Rooster's Blog

November 30 2011

2011-11-30T11:55:00.004-05:00

Man I hate needles, partly from being a pin cushion during the past three years living with AML. Some vampires were much worse than others. I think I have developed a Pavlov reaction to getting stuck that sometimes. I am now a needle wimp without some serious pre-medication action. But in weighing it all out, I wouldn't let that stop me from going back into the James Cancer Hospital and getting these Bone Marrow Biopsy’s and Bone Marrow Aspirations every quarter. Hopefully we can get to an annual schedule soon.

So what’s the dealio, how am I doing? Well as you can see in the video I am still alive and kicking, just waiting on the results. I am anticipating everything is still good. My doc still will not change my prognosis. Rats, I hate hearing that I only have a 60% chance of 5 year survivability even now. Its frustrating. I am am just as busy if not more so than I was prior to being diagnosed. I have put on a few pounds… well, maybe more than a few pounds, I am still having some respiratory issues that are hindering my physical capabilities. I am also still struggling with cognitive disconnects or chemo brain type episodes, ocular headaches and the daily does of bone and joint pain but considering it all I really can’t complain. I am luck to be alive.

So hopefully I can maintain remission and prove my doc wrong. However, if she is right it will not be a pretty road. My sister was tested to see if she is a bone marrow match and unfortunately, no match. It is very personal decision to be tested and placed in the national registry. After you watch people that are close to you die, some very quickly, others have suffered immensely, and as you watch them die you wish that there is something ... anything ... that could be done to help relieve their pain. In my case there wasn't a thing I could do, I am in the same boat. It is a very helpless, empty feeling.

There are many people in a position to make a difference for someone in a similar situation. Without a bone marrow transplant (BMT), this form of leukemia, called AML, could claim it's victim in about 3 - 5 years, possibly sooner. With life giving marrow this person's chances of a full remission (recovery -- free of cancer) can be as high as 80 - 85 percent!

I signed the back of my drivers license to be an organ donor like many others, but I'd probably have to be dead to do most of that donating. With bone marrow donation, you would replenish your marrow in about 3 weeks (and remain alive too).
Matching is much like hitting the lottery numbers. To date, of the over 2,000,000 people typed by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), only around 4,300 unrelated been fortunate enough to be selected to donate. Currently only 65 percent of all people requiring bone marrow transplants can find a suitable donor. Thirty-five percent are not so lucky. The key to unlock their disease is in the bones of someone still untested. I’m just saying…

So that’s it for now, I know these posts are few & far between but facebook me, it is updated much more frequently.

Bone Marrow Biopsy & Aspirate results are in

2011-02-20T00:49:00.008-05:00

I got the call Friday, less then 5% Blast cells so I am still in remission, WOOHOO!

2010 Season's Greatings!

2010-12-21T21:29:00.007-05:00

I am so excited to share our Christmas Card this year, it is truly unique & I love it. I can't stop smiling every time I look at the front picture with Zack holding the Train. It makes me think of Gulliver's Travels, well a Zack attack version that is! Tomorrow I go in for the 10th Bone Marrow Biopsy. This is the"1 year" aspiration post chemo so keep your fingers crossed for less than 5% blast cells. I will post the results once I get them around the New year. In the mean time from my family to yours, Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy the card as much as we did making it!

Trent Beaver, Photographer "Simply the Best" London Imagery delivered way more than we expected. Trent Beaver is really gifted and you can't beat the prices for the time & quality he puts into each session. I didn't think anyone could get our whole family, Vest party of 6, to relax in front of the lens, but he succeeded. Trent's personality/demeanor/down-to-earth vibe was a HUGE factor in our repeat business i.e family portraits, senior pictures, the most unique & best Christmas photo card that I & many of my family, friends & colleagues have ever seen ever. I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been & thank you so much! I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

Social Media Revolution

2010-12-12T21:38:00.001-05:00

Truth is nothing is private aymore.

Thank our veterans and those serving today

2010-11-11T12:11:00.002-05:00

There are two distinct types of people in our country: people who are fighting for their lives and people who are fighting with their lives. Many of us go through life seeking our own purpose, not thinking very much about the country we live in or how we achieved or maintain our freedom. We often take for granted all that we have, focusing on our personal needs, such as seeking better jobs, taking care of our families, enjoying the fruits of our labors. In a sense, we fight for all of the fine things this free country affords us. This group, of which most Americans are members, is basically "fighting" every day for their own lives.

And then there is the other group. They are the few, the ones who have taken a different road. It's a path paved with the price of freedom, traveled by those who embrace the toll it may take to achieve it, chosen by those who know only they stand in the way of freedom's destruction. It's a path that places their lives in the hands of others and often ends with a knock on the door.

Who is this group of people? What makes them willing to lay down enjoying their own personal wants in order to preserve our national freedoms? These are our young, healthy, educated seemingly invincible military men and women, who are often in their early twenties, young people who are perfectly able to achieve success in a civilian world. But something else motivates them: serving. They willingly and lovingly decide that if cutting their lives short will advance the cause of freedom, then the price is not too great.

