My 26 Year CML Leukemia Adventure

I ended my blog on a good note. I figured that I would fade away. Hopefully, continue on with good health and a heavy dose of optimism. Pretty short lived, I must say.

A few months ago, May of 2024, I began feeling tired. Shortness of breath and shoulder pain were becoming more and more prevalent. I had planned a trip to Miami as a Christmas gift to my boys where the Formula 1 Gran Prix was running. The night before we were leaving, I decided to take a quick trip to the ER at Doylestown Hospital. The advice from the doctor was to see a Cardiologist immediately and forgo my trip. That wasn’t happening. Needless to say, the amount of walking and climbing at the race venue really took a toll on me. When I got back, five days later, I saw the Cardiologist who then scheduled me for a cardiac catherization procedure.

I had undergone a previous catherization seven years prior and was given a clean bill of health. “I was good for a long time” as per the attending surgeon. Not this time. The attending doctor performing this procedure said “Pull it out” after five minutes in. “Mr. Keenan, you need a triple bypass…immediately”. Wow! I was dumbfounded! How could this possibly happen? Well, I’ll tell you. Tasigna, my newer Leukemia medication, was very powerful. Thirty five times more potent than Gleevec, my last drug. It had been five years since I began taking Tasigna. Tasigna was also a drug that causes PAD in fifteen to twenty percent of patients. Peripheral Artery Disease. I had three arteries that were 92%, 85% and 74% blocked. Wonderful. The drug that keeps me alive can also kill me. Screw me…again.

Lori and I met with the cardiac surgeon a few days later, Dr. Matthew Thomas. He was designated to me through the Cardiology group at Doylestown. I liked him. Pretty straightforward, he explained how he would open up my chest, remove my heart, and remove veins from my leg and chest to Graft from my aorta to my heart. It would be a seven and a half hour operation with a lengthy recovery period. Dr. Thomas wanted to operate in three days. “I’ll see you Friday morning at 5 am”, He said. To that I said “No way”! I had a wedding that Sunday of one of Joey’s best friends and I had to make sure that Belaggio Jewelers was ready for me to leave for six weeks! He laughed and left the room. The new date would be May 31st, Friday morning, 5 am.

If you know me, you know that 5 am is never in my wheelhouse. But here we were. It was going to be a long day. Dr. Thomas came in to greet me and go over the final instructions as well as signing the obligatory hold harmless paperwork. As I faded off in the OR, I left my life in the hands of a person that I barely knew and a crew of strangers. Not very comforting, but I had no other choice. When I woke up, nine hours later, the breathing tube that was in my throat was killing me! I was writing air sentences on my bed…”I can’t breathe!” It was awful! Finally, the doctor removed the tube. It was a rough five days until I was released. The next day, “Did I go to the store”? Yes, I did! Anyways…I was there for about an hour to check on things. That was enough.

While I was recuperating, I was wishing that the beautiful, amazing trip that I had planned for Lori’s 60th birthday was a reality. Nope. It was going to come and go without us. Two weeks in Italy. Lake Como, Belaggio, Venice and Milan. Our first European trip together. Oh well, there is always next year. Two weeks out from the operation, on a Monday night, I was feeling short of breath. This wasn’t good. Lori took me to the ER at 11 pm. Unfortunately, I had a buildup of fluid, post operative, pushing on my heart. A very dangerous, one in one hundred occurance, the fluid would have to be removed by inserting a large needle into the heart cavity and draining it. They would perform the operation the next day. Here we go again. The next afternoon, I was taken to the cath lab, signed the obligatory releases, and went under again. I woke up later with a drain coming out of my chest that would remain for three days. Three more glorious days in the post heart surgery unit. That night, I kind of lost it. Laying in the hospital bed, 3 am, can’t get comfortable, I freaking lost it. I was just so tired of all of the crap. Twenty eight years of shit. Hospital after hospital. Operations, procedures, pain, suffering, burdening my wife, my kids, my family…etc. I had enough. I called my wife and just laid it out. Thankfully, she just listened and let me vent. I’m sure this wasn’t the first time. I left the hospital intact and with more new drugs to take…freedom. Of course, I landed myself back in the ER a few times for overdoing it. I never listen. The pain in my sternum was relentless. It was going to take at least a year to fully resolve itself. I needed to rest and use my head. Not push it. We’ll see!

