With current events things have been very busy at work & I have been very tired each night when I get home so here is an update.
Last post if you remember Brandon had an ear infection, well this week... I took Katie to the Dr. last night she was not feeling well (temp over 100, threw up twice, sore throat & coughing). She was freaking out thinking she had the Swine Flu (she has been watching too much TV)after reassuring her she was over reacting her Dr. swabbed her & the culture came back positive for strep. She started her antibiotics late last night. For now she is pretty much room bound, she ate dinner tonight but she still is not feeling very good.
I noticed last night my throat was hurting a little & still is today but I am not having any other signs or symptoms so I am keeping my fingers crossed I don't catch Katie's strep.
I am going to the base tomorrow & then Monday morning I start my 3rd Maintenance Chemotherapy Cycle at the James Cancer Center. Instead of working 3 full days at ODH next week I will be working 4 condensed days to accommodate my treatments.I am so grateful they are working with me on this.
Brandon & Tiffany will be going to the Prom next Friday night. Tiffany sent me a picture in her dress she looks beautiful, I was not allowed to show Brandon it is a surprise, I can't wait to see them together, his tux is pretty sharp!
Zack got a green day on Tuesday, one step down from white so it really wasn't bad but it surprised me a little. We have noticed he has been testing his boundaries with us here at home lately & we have been correcting him quite a bit more than usual. It is probably just a phase but we want to nip it in the bud in case it is not.
Paige doesn't have any updates other than she wore purple to pick her seat today...She is playing Guitar Hero.
I tried to call my cousin Amber yesterday to see what was going on with my Aunt Debe but the number I have for her now belongs to some one else, so I will call Debe this weekend for an update.
Marc had been busy "ensuring we (the family) are prepared". We have been very proactive & are keeping a close eye on the news. It is a good practice no matter what is going on in the world (all hazards) flood, ice storms, tornado's, pan flu etc. to have an emergency kit at your home. Go to http://www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan/index.html for information on making a Family Emergency Plan.
I am going to end this one with remember to wash your hands frequently, cover your cough & no hugs or handshakes for now. The planner in me says as always plan for the worst & hope for the best because it is better to be proactive versus reactive. Go to http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/index.htm for current H1N1 Flu information
Go to http://www.ohiopandemicflu.gov/ for additional information.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
April 22, 2009
There is a bone marrow drive on Monday, May 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The James Cancer Hospital, 300 W. 10th Ave., room 518A. Potential donors need to be between the ages of 18 and 60 years old and in good health. Donor registration takes 15-20 minutes and participants will be asked to fill out a health questionnaire, sign a consent form and give a cheek-cell swab. There are no fees associated with becoming a donor on this day.
I found out at work Tuesday afternoon from a collage that her two-year-old grandson in Dayton Ohio was just diagnosed with AML-M5 in March of this year & he is going to need a Bone Marrow Transplant very soon. Please help save the lives of 35,000 children and adults who develop life-threatening disease each year.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated, were do I start… I still do not have the pictures from coloring eggs & before Easter. They are on Marc’s camera & I don’t know where the attachment is for the computer. Brandon took some good pictures while he was in New Jersey over Spring Break with his Uncle Eric, Aunt Lindsay & his cousins Loudon & Esme.
This is Brandon Balboa:
I do not have a picture of Katie yet with her new hair do… personally I don’t like the blond highlights at all but she loves them, it is a drastic change with the bob haircut. She looks good with the bob but she always pulls her hair back instead of wearing it down & scrunching her curls, she has beautiful curly hair & of course she hates it…
Paige got highlights as well but they blend in real well with her hair.
Zack of course looks rotten as heck.
The day Brandon came home he went to Tiffany’s, they are pretty attached. He gets a little cranky if they go to long without seeing each other.
She came over for his 17th Birthday & got him a picture of them together & a Tap-Out T-shirt, it was sweet & he loved it. 
