MED City 9-15-27 > 9/21-24

 Retired Life. Sunday.

The stupid alarm went off way too early so we could make it to church on time. We looked at the Jesus picture below, remembered why church makes us happy, then got up and got going.

We attended the Miles City Ward. The highlight there was they announced some new additions to the new hymnbook including Amazing Grace. And then two missionaries, an Elder and a Sister, sang it in a duet. It was magnificent! And I love that powerful hymn. Glad they decided to include it in the new book.

After church, not much happened. It was the longest driving day of the trip and we started late. We stopped and got caches, as usual, ate breakfast in the hotel lobby, had sack lunches for lunch, and Subway Salads for dinner. Not much exciting there either. Arrived at Valley City, ND around 9pm.

But, the bull Elk visited the Highlands again last night.

Retired Life. Monday.

Greetings from Rochester, Minnesota, home of Mayo Clinic. Aka Med City. (See the Aerial View of the Mayo campus below). Another long day on the road.

Frivvy's most favorite spot ever in the hotel room is by the AC unit with the cold air blowing on him. One happy dog. He loves an adventure.

Before leaving North Dakota, we did some Geocaching and hiked around a pond at this very nice park. I tried to take a selfie, but Frivvy wasn't having it, so you get my best try plus two pics of us individually.

We found several more caches in Minnesota, but couldn't find one that was in a welcome to XXXX (I forget the name of the little town) sign. The sign was no longer there, so I'm guessing the cache met its final fate.

We kept passing this car pulling a small boat on an even smaller trailer. They were going about 50 while the rest of us were going about 75. Every time we pulled over for something, we would later pass them again. I think we passed them five times. Hanna kept the official record and thought it was funny enough to take a picture.

And finally, the sun set just before we reached Rochester.

We are staying in the house next door to the one we lived in over here for two months during Hanna's Stem Cell Transplant over two years ago. Frivvy recognizes the place and was confused why we went into this house instead of the other one. Animals are so smart.

Retired Life. Tuesday.

First thing this morning, Frivvy took his mandatory place at the front screen door, loudly and vehemently protecting us from such things as other dogs, squirrels, and even a rabbit. We are just a few houses from a Middle School so there is tons of traffic including buses, cars, and teens walking by. Major entertainment for Frivvy.

We spent nearly all day in the Mayo Clinic. One appointment after another. They collected a urine sample. They drew eight vials of blood. They did an Electro Cardio Gram. They did an Echo Cardio Gram. The results will be tabulated and one of the Doctors from the Multiple Myeloma Team will go over them with us tomorrow. Hanna reported that no technicians gasped or looked concerned as they conducted the tests. That is a good sign. The heart-related tests are due to her AL Amyloidosis Disease. It typically attacks the heart, so they watch it carefully. In her case, it primarily so far only attacked her nervous system, causing the neuropathy in her feet that caused her to have balance and walking issues.

Afterwards, we immediately went to Flapdoodles for cancer-killing ice cream. Two years ago when we were here, we went there often. We left Rochester cancer-free and we really can't say if it was the cancer-killing ice cream that did the trick or the Stem Cell Transplant. Not to take any chances, every time we come back, we go for more ice cream. And we'll go again tomorrow too. And perhaps on the way out of town on Thursday too.

Back at the house, I took a nap, read a bit, took Frivvy for a walk (yes, he excitedly remembered the route in its entirety.....and accosted five squirrels), and we went out for BBQ.

Also, someone hid a duck in the Mayo Clinic elevator. They must have been confused and thought they were on a cruise ship or something...

Retired Life. Wednesday.

Exciting day! I got up early, put on my official Dew T-shirt, cleared out the back of the truck, got ready to go to the Hyvee for the 240 cans of deliciousness. And then got the below text. Argh! Hopes dashed. I told him it made me sad. A bit later, he texted back that they could fulfill the order tomorrow if I could wait a day. Yesssss!!!

I don't often get up early enough to see the sunrise, but when I do, it's because Hanna has a medical appointment. So it was today. Nice sunrise. I'll report more on that below.

After the doctor appointments, we went out to lunch, although I ordered breakfast. I asked for extra butter on my muffin and the cook did not disappoint!

Then to Flapdoodles for more cancer-killing ice cream. And to celebrate. More on that below.

And then pictures of the bunny in our front yard and Frivvy's reaction to it. Lots of bouncing and barking.