Well, that is my Epiblog. An unanticipated addition to my story. Hopefully, the next update will be about our trip to Italy…

Thanks! Thank you! Thank you so much! Appreciate it! Appreciate you! Words we use to express our sincere gratitude for anything from the smallest of kind gestures to the greatest act of all…whatever that may represent. We say these words every day. Sometimes many times. Today, I counted about seven or eight times that I expressed my gratitude….maybe more. For the very last entry to my story, I will be using these words of gratitude over and over again. I hope you understand. Now, from the beginning, here we go.

Thank you, Dr Edward Ciecko, for asking me to take a blood test the first time we met… “For the record”. May you rest in peace.

Thank you, Dr. Lor Terzian, for immediately diagnosing my CML and breaking it to my wife and me… gently.

Thank you, to all of the great Doctors and Nursing staff at Hanahmen Hospital who cared for me for 22 years.

Thank you, to all of my great friends who helped out, listened, and put up with me for all of these years. You know who you are.

Thank you, to Dr. Selina Luger and her staff at University of Pennsylvania cancer center for my relapse care and future care.

Thank you, to all of my great and loyal customers who are always asking about my well being and supported my business for so many years.

Thank you, to all of the wonderful employees that have worked at Belaggio Jewelers throughout the years, especially during the first four years of my ordeal. And to my trusted sidekick, Nadine. Appreciate you so much!

Thank you, appreciate you and all of the above to Dr. Dave Topolsky. The man that looked me in the eye and told me that he would never let me die. What an amazing adventure we had! Miss you buddy.

Thank you to my late in-laws, Nonno and Nonna Peduzzi for their great help and support. We miss you.

Thank you so much to my brother Glenn, for giving me the gift of life, and my sisters, Donna and Lisa for all of your love and support when we needed it most.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…Mom and Dad. For all of your love and support in every possible way. From day one, through the worst of times and the best. My appreciation is immeasurable.

To Nick and Joe….Thank You So Much! You guys were my reason to live. “Never Ever Give Up”. The wisdom of my Disney rock. I have lived by those words since the day I kissed your beautiful head, Nick, while you slept the morning I left to have my Bone Marrow Transplant. And Joe, in mommy’s belly, I needed to meet you. Nothing would stop me. Watching you being born the day after I finally got released from the hospital was breathtaking. Both of you guys have grown up to become such fine young men. A testament to your Mom and your own strength as you had to constantly see me sick and in the hospital when you were just little boys. You guys are just amazing! I’m proud beyond words! Love you!

These words of “Thanks” just aren’t enough for my last gesture. “I Love You” , “I Appreciate You”, “I Thank You” and “I Adore You”! To my beautiful wife, Lori-Ann, I could never express fully the gratitude I have for you being in my life. We have gone through so many good times, bad times, great times and sad times throughout the last thirty-four years. Here we are though. We made it! There were many times that I thought, “How does she do it!”. Taking care of a 2 1/2 year old, eight and nine months pregnant, working full time and driving to center city every night to the hospital to visit me. For two months! Just amazing! Through so many tough years while fighting my Leukemia, the financial issues that accompanied it, always making sure the boys were good and working so hard. Accomplishing so many things career wise and supporting the boys dreams and mine. So proud! We have grown so much together. I apologize for the tough times and the rough times. I just know, that through it all, we’re better for it. We’re stronger for it. Thank you again…and again….Lor…I love you.

Well this is “The End.” Thanks! Thank You! Appreciate you! …all for reading my story. I hope it helped inform you, enlighten you and brought you joy!

Jeff

Wow! It is officially three years since I began writing my story. One-hundred and sixty four entries to date. A blog that would chronicle my life from the day I was diagnosed with Leukemia. The premise of revealing my life to the world was essentially a form of personal therapy. A release from the boredom of the Covid shutdown. Netflix was just not doing it for me anymore. Well, I saved a lot of cash on a therapist! All kidding aside, it was genuinely a wonderful experience. I have received so many kind and emotional responses by readers from all over. Thank you all for following along while I expounded on so many issues, good, bad and ugly. I apologize if I may have bored you occasionally on life topics that may or may not have been directly connected to my cancer. You can definitely tell how much I love my family and how proud I am of them.