You may have heard the saying, "There have only been two defining forces in the world willing to die for you: Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. Jesus died for your soul and the American Soldier died for your freedom."

The men and women currently serving in our military and our veterans deserve our highest respect for fighting with their lives to protect the rest of us as we fight for our lives. That's what Honor and Remember is all about.

IOMC Halloween 2010

2010-11-11T10:26:00.002-05:00

Wow, what a great Halloween Party. Gobbler (Marc) & I had an awesome evening with our IOMC family!A good time was had by all!

Good cause to honor breast cancer victims, survivors and supporters

2010-09-29T22:18:00.003-04:00

NAPA AUTO PARTS and NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Martin Truex, Jr., are teaming up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to honor breast cancer victims, survivors and supporters via a special, one-of-a-kind fan-generated paint scheme featuring the names of individuals affected by breast cancer.

From now to Oct. 11, consumers can submit the names of loved ones affected by breast cancer to appear on the No. 56 NAPA Toyota by making a minimum donation of $5.60 via the NAPA Know How Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/napaknowhow). The NAPA Signature Car application allows you to enter a name and select the area of the car where you would like the dedication to appear. Your dedication will then be featured on the #56 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota for the November 7th NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Texas Motor Speedway.

With the help of fan donations, NAPA is hoping to raise at least $250,000 for Susan G. Komen for the Cure during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to recognize more than 56,000 individuals affected by breast cancer with the custom paint scheme.

June 13, 2010

2010-06-13T18:08:00.004-04:00

My last update was in December I think. Gee's has it been that long? Marcus reminded me not everyone is on Facebook & I should be more mindful of that. So here goes. I had my 9th biopsy last week & I met with my Dr. this week for the results. Less than 5% blast cells meaning I am still in remission. I rode all the way to Washing to D.C & back memorial day weekend about 1300 miles round trip, I have been working fulltime & still doing my reserve thing in the military my Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) is not slated until September so keep your fingers crossed. I am a little heavier than I would like to be & my physical strength is crap. The Dr.s keep telling me I am minimizing everything that I have been through & that I am very de-conditioned it is going to take a lot of time. The important thing is I am still alive & kicking & life is good especially considering I should not be here.
My Grandmother Passed Memorial Day weekend & it deeply affected me. I had not thought a lot about death in awhile & her passing was not unexpected. The funeral was very nice & my Uncle performed her Eulogy & it was beautiful. I kept visioning her dancing around her kitchen humming an old tune with a big grin on her face. That always used to make me laugh, that is how I choose to remember her.
During my last visit I asked my Dr. about the 50-60% 5 year survivability she put on my prognosis & she didn't want to talk about it much. She danced around it a bit & just kept saying I should enjoy every day. I have been thinking about that a lot here lately. The first year after chemo treatment everyone is so paranoid about you. You can't always live your life in a bubble so I am not. I hope to go out when it's my time & not a minute sooner so I am not sweating the small stuff or at least that is my story & I am sticking to it.
Brandon graduated last weekend, WOOHOO! 1 down 3 more to go. Man that boy had me sweating it. I had to look at the diploma twice. I am very proud of him for sticking it out.
This is not a news flash for those of you who know me, my guilty pleasure is riding my motorcycle as much as I can. I just love the freedom of it. I am trying to ride as much as possible to make up for the tim that I couldn't when I was sick. No interruptions its very calming. I rode about 270 miles on my motorcycle yesterday with the IOMC up to Willard & back. It was raining when we started out but it didn't last long. We all had a great time hanging out with the Willard Chapter. Their hospitality was awesome! It was hot & humid as hell when we headed back to our clubhouse for the UFC fight. We hit a little rain in Columbus, put the hammer down & out ran the worst of it. I left early to get home for the kids. I heard I didn't miss much since Chuck got laid out in the first round, what a letdown! I hit one hell of severe thunderstorm with torrential down pours 1/4 on the way home. Thank God Hope was in the car behind me, I had to wave her around so I could follow her tail lights home, I couldn't see squat. I was freaking soaked from the neck up, I looked like a drowned rat except for my smile from ear to ear. The frog togs did their job, I got a little wet around the ankles from where the zippers are but considering but I really can't complain.
Poor Marc wants an Street Glide so bad he can't stand it. I know it is killing his back on his Sportster but he is toughing it out until he gets his car paid off. A few more years & he should be able to get one. I am very impressed with his restaint. I keep thinking I am going to come home one day & there will be one in the drive way but he is being very responsible & for that I am proud of him!
I am in the office for a couple of days & the base for the next 2 weeks. I am also going to the VA for contamination testing so that should be interesting. I am going to try to update my blog with newer photo slide shows & stuff. No promises for when the next posting will be. So until I write again...

SURVIVOR

2009-12-19T23:20:00.004-05:00

Hello everybody, my Marcus reminded me today how much I have really neglected my Blog these past few months. I found facebook & that is where I have focused my updates these days. It seems like once I got through the hospital chemotherapy treatments & I moved on to the next phase of maintenance chemotherapy treatments, which were out patient, my life started picking up the pace again like I was never sick at all. (& that is a good thing)

I am very happy to report I just finished my last round of Chemotherapy treatment on December 5th! WOOHOO!!! I am so glad that part is finally over. I go back to the James Cancer Institute in January 2010 to get the 7th bone marrow biopsy taken. I am confident it will still show I am in remission, since I just finished chemo. The true test will be the bone marrow biopsy in the fall of 2010. That will be the fist biopsy in over 2 years that I have not had any chemotherapy to keep the cancer away.