We were not able to meet with Dr. Gertz, the renowned specialist on Multiple Myeloma who requested our case at the start of this adventure. Instead, they scheduled us with a Physician's Assistant. As the official caretaker, it fell on me to stalk her out to make sure she is qualified. She attended U of Wisconsin (Go Badgers) and has been at Mayo for almost a decade. She specializes in Relapse of Multiple Myeloma and has been published over 100 times. She has done nothing but MM her entire career. I approved. She obviously had notes from Dr. Gertz, was very familiar with our case and history, was very confident of herself, but yet humble enough to take a moment to look something up that she wasn't sure about. And she was all smiles and "congratulations". What went down:

- All tests came back normal.

- There is no sign of relapse of MM or sign of relapse for AL Amyloidosis.

- Hanna will continue on Chemo and Immunotherapy until her body stops tolerating it, or until things relapse, or until something such as finances forces us to stop.

- She cleared us for International Travel.

- She saw no problem with serving a full-time mission for our church.

- The worst part of the discussion is that Hanna will continue immune compromised for as long as she is on Chemo and was admonished to not hang out with sick people.

- We will come back in a year. Once we reach five years clean, the Mayo appointments can stop if we want until there is a relapse or something. Our local doctor can monitor things monthly as always.

After that appointment, we visited with an official Mayo Clinic Financial Counselor. In a few short years, we will be shifting to Medicare for insurance coverage and had questions. We were assured that if we have the right supplemental coverages, continuing on with Mayo will not be a problem. In addition, it would be considered a continuation of treatment and would thus not require a referral of any type. All good news that we wanted confirmed.

Decisions we made today:

- We are a go to travel to Chile in January to see my old mission stomping grounds.

- We will serve a full-time mission and will start the paperwork as soon as we get home. We will ask for a proselyting mission (which is what we did in 2018 and loved) based from home, but be willing to serve anywhere in the US if church headquarters doesn't go for the "at home" gig.

Miracles happen.

In our faith, we believe in blessings of health as taught in the New Testament of the Bible. In late 2021, when it was becoming apparent that something was horribly wrong with Hanna's health as she almost couldn't walk and kept falling and had lots of pain in her back, she was given a blessing of health. This was before the doctors had been able to diagnose anything and were baffled. In that blessing of health, she was promised that she would walk again and "serve" again. Those involved with the blessing felt this would probably be a stretch and would be nothing short of a miracle.

She was diagnosed with the cancer and Amyloidosis in April of 2022 and told she would probably not live two years. And that the neuropathy in her feet, although treatment would keep it from spreading, would not heal her. She should expect to be confined to a wheel chair for the duration.

You know the story. She graduated to a walker. Then a cane. And she gets around pretty good now. Surprising even the grinning, happy Mayo doctors! And now cleared to "serve" again.

Miracles happen.

Retired Life. Thursday.

We packed, cleaned, and checked out of the AirBnB. Then drove directly to the Hyvee where my Dew was waiting! Great start to the day. And we even figured out how to fit it in amongst our other stuff so we could haul it home.

Then we drove across Iowa to Omaha. Why? In search of a temple that is open, intent on worshipping weekly, even when on the road. St Paul Temple is obviously closer and more convenient, but it is closed for renovations. So we're going home via Omaha, a bit out of our way, but worth it.

Retired Life. Friday.

We started the day off by worshipping in the Winter Quarters Temple near Omaha. This temple has a very strong spirit to it, probably from its pioneer heritage. Winter Quarters was a major stopping place for the pioneers as they came west. Hanna's ancestors lived near here for ten years, supporting the migration of pioneers. My ancestors did the same thing, only in Mt Pisgah, which is a bit east of here. They repaired handcarts and wagons for the pioneers as needed. Several of my ancestors are buried at Mt Pisgah, most of them children, having died from illness during their stay. We were amazed by the pioneer artwork and stained glass windows in the temple that pay a tribute to these pioneers.

We went out to lunch, then packed up, cleaned up, and headed north. We are in Sioux Falls tonight.

Retired Life. Saturday.

Here, have a picture of the couch in our AirBnB. It's true.

Typical travel day. We packed up, checked out, went to a park and walked and found a cache. Then drove all day to Rapid City where we checked in, unpacked, and watched part of the BYU game. Hanna would not stop singing Rise and Shout. It was like her brain had it on repeat. I think she even sang it in her sleep...