When you write a story about your personal experience about your fight with cancer, it can get to be very emotional. Every cancer survivor could write their own book, I’m sure. Many would just like to forget about their ordeal altogether. It’s difficult at times. The memories become so vivid and intense when you relive them on paper, per se’. There were many times that I had to stop and catch my breath as tears flowed down my face. Times that I had to put my laptop aside and take a break. Sometimes for weeks. My reality really sucked. I went to the movies this week with my wife…. “Somewhere in Queens”. In the middle of the movie, starring Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf, Ray and his wife had an intense scene where she completely lost it and broke down in public. She was trying to handle information of what she thought was a relapse of her breast cancer. Screaming at her husband, who was trying to console her, lamenting that he could never comprehend what she was feeling and how scared she was of potentially relapsing after her original diagnoses. This scene hit home really hard. I glanced over at Lor and saw her crying. Tears were coming out of my eyes as well. We were in the last aisle of the theater where thankfully no one could see or feel our pain as we both simultaneously and vividly relived that same scenario, and worse. There were no words. We both knew and understood how we were feeling at that moment. It’s PTSD, pure and simple. It was tough.

Leukemia is a complicated blood cancer. There are so many variations and so many different treatment options that accompany those variations. Also, when you are diagnosed with Leukemia, you notice how it has become the cancer “du jour” in movies and TV shows. It seems like almost every person or child in the movies with a cancer plot has Leukemia. Anyway, to me it just validates the seriousness of the disease. A major pull at your heartstrings. In a nutshell, during the many years that I have been living with Leukemia, I have met many wonderful people. While in the first five years of treatment, there were so many patients in the same boat as me that I met and fought alongside. Many of those warriors are no longer with us. Diagnosed before the Gleevec revolution, like me, they hadn’t survived long enough to partake in the next generation of Leukemia wonder drugs. I was able to hang in long enough after my bone marrow transplant for those drugs to be developed and eventually I’ve survived because of them. I’m honored to be able to tell my story for those contemporaries and all of the Leukemia warriors past and present.

As all good things must come to an end though, my story will end here too. My present day condition is status quo. Some days I feel great and some not so great. On the good days, I tell myself, “I feel good today”, as I drive out of my development towards my store or wherever I may be headed. I cherish those days. I’ll continue to take my Chemo medication everyday like I have for the past twenty three years since “I have no other choice…or else”. Right now, I’m in a good place. I can’t predict the future, but hopefully, my adventure will continue on for a long, long time…

Next Up: Thanks

The wait is over! The traditional call from my Oncologists office has come and gone. The “My Penn Medicine” website has replaced the agony of waiting, with real time results for tests and bloodwork. Patients now receive their numbers on their phone or computer when the email pops up that you have new test results in your cue. Usually within 24 hours the results of my CBC test will pop up for me to analyze and review. As I write this post, the evening of May 23rd, 2023, the expertise that I have acquired in reading and interpreting my lab results is the result of being twenty-seven years deep into this adventure. On this day, twenty-seven years ago, I received my cancer diagnoses of CML. Seems like forever ago. This anniversary deserves no pomp and circumstance, no recognition and no celebration. Unless I brought it up to anyone, the memory and milestone is mine alone. That’s OK though, it’s been a long time and it definitely was not a pleasant day. Congrats to me.

Let’s get back to the results. The CBC… the bloodwork benchmark. This current report was perfect. White cells, red cells, Hemoglobin, platelets, etc. All within normal parameters. This is always nice to see since it can somewhat predict the outcome of the results of my BCR-ABL test. Next up is the Metabolic panel. Again, all within normal parameters. Kidney function, liver function, glucose, etc….all excellent. Now we wait. The BCR-ABL test takes about six to eight days from the blood draw to pop up on my email. It feels like forever. Ok, sounds dramatic, but this result is the big one. A positive result, even the slightest bit positive, will crush you. “You have a test result”. The email from “MyPennMedicine” stood out like a sore thumb. As I open it up, the anxiety always hits me as I fumble through the obligatory sign in and password prompts. I hit the “Test results” button and there it is…the BCR-ABL Quantative analysis result box. Just have to press it. Nice and easy, slowly, tentatively, I hesitate and after a deep breath, c’mon… Boom! It’s negative. Ahhh…and the Oncologists office probably won’t see my results for a couple of days. Sure glad that I have my self endowed PhD in Leukemia blood test result reading!

