A Visit with Our Christine over the Fourth of July

Shortly after Amy flew home, Dom drove into town, and our Christine flew in for a nice visit and our Fourth of July EXTRAVAGANZA

During her visit, we hit all of the "musts".....  Dee's Hangout, Los Rancheros, Beach Package, etc.

One day we were all drained from the sun. For a change, we walked down to our restaurant/cocktail lounge for dinner.  It's a really cute place, adjoining one of the pools in our tower.  "H2O Bar and Grill".  Christine and I had a nice salad, and Dom had their chicken wings, which he LOVED.

As PCB is quickly becoming "THE" place to be on Independence Day, the beach was MOBBED all week.  But it's worth it for the fireworks!

Last January, a dear family friend (Amy's brother, Archie) used the condo for a couple of weeks.  Much to our surprise, he loaded us up with $250 worth of restaurant gift certificates, one of which was $150 for the Firefly.  Yep, I'm getting spoiled!

The Fourth of July was UNREAL.  When we first bought this place, we asked where we should go for fireworks.  The answer was unanimous.... "Your Balcony".  PCB has some organized displays, but the tourists on the beach really put on a show.  I can't comprehend the money that's spent!

We had a fun beach day, enjoyed lobster tails, snow crab legs, sweet corn and new potatoes on the balcony, then enjoyed almost 2 hours of non-stop fireworks.  (these bottom five pics were taken from our balcony..... no zooming....they basically explode right off of our 22nd floor!)

The Fun Continued with Amy

A few days after Vickie went home, Amy flew in.  Amy is my oldest and dearest friend.  We grew up together, and have remained as close as ever.

Had big fun with the gang across the street.  They're like family to me now.

Of course, no visit would be complete without a stop at Dee's Hangout and Los Rancheros!

The water was pristine, as well as the weather.  We didn't have a bit of rain.

   We celebrated Amy's birthday at The Firefly.  Outstanding!

And finally, one night we had a brilliant idea.  Use your imagination.....it seemed like a perfectly good idea at the time.  We went into full NINJA MODE.  Alas, our mission failed..... but it'll be a lifetime memory!

What a FUN Summer!!!!

It's been a Fun, Fun Summer, Gang!

I returned home last week after spending 5 weeks in Panama City Beach....which was a record.

Over the course of this time, I had 3 separate visitors.... Vickie, Amy and our daughter, Christine.

Vickie was the first.  We've been friends for probably 25 years.  She's a feisty Cajun gal from Breaux Bridge, LA. 

 We spent a lot of time, as usual, at the Beach Package Bar across the street.  That handsome "tall drink of water" pictured above is my favorite bartender, Jamison.  He spent his days off with us on the beach.  Also went to Los Rancheros one night.

As usual, the highlight of the week was dinner at Dee's Hangout.  Dee and Brenda have really got it going on!

It was great to see "My Kevin", as usual.  The entire gang there is great!

It's everybody's favorite stop...and the best food on the beach.  Check out the Pork Belly Burger and the Jalapeno Oysters pictured above!

DEE'S HANGOUT

 The water was fabulous.  We had no rain.  Just great weather.

 Vickie took me to The Firefly for my 54th Birthday.  Love that place!  Firefly

We had ONE HORRID Day, though.  Deep Sea Fishing with Captain Anderson's.  My brother and I enjoyed it last year, so Vickie and I thought we'd book a 6 hour trip.

Picked up our tickets, then went into the gift shop to purchase some Dramamine.  They were sold out.

When we got on the boat, we were able to get some, but apparently, it was too late.

It was the longest 6 hours of my life.  One giant PUKE-FEST.  Everywhere you looked, there was projectile vomiting.  I truly think that Captain Anderson's should have warned us that the seas were very high out in the Gulf.  This is something that I'll never do again.

Stopped for a bite to eat at the Marina Cantina, which is a very pleasant place.

Dom's May Numbers- Great

Dom's doctor at Tulane, as well as our family doctor, is very pleased.  If they're happy, we're happy!

WBC:     6.1

HTC:      38.8

PLATELET:    184

ANC:    68

Dom's Latest Light Chains.... yippee!

Hi gang:

Finally got to take a look at Dom's Light Chains from May.  I was tickled to see the numbers dropping, but was concerned about his Ratio shooting up.  After some research, I think that this is probably wonderful news.  Looking forward to discussing this with his doctor in August. Link at the bottom.

Light Chains

Normal:
Kappa  3.3 – 19.4
Labda  5.71 – 26.3
Ratio  0.26 – 1.65

(A Downward Trend in all of these is GOOD.)

Dom’s Light Chains:

Kappa…..

March ’13:  19.19
Oct. ’13       14.92
Jan ’14         13.82
May ‘14        7.49

Labda….

March ’13    19.21
Oct. ’13        16.77
Jan ’14         15.69
May ‘14         0.63

Ratio……

March ’13     1.00
Oct. ’13          0.89
Jan ’14           0.88
May ‘14         11.89
*********************************************************************
Heavy/Light Chain Ratios May Be A Prognostic Marker For Myeloma Patients

The results of a small Spanish study indicate that heavy/light chain ratios may be a prognostic marker for myeloma patients.

Specifically, the Spanish researchers found that multiple myeloma patients who experienced elevated heavy/light chain ratios after achieving complete remission following a stem cell transplant had longer progression-free and overall survival rates than patients who did not experience elevated heavy/light chain ratios.

According to the study investigators, these results show for the first time the association between a heavy/light chain ratio and sustained remission in myeloma patients.

http://www.myelomabeacon.com/news/2012/04/11/heavylight-chain-ratios-may-be-a-prognostic-marker-for-myeloma-patients/