She was over last weekend as well. She brought the back piece to her prom dress so he could match up his tux & her corsage. He is really getting into taking her to prom. They are going to her prom in Grove City, it sounds like they are going with a group of her friends out to dinner & they have a limo. It’s a good thing he saved up his money from working last summer because he is dropping a small fortune on this. He was really surprised from the sticker shop when he went to get fitted & picked out the flowers. I think he is finally starting to grasp the concept of money & that it does not go very far. Prom is May 8th so we will have those pictures to post in a few weeks.
I have been working for 1 month now & I think I have tolerated it very well so I will be going to 3 days a week for a month & if all goes week we will move up to 4 days a week then back to full time so keep your fingers crossed!
I went to my Dr. today for a check up. She was not to happy with how low my levels dropped last month so she is keeping a close eye on those. She also wanted to put me back on the hormone pills & my neupagen shots. I am against both. I have put on quite a bit of weight from the steroids & the hormone pills & it has really been bothering me even though in comparison my weight is the least of my worries. The neupagen is rather pricey & it makes my bones & joints hurt like hell after using it continuously. She called the lab & had them run some tests on my thyroid & if I am still having trouble breathing during physical activity she is going to have a pulmonary function test & another look at my heart. She is hoping that I am just reconditioned however there have been cases where the Dicitabine (sp) has resulted in cardiac & pulmonary compromise…well see. I am scheduled to start my 3rd cycle on May 4th. It was a logistical nightmare trying to get it scheduled around work, the absolute latest I can come in is at 2pm & the earliest is 8am. I am going to have to do some fancy flexing off if my boss will let me. Luckily I only have to worry about 3 of the days this cycle but I should be back to full time when I start the 5th cycle & it will be even tougher… My work has been great working with me so I am sure we can figure something out. I also had to give her Marc’s FMLA paperwork, I guess DR&C requires it once a quarter, she has had to fill out 4 of these since September last year & has to be sick of them by now. Marc couldn’t go with me today because he had training at work. It was the first appointment that he missed & she definitely noticed. It was rather comical actually, Marc is so blunt with everybody & he is my Dr.s snitch when I don’t give all the details, he keeps me honest up there.
What else is happening…we finally got rid of the suburban, YEAH! I hated to see it go but not the payment. At one point Marc & I thought we were going to have to let it go back to the bank we had so much negative equity in it after gas prices soared last year but thanks to current rebates & dealer incentives we were able to trade it in on a much smaller but more affordable car payment without taking to much of a loss. Now when we ALL want to go somewhere it will require to cars but with Brandon being 17 & hopefully driving soon…if he ever takes the test he still does not have his temps & has not expressed any intrest in going up to take the test.I guess he has more important things to do...
Either way there should not be to many times we all have to go to the same place at once.
Marc is happy that he finally got his motorcycle running. It is something to see, as Brandon says to his Dad in an oriental voice “You tough biker, real hardcore”. I will get a picture in the near future & post it. I am so tired of the rain but I hear we may get a nice break over the weekend it is supposed to get up into the 80’s – wow a heat wave! I am sure we will get out & ride.
I talked to my Aunt Debe for quite a while last night. I am very worried about her, she saw a Dermatologist who referred her to a Rheumatologist, she was going in for additional blood work this afternoon & should have the results next week. It sounds like they are trying to rule out rheumatic diseases. For all of you out there that are praying for me if you would please add a prayer on for my Aunt Debe she could really use it right now.
As a whole life in the Vest household is pretty calm these days but never dull. Zack is working with Katie on his Litter Critter project & has still been having white days at school everyday since the beginning of the year, Brandon’s still in a trance over Tiffany he had over 17,000 text messages last month thank god for unlimited texting, Paige is mellowing out, she likes playing her my SIMs Kingdom game Brandon got, Katie is starting to focus on her looks a little more, she had a poof/bump style today that looked really good but she feels that it makes her face look boxy…They all had dental checkups & cleanings last week, needless to say Zack & I got very good reports from the dentist the other three not so much. Brandon’s was the worst followed closely by Paige & Katie came in third. All three need fillings Brandon & Paige are scheduled for the first week in May. Katie will be leaving for her Dads on June 6th, Lance sent me her itinerary. As much as I will miss her she really does need to go down there & spend some time with them. It has been awhile since she has been able to see them for an extended period of time & it will be good for her.
