We managed to recuperate from our two trips -- one to Wisconsin, one to New Mexico. Paul's mom and dad in Wisconsin are doing pretty well considering they're in their late 90's and still living independently. Traveling is a little more involved and exhausting these days, not to mention using masks and lots of hand sanitizer along the way. As we mentioned in our previous blog, it was nice to get away to Santa Fe but it was really hot, really smoky and Tim wasn’t feeling great. No hiking, no botanizing, no photographing. But, we did it and it was nice to take a break.

Paul has nearly recovered from his two rounds of oral surgery to deal with a fairly large bone spur that felt like having a sea urchin in his mouth for the past few months. Because of his Zometa infusions, the oral surgeon was hoping the issue would resolve on its own since Zometa can cause jaw necrosis for some individuals and oral surgery increases the risk. After finally extracting the spur, the surgeon and his assistant said it was the largest one they'd ever seen. With the bone spur gone, it makes swallowing, eating and even talking a lot easier now. Not to mention not being in pain all the time. On the cancer front, now that Paul’s myeloma protein levels are starting to plateau, harvesting his stem cells seems like it's going to happen within the next month or two.

Tim, meanwhile, has opted to delay chemo for a bit in order to have cataract surgery and take an art class in July. He’ll resume his regular chemo treatments in August. In late July, he’ll have a CT scan to reassess the effectiveness of his treatment and the extent of his cancer.

[Castilleja integra - Wholeleaf Indian Paintbrush - from New Mexico]