Christmas will be here soon & it is hard to believe that this time last year I was desperately fighting for my life, my how things have improved. I hope this holiday season finds you all happy, healthy and surrounded by the ones you love. Don’t take one second of your life for granted!

For those of you who have AML & stumbled across my blog in your search for information or survivors. I have been in your shoes. The search was an obsession when I was initially diagnosed & it was hard pill to swallow when I went months & found no survivors I started to panic & slipped into a severe depression. I have detailed my journey from initial diagnosis to remission on this blog in the hope that it will help someone else because finding survivors helps give you hope. Scroll down to the right side of the page to the archive section. My AML fight all began back in September 2008 & although it was a long road it was not an impossible one. Don't get to hung up on the medical bills, you will never be able to pay for them all, set yourself up with payment plans that you can afford to pay on for the rest of your life. (Be realistic & keep them small, you will have multiple billers you have to pay on) You need to have a really good support system, mine was my Marcus. He pushed me when I needed it & loved me through it all. My children were my motivation when I felt I could not fight it any longer on the really bad days. For every bad day the good days far outweighed them. I have been VERY involved in my treatment & always pushed the doctors to keep me informed every step of the way. If you do not question them they will not tell you because most of the patients are to sick, tired or weak to know what questions to ask. Now I am a firm believer that attitude is everything & you have to stay positive. If you just lay there & let it, the cancer will take you! You have to fight it, the fatigue, the depression, the cancer... I used to be a pessimist, it was a major change for me but I had to become an optimist (I always say I am a realist so I wanted hard facts & in my age bracket there were not many to go off of since the demographic for someone with AML is 65 years or older males & I am a 35 year old female. The point is, THERE IS HOPE & YOU CAN DO IT!

Although I am not on my Blog much these days I am on facebook just about every week, so is Marcus. My e-mail address is sandittie1@yahoo.com or type in Sandi Golden-Vest on the facebook search engine & add me as one of your friends. I post something just about once a week & if I don’t Marcus does. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you all so much for your prayers & support,

Sandi Golden-Vest

August 4, 2009

2009-08-04T20:23:00.010-04:00

Ok I have been putting most of my pictures on facebook because it is so much easier to upload them in bulk on there. Here are a few of the good ones from Sharon's visit...
Granma & Grandpa Oard's house

Dinner at Red Lobster, Dads favorite next to Kewpee, with & Aunt Bonnie & Jessica as well

Copper & Aunt Sandi

I even cooked a few home made meals while Sharon was up here

I was able to stop by & see my other side of the family as well while I was in Lima to. Grandma Darlene, me, Elaine, Aunt Debe, Aunt Lynn, Paige & Zack. Preston was there to but it looks like he ran out of the picture.

Brandon & Zack at the LHS Football Pancake breakfast fundraiser

This is me at Cycle 5 Chemotherapy treatment last week... look at all that hair finally!

If you want to see more photos go to facebook, type inmy e-mail & request me for a friend & I will confirm you. I have tons of pictures of the family on there.

July 29, 2009

2009-07-29T18:08:00.003-04:00

I am back in for treatment this week. I am on Day 2 of my 5th Cycle of Maintenance Chemotherapy. I did see my Dr. today she is going to work on Marc's FMLA forms. We talked about the future a little & I let her know I quit taking all my medication. It was a long talk to say the least. I am trying to let my body stabilize a little bit & let my immune system recover itself... so far she is being supportive but cautious. We talked heavily about relapse in my age group it is very likely that if I am going to relapse it will be within the next year so time will tell.

My sister made it back home to Colorado. Pictures will be coming soon. I won't put a date because you all know I have been slacking off my blog something awful.

Katie is coming home soon from Louisiana & Paige is heading out for Atlanta to spend some time with her Aunt Wendy. Brandon is in full swing of football conditioning & camp, 2-a-days will be here before we know it. Brandon & Tiffany celebrated their "6 month" anniversary last Friday to dinner in Hillard & a movie this was a a big deal for Brandon & then last Sunday they went to Kings Island. Seems like he is never home anymore & when he is Tiffany comes over... to be young & in love...

Zack is Zack rotten as ever but still cute as a button. I will get pictures posted one of these days.

Marc has been in the garage every night this week swapping parts off my motorcycle. He sold my bike & got a me one that is 1 year newer, it was to good of a deal to pass up. She is a beautiful Pearl color. Thats about it in a nutshell!

July 14, 2009

2009-07-14T21:18:00.002-04:00

Sorry I have been out of touch since before the 4th of July. I have been busy since I am back to work full time plus I was down at the base 4 days last week. My sister Sharon will be flying in on Friday so we have been trying to get the house in order before she gets here. We pulled up all the old carpets in the house & moved Zack up to his room I finally got done painting the dresser. He was too scared to sleep in his room the first night but he slept in the last night. Marc has been painting his old room he still has one more coat to go...

