Fall Colors Fading

It's Day +21 for Gil and his transplant. These first 100 days are the most critical in terms of his successful recovery. If it weren't already a book title (The First 100 Days), I would entertain writing it myself!

Yesterday's brief outing to the bookstore was our first "out in public" adventure. Gil, of course, wore his mask, and I assume most people thought he was protecting them from H1N1 flu symptoms rather than the other way around.

Gil bought himself two nice photography books at the bookstore while we were out. I'm grateful for his keen interest in photography as it keeps him engaged for hours on these sometimes long days when he can't hop in the car as he used to do and head out for an adventure.

Yesterday and today he woke up with bone and back pain. We never know if it's just arthritis flaring up on a rainy day, or the leftover remnants of the Neupogen injections he was getting, or something new entirely. We count on our medical team to sort out all the new symptoms and let us know if we need to be concerned about them.

Later today we'll put on our raincoats and head down the street for another short walk -- building up our distance and stamina each and every day. He's actually heading down the driveway now with the dogs to pick up the two newspapers and see what nature has delivered to our neighborhood this morning.