Today was a good day. Nick was honored as one of the Top 80 Real Estate Producers in Philadelphia for 2022/23 in Philly Magazine, the second year in a row! Joe is in London tonight, touring Europe with his girlfriend Kara and celebrating his friend’s wedding in Sorento, Italy. And as Lor sleeps peacefully beside me, I get to quietly contemplate another cancer milestone and be thankful that I’m still here to write about it. In four months,as you know by now, I’ll repeat the bloodwork process and hope for the same results. It is what it is.

Next Up: Wrapping it Up

Five years clear. The cancer benchmark. The coveted destination of hopefully being free and clear of relapse or reoccurring disease. What a great feeling it is after all of the mental and physical pain a diagnosis of cancer brings. I’m reminded of the song, “What a Wonderful World”. How both sides of the cancer coin bring those beautiful words into play. In the beginning of your journey, you realize that nothing really matters to you but the wonderful and beautiful things in your life and what our world has to offer. A glorious sunny sky, colorful flowers and trees, bug’s and butterflies, beaches and backyard Bar-B-Q’s. Spiders, snakes and roaches…not so much. LoL. Everyday that you wake up and move on with your life is so special. Your partner, your kids, your family, your friends. Can’t imagine not being there, can you? Then comes that eternal hope. That five year mark on your calender. The other side of the ” What a Wonderful World” coin. You’ve made it! We made it! A wonderful world feeling that seemed like an eternity to reach. Feeling comfort in knowing you may safely continue to participate in life. Finally!

It originally took me nine years to reach my benchmark. Four more years to lose it. Another five more years to make it, then three more years to lose it again. That was five years ago. So, here we are again. This April, 2023, makes five years since my last relapse. Exciting right? Well, for starters, my five year benchmarks are really not true benchmarks. My remission is based on the reality that my cancer is still active, never fully cured. It’s been that way since 1999 when my first relapse sent me for a loop only two and a half years after my bone marrow transplant. Since then, my remission is chemotherapy induced and relapses are due to changes in the status of how the daily medication remains active in preventing my Leukemia from recurring yet again. Please, don’t get me wrong. This five year anniversary is special. They all are. And I’m still here. It’s hope and pessimism wrapped up in one emotion. I still love that song though. Every day I’ll find the good, the great, the beautiful and the wonderful. No matter what.

For every cancer survivor that has reached the coveted five year anniversary free and clear, I applaud your accomplishment. I hope that you all remain cancer free and live long beautiful, meaningful, healthy lives. Be vigilant. Be smart. Make sure that you follow up with your doctor appointments, bloodwork, scans and tests. Realize that down the road, the after effects of major chemotherapy and varied cancer treatments can or may cause other health issues. Again, be vigilant and above all else, be humble. Always remember that for all of those that make that five year moment, there are just as many cancer warriors who weren’t as lucky. Cherish your survivor status and remember what it took to get there. Also, remember that there are no guarantees. Believe me…I know. My next appointment for bloodwork is in two weeks. Fingers crossed.

Next Up: The Results

So, I was able to go local to get my quarterly bloodwork done at a satellite location for U of P. This was always a pleasure since it only took me about twenty minutes to get there. I was in and out in another twenty minutes and my basic WBC results were delivered to my phone the same afternoon or next day. All I had to do was be patient. Since I could basically read and diagnose the labs on my own, the hospitals release of records direct to the patient now saved so much time and worry. The downside of the situation is of course the reality of receiving bad news right away. Anyway, my labs were great! It always takes a week to receive the results of the PCR test. This test is the benchmark that lets a Leukemia patient know immediately if the cancer is recurring. A completely negative result is what we want to see. Any positive change in the marker is an instant and hard hitting catastrophe. The test is automatically repeated for error and will be repeated every two weeks to confirm a relapse diagnosis. It’s the last thing I want to see again. My PCR results came back negative. Hallelujah.

Dr. Luger wanted to see me anyway down at Penn. My appointment was scheduled for the last Tuesday of January. I really hated to travel all the way into the city. The traffic sucked. The roads sucked. The parking sucked. The waiting sucked. Yep…it sucked. The weather report for that day called for icy rain and snow. My Maserati doesn’t like ice and snow. That would be the perfect excuse to cancel my appointment and reschedule for a later time. Lol. Meanwhile, I had another issue to deal with.

