Mary Jo is now at Day+39 since her transplant and new birthday on May 6th. It does not seem like we have only been home for two weeks. It didn't take long to get back into our daily routine.
Mary Jo is doing well. She is going to her oncologist every two weeks for blood labs and check ups, and she has an appointment in August with a cardiologist here in Louisville to evaluate the heart medicine that she has been taking sinces the A-fib episode during the BCNU chemo treatment before her transplant.
Mary Jo walks everyday and has started working in earnest on the six quilts that she has left to make for the grandkids. She has completed one. The other day she did notice some swelling and discoloration on her left ankle. She didn't remember bumping it on anything. We're thinking that it could be the onset of stage 1 lymphadema. She is going to have her oncologist look at it next week.
Mary Jo's next appointment at Vanderbilt is on August 19th for her Day+100 check up, which will consist of a meeting with the transplant doctor, a PET Scan, the dreaded bone marrow biopsy, and a pulmonary function test.
Our welcome home by our family and friends has been wonderful. There have been many hugs and wonderful dinners prepared for us. We missed many family and church celebrations in the five weeks that we were in Nashville. We were so happy to be home in time for Mary Jo's great niece's wedding last Friday night. Jessica graduated from UofL Med School in May and got married in June. It was great to be there with our family to celebrate her marrige to Michael.
It didn't take long to get back into the swing of things at church. I do perceiver interviews for men who apply to be deacons in our diocese and beyond. I have an interview scheduled here next week, and the formation director for the Diocese of Lafayette, IN has contacted me about doing some interviews up there later on this year. The deacon class that we are interviewing for here in Louisville will be ordained in 2020. Hard to believe, but I guess that it will be here before we know it.
This Father's Day weekend is going to be a busy one. We lost one of our parishioners, John, the other day to COPD. John was a wonderful father and grandfather and will be missed very much. I will be praying the Rosary with the Knights of Columbus this evening at the funeral home, and preaching tomorrow at John's funeral Mass. Saying goodbye to Dad and Granddad on Father's Day weekend will be very difficult for John's family. Please keep them in your prayers.
Our kids and grandkids are coming to our house tomorrow to celebrate Father's Day. We also hope to celebrate a UofL Cardinal victory in the College Baseball World Series. It has been a great year to be a Cards fan. BCS bowl victory in football, National Championship in men's basketball, National Runnerup in women's basketball, and the baseball team in the CWS. Has any school had a better year in sports? We are looking forward to joining our friends in the ACC next year.
On Sunday, one of our neighboring parishes, Saint Michael's, will be dedicating a new 1,500 seat church. It will be a great celebration for the Church in our area. We dedicated our new church in Mount Washington on March 27, 2010. The service to dedicate a new church is a beautiful, but a very long ceremony with the bishop assisted by a deacon doing most of the work. It will be good to sit back, and be able to watch the ceremony. I was too busy assisting the Archbishop to fully appreciate what was going on at our church dedication back in 2010.
On Monday, we will have our annual Clergy Day celebration in the Archdiocese. Part of the celebration is a golf scramble. I am in Archbishop Kurtz's foursome this year. Praying that I will bring my A game, if I have one.
Thanks for your continuing prayers for total recovery and long remission for Mary Jo.
Happy Father's Day to all of you Fathers out there. I lost my Dad 27 years ago. I think about him every day.
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