On the Road Again (with our trusty dialysis machine!)

There is something liberating and peaceful about our vacation time.  I was really looking forward to our trip to Florida.  My expectations were certainly met with our visits to new family members (the Gowers) and reconnecting with daughters Catherine and Jennifer and their families in nearby St Petersburg.

Of course, Sabine loves vacations!  She always has.  And the chemotherapy seems to be going well (we will check the numbers again when we return).  I also can report that the on-the-road hemo dialysis has been going well and I have been able to make the vein connections without complications (thanks be to God!).

Just before we left Orlando and headed off to the beach on the east coast (Hutchinson Island) the dialysis machine failed.  Not completely, but started to give us some worrying signals the last hour of treatment.  We made it through and called our dialysis nurses in Madison and then the manufacturer of the machine -- NextStage on the east coast.  (Yes, they had just been snowed in with a tremendous blizzard).

We took the next day off (Friday) and drove to Hutchinson Beach where NextStage said they would deliver a NEW machine after 5 pm.  We arrived at the condo, unpacked, and soon had a call from the desk that our machine had arrived from the airport in Miami.  Magic!

So we have a new machine for this morning's treatment as we spend our last week on the beach.  The weather has been great (up to 80 degrees yesterday) and plenty of sunshine. Just what Sabine needs!

Here's a few pics!

Sabine and friends at the Cafe Tu Tu Tango in Orlando

On St Petersburg Beach

Bowling with kids and grandkids at the Ten Pin Lanes

Fresh grouper at the marina in Fort Pierce

The view from our condo on Hutchinson Island near Jensen Beach