@$%#&!!! I could barely walk. Without any clue of how or why, one morning, I could hardly stand up, hardly put any pressure on my left leg and the pain was excruciating! This turned out to be an extreme sciatic issue that was showing me no relief. I was inhaling Advil and luckily had some old pain killing prescriptions hanging around. They barely worked. Entering my second week of agony, Lori and I were getting ready to visit Nick in Ft. Lauderdale at the end of the week over the Presidents Day holiday weekend. Thursday, after work, I headed to Doylestown Hospital to their ER to try to figure something out before I boarded a plane to Florida the next day. The only answer the Doctor had for me was stronger painkillers, a cat scan revealing herniations in the L 3,4 and 5 Vertebrae and a recommendation for a subsequent visit to a pain management doctor. Big help. Well, I got on that plane, hobbled around Ft. Lauderdale for five days and tried to make the best out of a tough situation. We had a great time meeting and interacting with Nick’s friends and enjoyed the fine dining and sightseeing that Ft. Lauderdale had to offer. The weather was beautiful. When I get back to reality, it’s going to be appointment city. I can’t wait. Aaarghh!

Next Up: Five Years Clear

It felt great to see my boys take off in their prospective businesses. Nick, so successful already and Joe ready to take on the world and head into the uncharted waters of self proprietorship. My advice, over and over again to new entrepreneurs, is to get ready to jump without a parachute. After thirty six years without an outside “Paycheck”, I would know. The ups and downs of self employment are extreme. That being said, my business was again heading into the holiday season. The twenty eight or so straight days of work between Thanksgiving and Christmas were going to kill me. This year, the store was breaking records. Hopefully, it would be a banner holiday season too. We shall see.

The usual fatigue that I experienced for so long followed me everyday. Every night around nine o’clock, for twenty years, I faithfully downed my Gleevec, now Tasigna, knowing fully well that without this chemotherapy agent my Leukemia would return. The bright yellow plastic zip lock bags emblazoned with a large Radiation symbol and “Caution- Chemotherapy Agent”, “Please store and handle with care”, are visibly laid within the shelf of my bedroom end table. The brown pills, that are individually stored in blister packs offering one months supply per pack, were my lifeline. Rounding the corner towards twenty seven years of handling this uninvited phenomenon called cancer, I feel that in this point of my life…I am just rolling again. My first blog, three years ago, began with the same title.. ..”Just Rolling”. It meant that my life was going smoothly. That business was cruising along and growing. My family was growing, we had a new nice single home and the future was bright. ” Just Rolling” should be my mantra moving forward.

We spent Thanksgiving up in the great State of New York at the in-laws. “Da Bronx” was always an adventure. The mass amount of humanity encountered while driving on the Cross Bronx Expressway and Bronx River Parkway engulfed you in vehicles of every make and model imaginable. The mass amount of food and family banter was always enjoyable and after stuffing our bellies for three hours, we filled the car with leftovers and injected ourselves back into the masses. The next morning, I would be getting out of bed and entering the Black Friday mayhem. A big economic weekend forecaster of future business for the rest of the holiday sales season. Ours flat out sucked. Last year was huge on the same weekend and we had great sales through the end of the year. I was pretty worried. The following Monday, back to the grind, something unusual happened. We got hammered! Everyday from that day on was crazy. Who cares that I got shut out Black Friday weekend. Business was brisk and the numbers fantastic. We ended up having one of the best December’s in the history of Belaggio Jewelers. Also, one of the best years! Yep…”Just Rolling”. It feels so good to say those words again. What a great state of mind. I just wish for peace and prosperity in the world this new year approaching. After completion of my January bloodwork at U of Penn and the tests that accompany them, we’ll see if the good luck and rolling vibes continue on. After all, we’re finally getting caught up to the present day life and times of Jeff. Let’s get through the results of my new testing coming up and fingers crossed…we’ll keep rolling.

Next up: Labs Are Great…But…*%$#&!

Finally feeling somewhat better after my Covid affair, it was time to get to work. Joe was coming home in mid September and it was my mission to get his auto detail shop up and ready to go for an October 1st grand opening. The biggest hurdle I would face was the zoning and permitting process with Warrington Township. On my first attempt, I was met with a brick wall. Auto businesses were a tough proposition and required special zoning variances, planning meetings, attorneys and a lengthy process. As per the assistant zoning commish…”Good luck”. I left the township building feeling demoralized and worried that this endeavor was dead on arrival. No way. The next day I regrouped and headed back to plead my case. This time I asked to speak to the head honcho. A gentleman named Roy who listened to my pitch, reviewed my plans and location, and surprisingly, signed off on my zoning application with a flick of his pen. It might have helped that he was retiring in a few months. Did I seriously pull off a miracle? You betcha!