I have some really good pictures from our holiday weekend but I have not made the time to upload them yet soon... I hope.

June 25, 2009

2009-06-25T21:36:00.026-04:00

I really like this picture of Zack on the slip & slide

It has been 15 days since my last post & I have had many phone calls asking for updates so here goes: My 6th Bone Marrow Biopsy results came back at 1% Blast cells, this means I am still in remission. As long as the Blast cells are less than 5% I am considered in remission. I finished my fourth cycle of Maintenance chemotherapy, Dicitabine, last Thursday. This is the halfway point, we have 4 more maintenance cycles to go. I should finish up somewhere around October. My Dr. released me to return to work full time effective next Monday. I have been building up to this & although I am not 100% I am pretty sure I can handle it. Here are a few pictures of the Biopsy, a lot of over the shoulder shots since Marc was not able to be there with me. I can't get over how fast may hair grew it is a little over an inch long in certain areas now. If it was not or my eyeballs most people cannot tell that I am still sick anymore.

The Union re-instated me as a steward at work & I already filed a grievance for someone. I also threw together a 3 year Training & Exercise Plan for the Agency over the past 2 days so I have been jumping right back into work without to much difficulty. I am still coming home & crashing every night though. I really don't have the energy like I used to have but once the Chemo is over I hope that it will eventually come back.

This is a good picture of Zack & Marc a couple of weekends ago

this is the last picture I got of Katie before she left to go to her dads

This is a cute picture of Paige in the egg toss during Circleville's Community day

We are taking a break from riding this weekend & staying home. Friday night we are taking the kids up to the Strawberry Festival & just hanging out at home all weekend & then next weekend we are taking them camping for the whole weekend. Brandon will be going with Tiffany & her family camping in Cambridge the same weekend. After Brandon's girlfriend slept over the weekend while we were up at the lake I was not so sure we were ever going to let him do much of anything, but he is almost 18 & we have to start letting him make his on way. I am hoping her parents will keep close tabs on them.

This is a picture of Marc & I the weekend we went up to Lake Erie for Sandusky Bike Week. If you look real close you can see the senic Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in the background...

I have not seen my sister since I got sick & she is coming home the weekend of July 18th. She will be bringing my nieces with her, Copper & Sierra. It will be great to see them all. I have only seen pictures of Copper & Sierra is the same age Zack was the last time they were up here so I know her & Zack will have a lot of fun together. I will have to keep on Marc to make sure he stays on top of the pool especially with it being so hot here lately. I told Sharon we will have to go on a ride while she is up here, she used to ride a little Honda Rebel. Can you see me riding Marcus bike with the Ape Hangers...

My Aunt Lynn is also coming to town in August so I am anxious to see her & Dennis as well. I really hope that they can come down and stay for awhile. I really feel that we have gotten closer especially when I got sick. My Lynn & Aunt Debbie both have been very supportive & close to me through this. When I moved away from Lima I have been real bad about not making it home & staying connected to the family. I can't say that it is any easier now but I am not making any excuses for it. I think I did that a lot when I went from 1 child to 4.

This is Marc's mid life crisis bad hair day!!!

Zack got his 2nd annual summer mohawk yesterday, as if he does not look rotten enough already.

This is me & my buddy Bill Larue in the background, we meet up during Bike week & finally got to ride together for the first time.

I found this picture from a ride Marc & I went on down by Jimbo's earlier this year & I can't remmber if I posted it once already.

Marc was back on his camera kick tonight when the severe storms rolled in & he got picture happy with the raindrops.there were a lot more than this.

June 10, 2009

2009-06-10T18:04:00.006-04:00

Katie made it off safe & sound to her Dad's, I talked to her this afternoon, she said she was babysitting her brother Jonah & they were having a good time. I know she was ready to get a break from the pace of our house. I sent her report card with her & she told me she has not shown it to her Dad yet, her grades are not that bad but she could have done much better if she would have applied herself a little more. She said she is starting Art classes in July so I am sure she will really enjoy that.

I took Zack for a very short motorcycle ride last night, he loved it. Brandon started Drivers Ed today & is lifting for football daily except the weekends. Paige coned me into hair dye & baking goods at the grocery store tonight. I am going to enroll her the next time the Red Cross offers their CPR/First aid course here in town so she can get a baby sitting job if one comes along this summer. She took Zack to the Park on Tuesday afternoon & they had fun, they stopped at McDonald's afterwards & had a Happy Meal.

I will be back down at the base again on Friday. Only 2 more weeks of part-time hours at ODH & then I am back to Full Time. We decided we are not going to try & go to Sturgis this year, wishful thinking but it just isn't going to happen.

As far as my condition I have really been slacking when it comes to keeping up with my lab draws. My lab order expired & I forgot to call & get an updated order. They still drew them on the expired order at Madison County Hospital but it was a pain, no pun intended. I did call the Hospital again & they said they sent it but I had them fax it again only to find out they re-faxed the expired lab order. Needless to say I am not having my lab draws done twice weekly...

