March 22, 2009

We just got back from a long overdue family vacation. I think it is safe to say we all had a blast but we are wore out. Great Wolf Lodge was awesome. The water park portion was HUGE! Zack rode every water slide in the place & could not get enough of it. He even got to meet Whiley the wolf. Katie liked the hot springs & the Magic Quest interactive game. We got a Magic Wand & the game for Zack but Katie really got into it the most. Paige started not feeling well the second day down there but hung in. Brandon was a constant thumb warrior on his phone so we told him if Tiffany wanted she could come down for the day so she did, we got to meet her parents & they seem really nice. Brandon of course was happy the rest of the day. Marc said we will definitely go back in the future. Thank you so much Bill, if you had not got us the room it would have been awhile before we took a vacation.

I think we are all a little burnt out from eating out. I can't believe I actually said that. We had Max & Erma's on the way down, Golden Coral for dinner, IHOP the next morning, Tacobell & McDonalds for lunch, Larosa's for dinner & the Buffet at the Lodge for breakfast this morning. Needless to say I set out 2 chickens to thaw Saturday for dinner tonight & they turned out awesome.

Here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Feb---175-----2.4----1800---------10.5----------97------------N/A
27 Feb---178-----1.8-----800---------10.4----------93------------N/A
4 Mar---183-----1.6-----900---------11.3----------78------------N/A
6 Mar---185-----1.4-----800---------11.3---------120------------N/A
10 Mar---189-----1.8-----900---------11.2---------187------------N/A
13 Mar---192-----1.7-----500---------11.6---------238------------N/A
18 Mar---197-----1.8-----800---------##.#---------###------------N/A
22 Mar---200-----3.4----1800---------13.1---------162------------N/A

The James Cancer called Thursday to try & burst my bubble I think. My ANC counts were still not above 1000. Normally no big deal but due to my plan for returning to work the following Monday it would have been catastrophic. Well after waiting an extra day I could not take it so I went to the hospital today & had my labs redrawn. My ANC is 1800 so I am going to the James first thing tomorrow morning & then let the 2nd round of maintenance chemotherapy begin. Everything has been cleared by ODH's Human Resources office for my return except access to handicap parking. I received information from ODH's ADA office on a pilot parking exemption. It will cost $125.00 per month to park in the buildings parking garage compared to the $4.00 a day I was paying to park a few blocks away. There is no guarantee I will get it as it is on a first come first serve basis & it is only good for 3 months. I am so anxious to get back work at this point lets just hope there are no more unexpected snags. "NOW WHAT"