Denise and I were granted a 48 hour pass to come home to Anacortes and to pretend that things were normal. It was fantastic! So many things we got to do which we love, dinner with family, hikes, paddle board, campfires and deep breaths of Fidalgo Island air.
An unexpected treat was that the person who took our dog for the summer, could no longer keep her (dog Vs cat issue) so we got to pick her up an snuggle with her for hours.
There were times that I never thought that I would see inside the cockpit of a kayak (my favorite hobby) again, especially back in the winter when I thought my life was very short. But, with careful planning and help from Denise, I was able to circumnavigate Lake Erie today (our Lake Erie, not the really big one). A dry suit offered the protection of my chest catheters from the dirty lake water. Denise followed in her paddle board.
Now that our dog is home, Denise is scrambling to find coverage for our house and dog. We have a house setting coming in two-three weeks, but we must figure out what to do in between.
Speaking of chest catheters, I have now finished my first week without dialysis, out of a two-week trial. I feel fantastic! The combination of not doing chemo for six weeks now and not doing dialysis for one week, I feel 90% human.
We are watching my urine and blood chemistries every other day. Because they were so stable on Friday, the let me come home. Tomorrow (5/27/19) with be a crucial lab. Then if things are going well, I will remain off dialysis one more week, then possibly forever!
I will be back with an update as soon as we know if I can stay off dialysis. Oh, by the mercy of God, I pray that could happen. I must be back at the clinic in the morning. We are giving my body two weeks to recover from the work-up and stem-cell harvesting and then, around June 4th-5th, I will be re-admitted to the hospital and start the brutal process burning out my bone marrow and re-introducing my stem cells.
Mike
J. Michael Jones 
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