So here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
6 Mar---185-----1.4------80---------11.3---------120------------N/A
I had a couple of lab draws when I went in for treatment in April but I do not remember what the labs were. So like I said earlier & as you can see below, I have really been slacking...
28 May---268-----1.3-----400---------11.4---------200------------N/A
10 Jun---287-----3.5----2200---------12.5---------198------------N/A

I am sure my Dr will give me a long lecture when I go in tomorrow, I will have my 6th Bone Marrow Biopsy. My ANC counts are good so we should be a go for the Biopsy. Marc is fighting with his work for FMLA so he cannot go with me, that will be a first & I am really not happy about this plus who will take the pictures? I will have to do the Biopsy without any drugs other than a topical numbing agent, I do not want to risk driving & getting in an accident afterwards & I will be going to the James straight from work.

This week after completing 3 day's in a row of the Homeland Security Exercise & Evaluation Program course, it has deflated me. The only reason I think I survived was due to my colleague's Paul from ODH & Kristen from Sandusky County HD, thanks guys my cheeks hut from laughing!

The weeks keep going by faster & faster & it seems like each time there are many tasks that I do not get done. Marc who is normally a morning person & up at 4:30 am every morning has been not getting up until about 5:30am. To my surprise he has been hitting the snooze button several times. this is very not like him. We both seem to be really tired a lot here lately. I will blame it on the nice weather & endless list of things that always seem to be done, such is life. As soon as I get the results back from the Biopsy I will update the Blog, I hope I am just being paranoid but for some reason I have been real nervous for this appointment, we'll see.

May 26, 2009

2009-05-26T19:40:00.011-04:00

I am very happy to report my hair is starting to come in a little bit more! I still do not feel the greatest. My allergies have been in over drive & I don't think my sinuses can take much more. My Great Uncle Noonie, Andrew Jones, passed away last Friday. Unfortunately I do not feel well enough to make it to the viewing tonight & the funeral is tomorrow. Lima is such a long drive even when I am at 100% but it seems especially long when I am not at my best. I sent flowers and our condolences I hope the family will understand.

Marc was not feeling to good most of the weekend either & by this morning he was so sick he could not go to work. It just kept getting worse, he ended up at Urgent Care by midday. They put him on a Z-pack & a few other things. He had Brandon drive them home, Brandon is already out of school for the summer. Katie still has one more exam to turn in.

The Tooth Fairy made her second visit to Zack last weekend. He came to our bedroom & told me his tooth was loose & next thing I new 1 little wiggle & he was handing me the tooth.

While fighting the allergies Marc decided to go ahead & open the pool this weekend. it was getting to the point that it was pond more than pool. Brandon said he pulled a frog out of it. After some motivation from my cousin Amber, Marc decided it was warm enough out to go ahead & start up the pool. The water on the other had was not so warm though according to the kids.

Brandon had a good time at Tiffany's on Monday he was there from 10:30am & got home about 8pm. He has grown up so fast, I told Marc he is almost all grown up. I took him to get his driving permit last week. The week before he passed the written test but his Birth Certificate had the wrong last name on it so we had to go get it fixed only to find out that his social security card cut off the last 4 letters of his 2nd middle name. It seemed like the odds were against him to get his permit but we did finally get it.

Zack was excited all week waiting to go to the Park for a few hours with Misty & he was wired for sound when she brought him back home. The weather was hot & they went out to eat twice & the Dollar store so he was in heaven. The weather was great even though we did not feel the best we took advantage of it & got out for a ride. Unfortunately the weather did not stay on our side on the way home...Maybe this explains why Marc is so sick?

May 21, 2009

2009-05-21T14:44:00.013-04:00

2 weekends ago Marc had a little too much fun at the Benefit we went to, he wiped out on his bike... he was hot roding It in the grass (trying to recapture his youth I think LOL). These past few days been a little rough. Marc thinks I have allergies, sinus pressure, congestion, cough, runny nose can't breathe for the past 3 days but no temperature. I have been feeling awful but without a temp above 101 I get to stay outta the hospital. I have been in training at the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA) the past 3 days taking a course on Emergency Planning for Special Needs Populations so the days have been rather long. Along other things it has reminded me just how much I hate Columbus rush hour traffic. Here are a couple pictures from Paige's & her friends before the 8th Grade Dance last Friday Night. We have really been enjoying the weather. Zack loves to play outside here lately he has been very fascinated with baseball. He can hit & through pretty good. This is a cute picture of Paige & Zack Brandon & Tiffany are still going strong, she was over the other night & I believe Brandon is going to her place on Monday for a Holiday Picnic with her family. Katie has had a total image change she colored her hair blond awhile back & I really had a hard time with it, it just did not look good on her so she colored her hair a dark auburn & it actually looks pretty good on her especially with her pale skin tone. This one was in progress & this one is after, she loves it As you can see Spike may still be a pup but he is not so little anymore. I will be at the Base this Friday & Next Friday making up my June Drill weekend. I am still tolerating my work load fairly well so as a whole I can say my transition back into the workforce is going better than anticipated. My next major medical event is my 6th Bone Marrow biopsy which is scheduled tentatively for June 8th.