I am pretty much rambling now & this is pretty long post but it was long overdue. So I will post again…soon!
I found out at work Tuesday afternoon from a collage that her two-year-old grandson in Dayton Ohio was just diagnosed with AML-M5 in March of this year & he is going to need a Bone Marrow Transplant very soon. Please help save the lives of 35,000 children and adults who develop life-threatening disease each year.
It’s been a couple of weeks since I updated, were do I start… I still do not have the pictures from coloring eggs & before Easter. They are on Marc’s camera & I don’t know where the attachment is for the computer. Brandon took some good pictures while he was in New Jersey over Spring Break with his Uncle Eric, Aunt Lindsay & his cousins Loudon & Esme.
This is Brandon Balboa:
I do not have a picture of Katie yet with her new hair do… personally I don’t like the blond highlights at all but she loves them, it is a drastic change with the bob haircut. She looks good with the bob but she always pulls her hair back instead of wearing it down & scrunching her curls, she has beautiful curly hair & of course she hates it…
Paige got highlights as well but they blend in real well with her hair.
Zack of course looks rotten as heck.
The day Brandon came home he went to Tiffany’s, they are pretty attached. He gets a little cranky if they go to long without seeing each other.
She came over for his 17th Birthday & got him a picture of them together & a Tap-Out T-shirt, it was sweet & he loved it. 
She was over last weekend as well. She brought the back piece to her prom dress so he could match up his tux & her corsage. He is really getting into taking her to prom. They are going to her prom in Grove City, it sounds like they are going with a group of her friends out to dinner & they have a limo. It’s a good thing he saved up his money from working last summer because he is dropping a small fortune on this. He was really surprised from the sticker shop when he went to get fitted & picked out the flowers. I think he is finally starting to grasp the concept of money & that it does not go very far. Prom is May 8th so we will have those pictures to post in a few weeks.I have been working for 1 month now & I think I have tolerated it very well so I will be going to 3 days a week for a month & if all goes week we will move up to 4 days a week then back to full time so keep your fingers crossed!
I went to my Dr. today for a check up. She was not to happy with how low my levels dropped last month so she is keeping a close eye on those. She also wanted to put me back on the hormone pills & my neupagen shots. I am against both. I have put on quite a bit of weight from the steroids & the hormone pills & it has really been bothering me even though in comparison my weight is the least of my worries. The neupagen is rather pricey & it makes my bones & joints hurt like hell after using it continuously. She called the lab & had them run some tests on my thyroid & if I am still having trouble breathing during physical activity she is going to have a pulmonary function test & another look at my heart. She is hoping that I am just reconditioned however there have been cases where the Dicitabine (sp) has resulted in cardiac & pulmonary compromise…well see. I am scheduled to start my 3rd cycle on May 4th. It was a logistical nightmare trying to get it scheduled around work, the absolute latest I can come in is at 2pm & the earliest is 8am. I am going to have to do some fancy flexing off if my boss will let me. Luckily I only have to worry about 3 of the days this cycle but I should be back to full time when I start the 5th cycle & it will be even tougher… My work has been great working with me so I am sure we can figure something out. I also had to give her Marc’s FMLA paperwork, I guess DR&C requires it once a quarter, she has had to fill out 4 of these since September last year & has to be sick of them by now. Marc couldn’t go with me today because he had training at work. It was the first appointment that he missed & she definitely noticed. It was rather comical actually, Marc is so blunt with everybody & he is my Dr.s snitch when I don’t give all the details, he keeps me honest up there.
