Approaching the next phase

Blog 6/19/2024 – Ending one phase, beginning another

We are at the end of round 5 of chemo. When Cathy started this Journey the Oncologist said “we think 4-6 cycles is what it will take to get to the stem cell transplant phase”

And as I mentioned last month, the blood marker numbers are showing real promise – a more than 50% reduction and are still going down.

All this means we are headed to the next phase, stem cell transplant. We think after this next round, Cathy will undergo another bone marrow biopsy to determine the real status of the bone marrow. This data tells us definitively if she is ready for the next phase.

Readiness and procedure candidacy are different things. – the bottom line is I think July will be a big month for Cathy- she will find out if she is ready and if she is a candidate for the next step.

Neurology and walking.  Cathy has not made a lot of progress in the paralysis department but shows promise that something is happening. Lots of involuntary leg movement, twitching etc. Because of these developments we have been trying to get Cathy a Neurology consult but have been unsuccessful.

UT won’t take a covenant consult and ballad health won’t take the case either. This is troubling because it seems like something is really happening.   

So – we’ll keep pursuing neurology but will take another path in the meantime - outpatient Physical Therapy.

Obstacles to outpatient PT have been reduced …. Real progress in the wound and we are not in a knife fight everyday keeping her on the chemo train and .. truthfully, home health PT and OT have ran their course.

Life continues and we keep marching. As you know we are trying hard to keep the Land Basket Farm business alive. Production and the business of farming continue. How do you do all that?  people ask. Well, we have help in the business and we run a tight ship regarding scheduling. Activities have a time, and we stick to the schedule.

As part of this, one of the activities is what we call the Value add day – the day after chicken harvest. On this day, me and two ladies (delivery girls Terry and Donna) process and package all value-add products, do inventory management and fill orders. Wednesdays are busy.

Thanks to a friend loaning us a motorized wheelchair to try, Cathy has joined this activity. We set up the scale on a lower table and Cathy runs the weighing and labeling of packages. The girls pack, Cathy weighs & labels and I put away. 

Last week it was great – another team of girls working and chatting and having fun doing something good…. Plus, we got it done. We will do it again today.  

On the chicken killing side - we have not quite gotten over Cathy not being on the cut table ……. I did not realize just how fast and good at that Cathy was until I had to replace her…... which I really haven’t done yet. 

But we are working on it. Until then, I have found a very talented knife sharpener (it takes a lot of Victorinox boing knives to butcher 200 chickens at a time).  It’s a girl of course and she is in a motorized wheelchair and looks a lot like my wife.

Peace to you and yours. Till next month.

Thank you for your continued support

Kevin and Cathy

Land Basket Farm

www.landbasketfarm@gmail.com

423.202.4924