I am in the process of adding another video of Zack & the Kids playing Rock Band, Zack really gets into singing, I am sorry my camera does not record volume as well but for reference the song is "The memory remains" by Metallica. Once I get it uploaded in you tube I will post it on my Blog.

May 14, 2009

2009-05-14T19:52:00.003-04:00

I know I have kept many of you in limbo waiting on the prom pictures so here they are posted below. I also finally got my Easter pictures off Marc's camera & they are below as well.

This week I have been doing good at work & have been very busy even though the situation seems to be deescalating to a certain extent. I will say that by the time I get home every night I am still really tired. I am going in tomorrow to have my labs checked I think my counts are off a bit.

I go back to the James cancer Hospital for my 6th Bone Marrow Biopsy on the 8th of June or sometime during that week. After next week I will be back to work 4 days a week so I may have to schedule it differently.

I found out that my Uncle lost his job last week due to the economy. He had been working there for several years & it was very unexpected. The job market is slim everywhere right now especially in isolated areas, such as theirs. So prayer warriors please add my Uncle to your list!

Paige has the 8th grade dance Friday night. After serious discussion Marcus & I agreed to let her go. She is really excited so those pictures will be posted hopefully next week sometime, you guys know how I have been very delayed in my postings since I went back to work.

Zack has been on white every day still & is looking forward to the field day (all day fun activities at school). we had to make a color wheel at the house because all his pent up orneriness would come out when he would get home & the only thing that really works is threatening to change his color.

Katie is in her own world these days preparing to go to her fathers for a couple of months this summer. She has been a bit more moody than normal with everyone in the house. I am also a little worried about her school, she still has 5 courses (credits open) this means her exam grades are not back & she still has a few exams to turn in. She only enrolled in 7 credits this year Brandon has completed 9 & has 3 more that are open. He had to take more credits to play sports at the High School that & he is trying to graduate a year early.

The weather is getting much warmer finally but with the warm weather come the spring rains. I will ride my bike when its wet but I don't particularly like to. Marc is getting used to his ape hangers but I see him dropping his hands from time to time to get some blood back in them. I tease him about it but he says it looks cool.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

May 10, 2009

2009-05-10T17:07:00.003-04:00

May 9, 2009

2009-05-09T08:07:00.002-04:00

Just a quick update Brandon & Tiffany went to prom last night we should be able to post the pictures tomorrow. Tiffany looked beautiful her dress was unbelievable she looked like a princess & Brandon was quite handsome. Today is Tim Glick's Benefit go to the Missing Link website for the details he could really use all the help he can get.

Also Kimm Sandusky ran the Flying Pig marathon at Cinci last weekend in my honor. She has been outstanding raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society, getting people to donate blood 7 has gotten over 100 people to sign up as Bone Marrow Donor's through the DOD Marrow Donor Program. I am so thankful for everything she has done, she says I am her hero but really she is mine.

I will update more tomorrow & post pictures.

May 4, 2009

2009-05-04T19:15:00.005-04:00

I finally got a picture of Marc's bike with the Ape Hangers on them.

Here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
6 Apr----214-----2.0----1100---------11.1----------29------------N/A
9 Apr----217-----1.1-----900---------11.6----------23------------N/A
4 May---242-----2.4----1100---------11.6---------149------------N/A

I went to the James Cancer Hospital this morning to start my third cycle of the maintenance chemotherapy. I figured I would go in early and get it over with and then go into work afterwards. BIG MISTAKE if it could go wrong this morning it did.

Traffic was terribly backed up by campus. My weight was ugh… I don't even want to say. The lab put my IV line in at my wrist even though I asked them not to because I would have to type & I would be moving it a lot. Once she got the line in it was extremely sluggish with the blood return so they kept moving the catheter around & digging it in, it was rather painful.

I had to wait 2 hours to get a room so they could administer the Dictebine only to find out they were debating on giving it to me. You see my ANC Counts have not been cooperating. Finally Dr. walker said I could get it but they are only going to administer it 4 days instead of 5. That does not break my heart any especially with Brandon having prom this Friday night.

I ended up getting to work at 12. Which I suppose is not to bad but I wanted to get in earlier. I stayed until 4:30. It has been a long day & I am tired. Needless to say I will be scheduling all other treatments in the late afternoon & take of work early it will be easier to work around.

I did find out today that I may have another infection but it is not serous. I have been having quite a bit of abdominal pain & trouble going to the restroom so we will have to see the results show if anything, they should be back in a day or two. It’s a wonder I haven't had an infection sooner with all the medications I am on.

We found out this past weekend that I am photosensitive. My face looked like a lobster Saturday night & although I did get out on my bike a little bit Saturday afternoon (& it felt great by the way) I was not out in the sun hardly at all. The redness does not last too terribly long but it is painful. This morning my face looks flush & the skin on my arms is flaky dry go figure.

To all my fellow motor cycle riders there is a big benefit this weekend for one of my Missing Link brother's Tim Glick (Shooter) if you don't have any plans it is going to be a great time http://www.missinglinkmc.net/National.html

Marc put the first coats of red on Zack's wall on Sunday; he got a little spooked because on the wall it said "Get Out" through the paint. I think one of the girls did it in hair spray it has an aerosol look to it. He said if it comes through the paint on the second coat were moving, LOL he is a mess.

