Complete Remission. Sweet!

My bloodtests and bone marrow this week at NIH show that I'm back in complete remission (CR). IgA was down to 186 (from 486 the end of October) and the bone marrow was completely free of any "sheets" or "clumps" of plasma cells as seen the end of September. Very nice. When I saw Dr. Bishop on Thursday he suggested, to make the CR more "durable", one more cycle of the velcade and decadron . So I have those set up for the next two weeks.

November consisted of three weeks at home and one week working in Tillamook Oregon.

I was busy while home: bicycling, working out at the Club,finishing a cherry chest, flying, preparing the house, cars and my ski equipment for winter, and Thanksgiving! For the latter we combined forces with the Hjertberg clan. My college roommate, Ric Hjertberg of Wheelsmith legend brought his wife and daughter from Seattle, joining up with his brother Jon and wife from Whitefish, MT. Natty, living in nearby Clark Fork, was our only child able to make it, and we invited our neighbors Sandy and Phil. It was a lively group, and of course the food was superb. Then, the next day, Mary Catherine outdid herself with an Indian cuisine feast!
The chest was a Barclay kit I had bought to hold all the stuff I take on Locums jobs. I was quite pleased with the finished product. It's been a long time since I've made anything. Very satisfying.
Flying included nightime, instrument, and tailwheel proficiency. Had a memorable flight to Hood River, Oregon to pick up Bram's friend Scotty who was purchasing the family '87 Subaru from Sarah. Breaking out of the rain west of Pasco Washington, I was treated to beautiful views of Mts Hood and Adams. Getting the Myeloma back into remission means I can proceed with my plans to have an autopilot installed in the Comanche in February. This is an expensive upgrade, but it will significantly augment the aircraft's safety and utility.
For the last six ski seasons I've been exclusively on telemark skis. I'm reasonably good at it, and it's great exercise, but I have never gotten to the point where I could ski more than half a day. All my friends, including quite a few former tele-skiers, kept telling me how easy and fun the new "shaped" alpine skis are. So I finally broke down and bought some good used alpine equipment at our local ski swap. Can't wait to try them out!

Mary Catherine accompanied me on this trip to Bethesda, and we extended it to include a visit to my sister Nancy's so Mary Catherine could put on a trunk show for her Long Island customers while I made a side trip up to Boston to visit my parents.
While we were in Bethesda we drove 150 miles out to the Shenandoah valley with Chinky to visit the Polyface Farm featured in Michael Pollan's book "Omnivore's Dilemma". We helped herd hogs that had escaped from their pen, and had a short private tour. That evening we dined on the exceptionally flavorful chickens they raise there.

I'll be working again in Tillamook the week of the 17th. Then I'm looking forward to the whole family being home for Christmas. Sarah just returned to Seattle from Paraguay. Bram is coming up from Salt Lake City with Brenda. Should be a fun month. Especially with literally a new lease on life!