Quick Update

I actually visited Doctor Legant about a week ago. This was an appointment scheduled between my scans. She had me do my blood work a couple of days before the appointment. So, on Monday the 16th, I went to IMC and had the vampires suck some blood from me. :)

I came home and within minutes they posted the results. These will probably not make a lot of sense for most readers but you can see that they are within normal range

Name	Normal Range	01/16 2012	11/28 2011	09/26 2011	07/26 2011
WBC	3.6-10.6	4.8	3.6	4.6	4.0
RBC	4.50-5.90	5.12	5.28	4.92	4.69
HGB	13.5-17.5	15.2	15.6	14.6	14.3
Hct	41.0-53.0	44.7	45.3	42.6	42.0
MCV	80.0-100.0	87.3	85.8	86.8	89.6
MCH	26.0-34.0	29.7	29.5	29.8	30.5
MCHC	32.0-36.0	34.0	34.4	34.3	34.1
RDW	11.3-15.6	14.6	15.1	13.7	14.1
PLTS	150-400	253	240	255	235
MPV	6.6-10.1	7.4	7.8	7.5	7.6

I knew that the numbers looked great but I couldn't wait to speak with Dr. Legant. I saw her last Wednesday. We spoke for a minute about my blood pressure, yes it is high. I told her that I have WCS..."White Coat Syndrome".

We then turned the conversation to the blood work. She was very happy with the numbers. I think her exact words were: "Your blood labs are perfect, you look great, how do you feel?" To which I answered that I feel great and she liked that answer. She then apologized to me that we are going to need to continue doing PET Scans until the lymph nodes go cold. This peaked my interest. I've been under the impression that I will eventually need to have additional treatment someday so I asked her about it. I also asked her about the fact that 3 lymph nodes shrunk last time. She said that she is thinking they will shrink and become cold and hopes that we won't need to do any additional treatments. That made my day! I've been doing really great ever since. Michelle was happy to hear that as well. Maybe this new found "partial vegetarianism" is paying off? Whatever the reason, I'm ecstatic!

I guess this wasn't really a quick update but it was a good one!

Elder Prawit's Favorite Food

When I first arrived in Thailand on my mission, I was extremely homesick. I was the only missionary in my group that was assigned to a native Thai speaker. I was in a part of Bangkok on the west side of Chao Praya river called Thonburi. I was overwhelmed and afraid of this large city, I'd never seen anything like it before. My parents knew that I was struggling and I had also been sick. One day, I was making a tape for my parents and I asked my companion, Elder Prawit, to tell about his favorite food. It is an old military favorite. After hearing this tape, my parents quit worrying about me. (Warning...it has some language, but it is hilarious)

I was only a month in country, so my Thai was really bad. I was very grateful for Elder Prawit, my Trainer. He was a great missionary and a very good example to me. I hope you enjoy it like I did.

不思議 Fushigi

I've been bad at posting lately...I thought I would share my story of fushigi. When I was a little boy, my Dad was in the military and we lived in Japan. I never learned how to speak Japanese but my Dad served a two and a half year mission in Japan and then we spent 3 years there as a family. So needless to say, my Dad speaks Japanese. Our story of Japan is a cool story but it is a story for another day. This story is about our trip to Las Vegas.

My nephew Dallin was baptized this past weekend. Several of us decided to drive down and see them. My Dad wasn't sure if he could get out of work early but ended up getting off before the rest of us. We spoke on the phone and he was getting ready to leave. I decided that I would get my family on the road so we wouldn't be too far behind him. We got on I-15 and discovered that we were just a short distance behind him and my Mom. We stopped at different places but still managed to follow each other for most of the way.

We had a very good weekend in Las Vegas. We took the kids to the M&M factory and spent some good time with the family. On Sunday, we all went our own way. As it turned out, Michelle and I were the first to head for home. We drove from Las Vegas to St. George and stopped for gas and treats. While we were stopped, I called my Dad to see where they were. He said that they had just entered St. George. We joked that maybe we would see each other. After we got settled, we entered on the freeway and guess who was there...of course it was my Mom and Dad.

My Dad called and said that it was "fushigi". I don't think there is a direct translation but it is like a very rare coincidence or wonder. I didn't hear my Dad very well and thought he said "jushigi". He corrected me and said "fushigi" to which I heard "kushigi". He then said "Fuuuuushigi", to which I responded "Oh... F-U". Everyone in my car started laughing and I realized what I said. My Dad then said, "That is some way to speak to your Dad!"

So that is my story of Fushigi. I have my next appointment with Dr. Legant next week. I hope the blood work looks great! I'll try to stay on top of the blog a little better going forward.

As a side note, I attended a viewing for my Great Uncle Dick Smuin today. He was a great man and I'm so happy he is with my Aunt Larue. During the last few days of his life, he was saying "Shut up Marge". Marge is my Grandma Carbine that passed away a year and a half ago. He then told Ashley, his Granddaughter that was taking care of him, "Marge won't shut the he** up".

My Dad was telling me this story just after we found out about Uncle Dick and we were chuckling about it. Michelle asked what we were laughing about and Dad said, "Oh Uncle Dick died." He then had to correct himself and explain why we were laughing. I can picture my Grandma trying to coax Uncle Dick to come up with her and Larue. What a great generation. Uncle Dick fought in WWII and drove a tank. He was on the cover of Newsweek many years ago. I'm so grateful to know him, my Grandpa, Aunt Larue, and my Grandmas. So weird to think that the last of that generation has passed on.