The rest is all from my last post but some good resources:
It is a good practice no matter what is going on in the world (all hazards) flood, ice storms, tornados, 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.

Go to http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/index.htm for current H1N1 Flu information

Go to http://www.ohiopandemicflu.gov/ for additional information.

April 30, 2009

2009-04-30T19:18:00.011-04:00

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.

April 22, 2009

2009-04-22T14:53:00.012-04:00

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!

April 10, 2009

2009-04-10T17:08:00.003-04:00

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...

April 6, 2009

2009-04-06T19:08:00.003-04:00

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.

April 5, 2009

2009-03-30T17:02:00.010-04:00

I am so behind on posting. I originally wrote a post for last Monday but I did not get it finished so here it is edited & updates with the last weeks worth of info. I went back to work Monday & it felt great! Dorene & Rebbecca cleaned up my cubicle & evacuated all the dust bunnies. They hung up balloons, streamers & a welcome back sign. There were also Bagels with flavored cream cheese from Panera, fruit & juice. My Supervisor Jeff even baked some brownies! Everyone was great & so supportive, they all have been through this. I am very thankful to have such a good support system.

Here are Brandon & Katie's school pictures we got to preview.

I got more good news as the week went on, I am in the April 1, 2009 graduating class from the Community College of The Air Force, WooHoo, it seems like I have been working to get my degree from them forever. Tiffany, Brandon's girlfriend sent me a picture of her Prom dress & it is stunning. This will be Brandon's first Prom & he is pretty excited to be going with her. We took him over at 10AM last Sunday so he could spend the day with her, plus her family was able to get to know him a little better. He flew out Saturday morning to New Jersey to spend the week with Marc's brother & his family. Sounds like they have a very fun time planned for him.

I was really surprised to find that I felt very good even at the end of each day. Going back to work Monday was a huge step in my road to recovery. Unfortunately I was supposed to go to the hospital twice this week after work & get more labs drawn but I forgot all about it. I will say that it's nice to have a 42 day break in between my chemotherapy treatments. I don't anticipate any negative side effects with this round of Chemo but anything is possible it is only the second cycle of 8 so well see. I was told if I would have any besides my immune system & platelet counts dropping they should manifest between the second & the third week.

I also went down to the base & made up my April Drill Thursday & Friday so it has been a very busy week. I am sure my entries will get less & less on this Blog as time goes on. From this point forward I feel obligated to let you all know I will only use this Blog for medical updates on my condition. This Blog has been such an instrumental part of my coping, healing & therapy so it is with deep regret that I may have to shut it down soon. It saddens me a little because you have all shared my family & my experiences good & bad with me this whole time & I could not have got through it without you all. Not that I am out of the woods yet but we are so much closer.

I am sure many of you are confused as to why I will be shutting it down. Unfortunately there has been too much scrutiny by someone who reads to much into my life & is not supportive of me or my recovery as this Blog was intended to do. They demand attention & will never stop. I am done dealing with them but they won't stop obsessing about me. I have never been fake or cared what others think my actions should be so I am not about to start now. I will not allow the sharing of my experience through these difficult times to be sabotaged & tainted by another's negativity.

For those of you that are interested in keeping up with me & my family as a whole please send me your e-mail address to sandittie1@yahoo.com. I am in the process of trying to create a new Blog on our family life that will have restricted access.

March 27, 2009

2009-03-27T16:01:00.002-04:00

I just completed my fifth dose of Dicetabine. I am so ready for this week to be over. Niki came up to the James & we got to visit which was so nice. She is such a positive person & always motivates me. Only 5 Cycles left now, I am glad for the 6 week break. It gets really tiresome sitting in the hospital for hours on end waiting. Waiting, I have spent a lot of time waiting over the past 6 or 7 months. After a long wait from my Dr & numerous e-mails with work I finally got confirmation that I can go back to work on Monday, YES!!!

Come to find out handicap parking access was a much bigger issue than I originally thought it would be. My Dr only made the restriction for access to handicap parking in the anticipation of the days that my levels are low & slow me down. Long story short my employer does not have handicap parking only a parking garage for exempt staff. I had to fill out a form for temporary access & that had to go all the way to the top. The Director did sign off on it this afternoon. I heard my Supervisor Jeff & Tom helped tremendously in expediting it. I am only working roughly 10 days or so the first month I am back so it should not be an issue for long as my strength & energy has come back in leaps & bounds. I wanted to go back full time but my Dr said NO so we compromised on the plan to be back to full time by the end of June through the Transitional Work Program. Everyone is so worried I am going to hit the ground running but I assure you I am going to pace myself. My friends & co-workers once again are rallying to support me & I can't wait to see them all Monday & tell them Thank You in person!

As if the Chemotherapy everyday this week & setting up my return to work was not enough. I had major drama with Norma AKA Misty, Marc's mother. Calgon take me away!!!