Within a month, working alongside my friends Vladik and Ed, on my days off and nights, a beautiful Red, White and Blue themed Auto Detailing shop was born from an ugly duckling of a garage. Joe named the business after his long time hockey number… 26. 2SIX AUTO DETAILING was coming to fruition. The only thing that we needed was for him to get home. He built a beautiful website for the business while he was waiting to leave Ohio and when he got home, helped finish with the last details of the shop. Thank God. I blew my shoulder out carrying a 14 ft metal ladder and I was getting way too old to be doing construction work. I went into full sell mode at my store selling jewelry and Premium Plus auto details. On October 1st the garage door rolled up. Appointments rolled in and the beautiful, shiny, clean cars rolled out. Joe’s girlfriend Kara would be moving down from Ohio to join him in a few weeks too. They were on their way.

Meanwhile, number 1 son was in full transition mode too. October 1st was his big day. We had facilitated the moving company a few weeks prior and Nick had flown down to Ft. Lauderdale in the beginning of September to meet the movers and set up his new apartment. He only spent a few days there and flew back to Philly to finish up with some work details and prepare for the final transition to Florida. Lori was so upset. It was rare to have both boys home at the same time. Canada, California, Sweden, Cleveland, Florida, like a Merry-go-round. We would gladly take the two weeks of them here together and Lor was able to take her coveted Christmas card pic! As Joe was performing his first 2Six detail, Nick would begin driving to Virginia where he would board the auto train for his 24 hour journey to paradise. He’d begin his sunny new endeavor as a Senior Agent at the Meyer-Lucas Group, Compass Realty , Ft. Lauderdale and Palm Beach. Officially, he was marketed as part of the Sports and Entertainment division. Congrats to my boy. He was able to rise to the top of his field in Philadelphia in such a short time. A self made top producer, I’m sure that in no time he would conquer the South Florida market as well. Nick was also…on his way.

As a parent, you only want your children to succeed. You want them to be able to move forward as accomplished citizens and be able to be independent. If you are fortunate enough to be able to help them achieve, then why not? Physically, emotionally, financially or educationally. Whatever it takes… Be there. Hopefully, they will pay it forward by being great people and treating their children in kind. Where am I going with this? Receiving a life or death cancer diagnosis at a young age, with young children, is devastating. While you spend years and tears fighting to live and breathe, you spend the rest of your time wondering how you could possibly continue to protect them, covet them, console them and perhaps control them… if and when you are no longer here. It’s a tough pill to swallow. So fortunately, even though I still feel the presence of that proverbial “Rock” hanging over my head, I will continue to be supportive, annoying, overbearing etc. Whatever possible for my family to thrive for as long as I am present and able. Whether they like it …or not. Lol.

Next Up: Just Rolling…Again

Fully stocked with Halls Cough Drops and donning our new masks, Lori and I boarded our flight to Tampa, Florida. I guess you would say that we felt pretty guilty about getting on a plane having full blown Covid. I tried to rationalize that we probably caught covid by someone who on a prior flight that we had been on this past week had done the same thing. Oh well, as soon as we would land, it would be a beeline effort to the rental car area and directly to Bradenton. Being in our own home would be heaven compared to the last few days. We stopped at a WAWA on the way to grab some drinks and food to get us by as well as a stop at CVS for some more meds and Covid tests. We were both still very sick and needed more rest. Our fevers were consistent and chests hurting from the constant coughing and hacking. Being sick though was better in Bradenton.

The Florida weather in July was very hot and humid. Lori actually despised coming down here because of the relentless heat and daily rain showers. This last leg of our vacation was supposed to be twelve days of relaxation at the pool, beach and evenings out and about for dinner and visiting friends. The Country Club at Tara in our development was beautifully appointed and had a great restaurant and bar. Until Lori and I tested negative for the virus, we wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the luxuries afforded us. After all, after ten years of owning it, we barely were able to enjoy our home. We rented it most of the time. Purchased as an investment property and future retirement home for the winter, I only got down to Florida maybe once a year. This two weeks were the longest we had ever planned together in Bradenton and like Nashville, it was supposed to be special. We were fortunate that the club would deliver our meals to us and we could rehabilitate in familiar territory.

