however, come from a 20 year old.... Arnie thinks he should be able to calculate the average and claim to be 37 1/2 again! I don't know if I'm comfortable being 'the much older woman'. The new math would also jeopardize his new seniors status at Smitty's (see below)

Here's an overview of his day:
06:30 Alarm goes off. Time for pill to prevent nausea. Back to sleep.

07:00 Alarm goes off. Time for pill that causes nausea. Must take on an empty stomach. Back to sleep.

08:00 Up to shower. Afterward, time to snooze a little.

09:00 Time for breakfast and assorted breakfast pills. First temperature check of the day. Good. No fever.

10:00 Walk to the SCCA clinic for morning blood work. Stop for a rest and a giggle along the way. Arnie realizes both he & Al Johnston are now old enough to order the senior's liver & onions at Smitty's. (This is not a milestone I would look forward to.)

10:15 Morning blood work. The lab tech gives Arnie a postage-stamp sized sticky note that reads "Happy Birthday!"

10:20 Off we go for a little stroll down the street. Should we go home? Probably. Do we? No.

11:00 Look. An empty restaurant, just opening its doors. Let's go for lunch.

Should we go in? Probably not. We are supposed to avoid crowds.

Do we go in? Yes. No crowds in sight.

11:30 Arnie enjoys a roast beef sandwich and fries. Its pretty tasty but the frajolaki at John's Prime Rib with Rob & Roger tastes so much better.

12:00 Back to the apartment. We discover phone messages from Ruth & Rob. They make us smile.

12:30 pm Arnie phones friends at work to catch up on their news.

1:00 pm Time for Brenda to change Arnie's Hickman Line dressing. Everything looks good. What a great gift!

1:30 pm It's a delivery from Apria, our home infusion service. New bags of IV fluids arrive to keep Arnie well hydrated and keep his magnesium topped up. Gift #2 woohoo!

2:00 pm Time to start IV hydration using our portable infusion pump. Remember to take afternoon medications on an empty stomach.

2:15pm Second temperature check of the day. All is well.

2:30pm Email messages to read.

3:00pm Arnie's energy level starts to dip. Time for a nap. Brenda heads out for a walk and returns with a little angel food cake from the nearest grocery store.

5:00pm Happy Birthday phone calls and emails start again. Many, many best wishes from friends and family. Time to open birthday cards and presents. We have heard there are even more cards in transit.

6:30pm Birthday supper: tomato risotto, angel food cake, strawberries and more pills. We've learned our evening meals should be light.

9:00pm Time for the final medications of the day. Pretty soon it will be bedtime.

Thanks for sharing Arnie's birthday. Have a great weekend everyone.

Arnie & Brenda