What else is happening…we finally got rid of the suburban, YEAH! I hated to see it go but not the payment. At one point Marc & I thought we were going to have to let it go back to the bank we had so much negative equity in it after gas prices soared last year but thanks to current rebates & dealer incentives we were able to trade it in on a much smaller but more affordable car payment without taking to much of a loss. Now when we ALL want to go somewhere it will require to cars but with Brandon being 17 & hopefully driving soon…if he ever takes the test he still does not have his temps & has not expressed any intrest in going up to take the test.I guess he has more important things to do...
Either way there should not be to many times we all have to go to the same place at once.Marc is happy that he finally got his motorcycle running. It is something to see, as Brandon says to his Dad in an oriental voice “You tough biker, real hardcore”. I will get a picture in the near future & post it. I am so tired of the rain but I hear we may get a nice break over the weekend it is supposed to get up into the 80’s – wow a heat wave! I am sure we will get out & ride.
I talked to my Aunt Debe for quite a while last night. I am very worried about her, she saw a Dermatologist who referred her to a Rheumatologist, she was going in for additional blood work this afternoon & should have the results next week. It sounds like they are trying to rule out rheumatic diseases. For all of you out there that are praying for me if you would please add a prayer on for my Aunt Debe she could really use it right now.
As a whole life in the Vest household is pretty calm these days but never dull. Zack is working with Katie on his Litter Critter project & has still been having white days at school everyday since the beginning of the year, Brandon’s still in a trance over Tiffany he had over 17,000 text messages last month thank god for unlimited texting, Paige is mellowing out, she likes playing her my SIMs Kingdom game Brandon got, Katie is starting to focus on her looks a little more, she had a poof/bump style today that looked really good but she feels that it makes her face look boxy…They all had dental checkups & cleanings last week, needless to say Zack & I got very good reports from the dentist the other three not so much. Brandon’s was the worst followed closely by Paige & Katie came in third. All three need fillings Brandon & Paige are scheduled for the first week in May. Katie will be leaving for her Dads on June 6th, Lance sent me her itinerary. As much as I will miss her she really does need to go down there & spend some time with them. It has been awhile since she has been able to see them for an extended period of time & it will be good for her.
I am pretty much rambling now & this is pretty long post but it was long overdue. So I will post again…soon!
Friday, April 10, 2009
April 10, 2009
Here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
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
23 Mar---201-----2.9----1300---------12.9---------144------------N/A
6 Apr---215-----2.0----1100---------11.1----------29------------N/A
9 Apr---218-----Pending
As you can see I made it to the hospital this week & got my labs drawn. As anticipated my counts have dropped from the Chemotherapy 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately they dropped a little lower than I had anticipated. I suspect the James will be calling me to get a Platelet infusion today or tomorrow since my counts were at 29 Monday, I seriously doubt that they went up but then again stranger things have happened. I was so tired last night I went to bed at 7pm. Marc & the kids watched the day the earth stood still; I was just to out of it.
Work has been going very well other than slight headaches & minor vision blurs I think it is a combination of the florescent lights & staring at a computer screen all day. Everyone I work with has been so supportive & I couldn’t be more thankful to work with such a great group of people. They have really come together to help the family & I get through this.
I did not realize how much my blog affected other people until I mentioned shutting it down. The response has been overwhelming. I have found a way to moderate the comments so I m going to keep it going for now. If this blog can help someone else who is going through the same things I have then that’s all I could ask for.
As far as the kids go: Brandon will be flying home Sunday from New Jersey! Zack cried the day he left & I let him call him last night & he almost cried again when he told him goodbye. They are a lot closer than people realize. Brandon misses his girlfriend like crazy; if you have his cell phone # you should try to call him & hope for the answering machine the message is too cute.