Negative, finally! Four days before we would be heading home, our covid tests showed the single line of freedom. Hallelujah! We donned our bathing suits and headed to the pool ! It felt so good to be out and about. Feeling the warm sun and fresh air was beautiful. The next few days we spent dining out and headed to the beach to experience the white sands along the south Florida Gulf. I loved swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Sometimes, a gentle Manatee would swim by like a small submarine. Very cool. The few days of freedom we had were a tease and set the stage for the future and hopefully Covid free return to paradise.

Back in PA, Lor took off for the shore to begin her usual summer vacation on LBI. I headed back to work at the store. Our experiences were distinctly different. She felt great and went on to enjoy the beach and spending quality time with my parents and sisters, both teachers as well. I was still sick though. I spent the next month visiting the local Urgent care twice in two weeks and then the Doylestown hospital emergency room soon after. The emergency room visit was essential because I literally could not breathe. My blood pressure was 200/100 and had I not gotten there soon, it could have been a really bad situation. I was diagnosed with Covid Bronchitis/Pneumonia and given large doses of steroids interveneously as well as a breathing treatment. The ER doctor noted before I was released that my blood pressure had returned to normal. A clear sign that I was in great distress when I arrived there. I was prescribed steroids for a week and an Albuterol inhaler to help with my breathing. It took another two to three weeks to feel myself again. This Covid was no joke. I could genuinely feel for those people that were affected so horribly and was blessed not to have any repercussions from my encounter. Time to get moving with the rest of this summer.

Next Up: Meyer Lucas and 2 Six

So yes, I had never taken an Uber ride before our trip to Nashville. I really wasn’t thrilled to ever get in a car with some average person behind the wheel. Our driver was very interesting. An African gentleman, from a small country where his wife and family remained while he worked a factory job and drove for Uber here in the US. I could barely understand him most of the time but the drive was mostly uneventful. The Marriott hotel was central to the city and had enough attractions going on nearby that we were winging it for our five day trip. I wasn’t feeling very well after the two plane flights and our layover in Chicago. I grabbed a bag of Halls cough drops in the Des Moines Airport to try not to be thrown off the plane because of my ever increasing cough. I was eating them like candy. Lori and I checked into our room at the hotel, a handicap room on the first floor. I really needed to lay down and get myself some type of medicine. And maybe a Covid test.

We ordered some food from Uber Eats since I didn’t feel well enough to hit the Nashville scene that Lor and I had planned for. Unfortunately, the hotel had no restaurant or room service. Uber Eats was another first for me! Boy was I behind the times! This Uber Eats was great and expensive! I not only ordered dinner, I also was able to order cough medicine, Advil, a thermometer and a Covid test from CVS. It was June 28th, 2022 and for over two years Lori and I had escaped the dreaded two red line boogeyman. After all of my customers who got covid, my employees, my family, you name it. We were free and clear. Not this time. That extra red line literally took about three seconds to blow up our vacation. What did I expect? Two big weddings and four plane flights did the trick. I opened up the thermometer. That blew up too… 103.5 and climbing. I was pretty sick. Lor called room service for a day bed so she could sleep on the other side of the room. Lucky that we had that handicap room after all. We went to bed after a long, long day. Hopefully, Lori would remain healthy but I was pretty skeptical.

I thought that my cough was bad! I woke up around 4 am after hearing a cough on the other side of the room. I turned the bedside light on and Lor didn’t look so great either. She was sweating and looked like she had the chills. I woke her up and had her take her temperature…102.8 and climbing. We were done. Thank God for Uber Eats. I only left the room for the next three days to meet the Uber drivers delivering the food, drink and sustenance needed to get us through our Nashville nightmare. Also, an extra Covid test to confirm what was pretty obvious. Lor had Covid too. We were both very sick. We watched, no binged, Netflix shows all of our awake hours and slept the rest of our stay. And again, we never left the room. So much for our Nashville experience. The next leg of our trip was the flight to Tampa where we had planned to stay for an additional twelve days after driving to our Bradenton home. We masked up, arranged another Uber ride back to the airport, and headed out unfortunately knowing that we had no other choice than to board our flight. Covid and all.

Next Up: The Last Leg