Hi everyone! Time flies, doesn’t it? Sorry about not writing in so long…but I can assure you all that I’m fine, Stefano is fine, the kitties are fine. All is well, in sum.

Except…we’re still not back home yet. That means that I don’t have access to my wonderful  PC (if I’d had any idea it was going to take this long, I would have moved my computer over here, duh), and I have to use my iPad now to do anything, including write this post. Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad, but I have all my data and stuff on my PC  and, well, it’s just harder to work on the iPad…at least, for me. Pazienza…

I have received a lot of queries but just haven’t been able to answer because of the above and lack of time. I’m over at our house most days, supervising the work and doing some cleaning….I threw away all the articles I used for my Ph.D thesis, e.g…..boy, that was hard, but it had to be done. Bam bam bam, into the recyclable garbage. Sorting through stuff (I mean, why did we keep so many empty boxes and junk in general????) is taking up a huge amount of my time now. Plus, the cats need attention. And Stefano!

Most of the answers to your queries can be found in my posts, all you have to do is a Search of my blog.  But I do apologize for not getting back in person to so many of you…

I had blood tests done about 10 days ago…and here is a funny not-so-funny story. There is a new computerized system now for making lab appointments. Before, I just called the blood center, spoke with an actual human being, and made an appointment. Now it’s all done online: you get on a website, type in ALL your data (believe me, it takes heaps of time since you have to plug in all the numbers on your doctor’s certificate….such a ridiculous system, IMO. Plus, if you want to go to another lab, you have to start over…Who was the genius who came up with this new system???). At any rate, in the end, you get a number with which you get called once you are at the lab. Now, with the new system, the lab receptionist theoretically doesn’t  need a printout of your list of tests (hematocrit, creatinine, etc.), but in actuality the communication between website and receptionists, at least for me (but I know of other cases), means that some of the test pages simply get “lost“.  In my case, one of my three pages didn’t get put into the system. Of course, I was totally unaware of this, since this was my first experience with having a machine make the appointment for me…So, after being checked in by a very nervous receptionist (more proof that this new system needs some serious revising), I went in to have my blood taken by a nurse. I noticed that she took only five  vials of blood and told her that wasn’t enough, but she said that I was wrong. Hmmm. Well, I wasn’t, of course, but it wasn’t her fault. It was the blasted system’s fault.

I love computers…they’re great tools, blablabla. But sometimes I think it is best to do things the “old” way, and talking to a human being for something as important as blood tests is vital.

So this means that I only have a bit more than half of my tests. No total protein, no C reactive protein, no calcium. C’mon! But my hemoglobin is 12.2 and my M-spike is slightly better than it was last year. Also, my light chains are better. So far, therefore, I’m pleased.

I’m going to have the rest of my tests done next week…this time, I’m going to check the list carefully before I go in to see the nurse. And I’m printing out everything…I’m not going to let a machine screw up again!!!

Oh dear, I have to go now. It’s getting late.

I hope everyone is well and happy! Stay strong! 🙂