Dominating at 4 years

On the 8th, it will be 4 years since Tim's dx. 4 years ago today was when I rushed him to the ER with sepsis. I can't stress enough to anyone dealing with MM how careful you have to be with illnesses and any infection. A guy Tim knew from high school just died of sepsis last week and about 6 years before Tim's dx, a friend of his had strep sepsis and wound up in a coma for 2 weeks on a ventilator and the doctors told his wife he would not survive. He did(man I hate when doctors make predictions) but it was a close call. He was literally crashing when he
arrived at the ER and it was a miracle they saved his life at all. His BP was bottoming out and his organs were shutting down. I know of other MM'ers who were dx'ed with MM due to sepsis and wound up in very serious condition also. When the immune system is compromised, the body is not able
to limit an illness or infection. Instead of the white blood cells rushing in to kill down the problem, the bacteria or virus multiplies out of control and overcomes the immune system completely, leading to sepsis. It can be deadly in a matter of hours. When the doctors told me Tim had strep sepsis, all I could think about was what happened to his friend 6 years earlier. Before we even
knew that Tim had MM, I wondered if we caught the sepsis in time and if he could recover from it as his immune system was so weak. Luckily for Tim, the antibiotic they used worked right away and he did not have the strain of strep that causes heart damage in some
people. I sure wish that, like his friend Steve, that was all it was and there was no more bad news to come. So, here we are 4 years out. Grateful for this time yet fearful about the future.
Tim still looks terrific and feels good, though he works too hard and is tired. I think people even forget that he's sick. After this bout of pneumonia at Christmas, I worry a bit more about his immune system but you just have to take things a day at a time and I know now that you can have pneumonia without sounding really bad(I sounded much worse than him at the time) and that any fever that does not resolve in a day or so
needs further investigation. His primary care doctor sent him for an X-ray even though he could not hear noises in his chest and Tim's cough was not bad. I was surprised but he said that a fever that is going on a few days is not good news. It was a good call. He caught the pneumonia before
it was serious. It still really knocked Tim out though. He said he had not felt that weak since his transplant. Our family is just getting over colds now, as it seems everyone is. Tim fought it off fine. We are looking forward to some warm weather around here and I am asking already about where we are going on vacation this year. Life is as normal as it gets, I guess. We're loving our puppy and now that she doesn't pee in the house, Tim has been officially won over and though he

doesn't want to admit it, he's glad we got her, I know. I went upstairs the other day and he was in bed with his arm wrapped around the dog. He doesn't even do that with me! She is so playful and such a love. I think it was a good idea for all concerned. Things are going to start getting very busy. Olivia starts softball soon with us coaching. I joined a yoga class thanks to being inspired by Dianne. I have the dreaded taxes to do, :o/ and lots of dog walking to see if I can start dropping a little of this weight I've gained. Well, it's more like mommy dragging if you could see us. Unbelievable how much a 24 pound mutt can pull. I'm going to attack my spare room and try to get an office set up. Then I'm going to see if I can light a fire under Tim's butt about getting around to finishing our house. If I can't, I'm going to strap on his tool belt and do it myself. Step #1. New back stairs. Happy spring y'all.