Twelfth Trip to the NIH

For this month’s appointment, Dr. Farooqui was no where to be found. But I wasn’t the least bit disappointed, because he was in Europe, on his honeymoon!  Congratulations to him and his lucky bride!  Happily, my labs were all very good.  The Ibrutinib continues its good work against the stubborn CLL.  My platelets are fine at 165k, but the PA said they’re keeping an eye on them because it’s unusual that they’ve been declining a bit lately.  I took a short nine-day course of Prednisone in August to get rid of one of the pain flare-ups that I’ve been prone to since starting the trial last summer.  Some pain is still nipping at my heels from time to time, but not so much that I’m ready to ask for Prednisone again.  More good news, I found out that I won’t need another bone marrow biopsy until next June.  Whew, big relief!  That covers Wednesday of last week, and brings us to Tuesday
at the National Mall, and Thursday at Mount Vernon With my sisters, Julie and Jamie.  We were the gleeful threeful, sharing lots of laughs, lots of love, and lots of fun. 

Mastering the Metro

Hanging out at the National Mall

Vietnam Women’s Memorial - The woman looking up is named Hope,
the woman praying is named Faith, and the woman tending to a wounded
soldier is named Charity. 

Finding Kenneth Avery’s name on the Wall (Dan’s cousin)

Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate

Lunch at Mount Vernon Inn

The goosegirl at the Tidal Basin

Korean War Memorial – I was allowed to touch!

WW II Memorial

On the bank of the Potomac