On my days off this week I took Katie, Paige & Zack out to get some new clothes they are growing like crazy. Paige is in a Jr. size 11. I could not believe it, she is not chunky or anything but she has some hips on her. She tried to pack it into 9’s but I told her NO WAY! Katie is in a size 5. She is still a bean pole but also has some hips. Zack outgrew his jacket so I had to pick him up a new one of those, I could not get his old one to zip. He is short & stocky so it is real hard to find him clothes that fit. The day was not complete without spring haircuts. Paige got a trim, Zack got a buzz & looks ornery as hell, Katie got her hair chopped off into a bob & it looks cute. Both girls want to color their hair & have been pretty persistent in that so I am sure I will cave in & let them later this weekend.
Marc has been feverishly working on his bike in the garage, bike inspections are Saturday. I think he will have it done in time but he really put it off so well have to see.
There was so much going on last week that I still have not got my pictures posted from last weekend where we colored eggs & iced cookies with all my girlfriends & our kids. So I will try to do that this weekend. The kids got to do 2 Easter egg hunts last Saturday so this Sunday it will be lots of candy & Easter Dinner.
To all of you I hope you have a...
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
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
23 Mar---201-----2.9----1300---------12.9---------144------------N/A
6 Apr---215-----2.0----1100---------11.1----------29------------N/A
9 Apr---218-----Pending
As you can see I made it to the hospital this week & got my labs drawn. As anticipated my counts have dropped from the Chemotherapy 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately they dropped a little lower than I had anticipated. I suspect the James will be calling me to get a Platelet infusion today or tomorrow since my counts were at 29 Monday, I seriously doubt that they went up but then again stranger things have happened. I was so tired last night I went to bed at 7pm. Marc & the kids watched the day the earth stood still; I was just to out of it.
Work has been going very well other than slight headaches & minor vision blurs I think it is a combination of the florescent lights & staring at a computer screen all day. Everyone I work with has been so supportive & I couldn’t be more thankful to work with such a great group of people. They have really come together to help the family & I get through this.
I did not realize how much my blog affected other people until I mentioned shutting it down. The response has been overwhelming. I have found a way to moderate the comments so I m going to keep it going for now. If this blog can help someone else who is going through the same things I have then that’s all I could ask for.
As far as the kids go: Brandon will be flying home Sunday from New Jersey! Zack cried the day he left & I let him call him last night & he almost cried again when he told him goodbye. They are a lot closer than people realize. Brandon misses his girlfriend like crazy; if you have his cell phone # you should try to call him & hope for the answering machine the message is too cute.
On my days off this week I took Katie, Paige & Zack out to get some new clothes they are growing like crazy. Paige is in a Jr. size 11. I could not believe it, she is not chunky or anything but she has some hips on her. She tried to pack it into 9’s but I told her NO WAY! Katie is in a size 5. She is still a bean pole but also has some hips. Zack outgrew his jacket so I had to pick him up a new one of those, I could not get his old one to zip. He is short & stocky so it is real hard to find him clothes that fit. The day was not complete without spring haircuts. Paige got a trim, Zack got a buzz & looks ornery as hell, Katie got her hair chopped off into a bob & it looks cute. Both girls want to color their hair & have been pretty persistent in that so I am sure I will cave in & let them later this weekend.
Marc has been feverishly working on his bike in the garage, bike inspections are Saturday. I think he will have it done in time but he really put it off so well have to see.
There was so much going on last week that I still have not got my pictures posted from last weekend where we colored eggs & iced cookies with all my girlfriends & our kids. So I will try to do that this weekend. The kids got to do 2 Easter egg hunts last Saturday so this Sunday it will be lots of candy & Easter Dinner.
To all of you I hope you have a...
Monday, April 6, 2009
April 6, 2009
I went to the hospital today & had my labs drawn. I should get the results back tomorrow.
For those of you that leave supporting comments please continue to do so, understand there will be a delay in having them posted on the blog. Thank you for your understanding.
For those of you that leave supporting comments please continue to do so, understand there will be a delay in having them posted on the blog. Thank you for your understanding.
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They call me Rooster
& Leukemia did not snuff this one!
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