March 24, 2009

2009-03-23T11:25:00.009-04:00

Here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
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
23 Mar---201-----2.9----1300---------12.9---------144------------N/A

Marc has been waking me up every morning this week, he started at 5:45am. He is increasing the wake up window by 15 minutes earlier each day. It is his attempt to get me back in the mode of waking up early in preparation for heading back to work next week. I have never been a morning person. I am grumpy until I get in the shower, where he has always been an early riser. Needless to say I did not want to get up either day so far this week but I did anyways. After Zack gets on the bus each morning I drop Brandon & Katie off at school & head to the James Cancer Hospital for my Chemotherapy.

I had to get an IV placed Monday since I don’t have the PICC anymore. These weeks of Chemotherapy and weekly lab draws sure do make me miss my PICC. I have been lucky enough to get a chemo room with a TV so that helps the time go faster. I did talk to Jon the floor Nurse Practitioner about scheduling my 5 other Chemotherapy cycles around my work schedule. It will take some juggling & serious preplanning but he said we will work something out.

I have been pushing everyone so hard trying to get back to work Marc, the Dr & myself & now that it is right around the corner I am a little nervous. I have always been a work-a-holic but after being physically sick for so long & staring death in the face really forces you to rethink your priorities in life. All the extra time I spent on work at home…was it worth it? I can tell you this when I got sick all work stopped. I had no choice I mentally & physically could not do it & I seriously had to ask myself that question.

I have always pushed my self so hard in the military to be the best Airmen that I could. I have had a really great career but it also came with a price. I volunteered for a lot of things that took me away from the family. Last spring when my enlistment was up I seriously considered getting out, but there was still so much I wanted to do with my programs plus I really wanted to make Senior Master Sergeant before I get out & Marc got me thinking about our retirement so I went ahead & re-enlisted. I can’t tell you how many hours, days, weeks & even months I was away from my family over the years. When I was home I spent countless hours doing what I could not get done while I was at the Unit. Marc used to get so upset about that & we would argue. I could never just leave it at the base. My military career is headed down a much different path these days that will keep me grounded & that means more time with the family, the best of both worlds. I found out today I have a waiver to participate until September 2010 but I cannot deploy or go to any formal schools.

I was not just a work-a-holic at the base, when I first started at ODH I did the same thing. There was so much to do & I was still learning the job. There just never seemed to be enough hours in the day. It took me about a year of research to be the "subject matter expert" & to finally start feeling comfortable in what I was supposed to do. I have never been one to do the minimum with anything. I always try to overachieve & do more even if it is not requested. So in hindsight I suppose it was self-imposed.

Counting today I have been off work for over 202 days. I feel like I am walking back into uncertainty next week but I am confident I will do fine. I don’t know why I got this cancer but I do think it was someone’s way of telling me I needed to slow down. So I will still give 100% when I am at work but when I am home it’s family time. I am sure Marc will be quick to remind me of this should I go back to my old ways. Family does come first. I can't make up for the things that I have missed all I can do is be here now & I am taking it all 1 day at a time.

Speaking of 202 days it has been that long since I have quit smoking WOOHOO! Marc is still taking the Chantix & doing very well at resisting the urge to smoke considering I drive him nuts.

March 22, 2009

2009-03-21T13:19:00.014-04:00

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"

March 17, 2009

2009-03-17T15:10:00.002-04:00

Thanks Aunt Lynn fo rthis super cute Video. I hope the luck of the Irish finds you all, Happy St. Patricks Day!

The weather here is absolutely beautiful. I have been working as best I can outside today with Benny, Tammy & Brandon on the back patio, what a task. We could not do it without their help. I still have to go in to the hospital & get my blood drawn today & pick up my results from Friday. Hopefully my ANC & WBC counts are up.

Zack was so excited to wear hos green to school today & they are all 4 chomping at the bit to go to Great Wolf Lodge. Brandon had his girlfriend, Tiffany, over Sunday for the afternoon & she stayed for dinner. She is very pretty & polite. I like her, it is very nice change from some of his previous ones. Katie was a little jealous over his relationship, she wants a boyfriend & it just not going the way she planned. I told her in time & to not not get so upset. Paige is Paige, I had to take her a new pair of jeans to school yesterday because she cut the knees out of them, remember that craze from the late 80's, well its back. the school policy is no holes in the jeans if you can see the skin, but mini skirts are allowed...I don't get that one.

Marc still has his bike apart & he is making me nervous that it will not e done in time for inspections. His clutch cable finally came in so hopefully he can put it back together soon. My Aunt Sue is coming up to Lima next week to stay with my Grandma. I have Chemotherapy all week at the James but I hope I can get up there before she heads back to Texas, I would love to see her.

& that is what's going on this week!

March 14, 2009

2009-03-14T11:45:00.003-04:00

March 11, 2009

2009-03-11T16:24:00.018-04:00

Here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
20 Feb---171-----3.1----2200----------9.4---------177------------N/A
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------90---------11.3----------78------------N/A
6 Mar---185-----1.4------80---------11.3---------120------------N/A
10 Mar---189-----Pending

I do not have my labs from yesterday but I know something is of concern because the James cancer Hospital called me & put me back on the Avelox & Fluconazol.And you thought you had a drug problem!

I feel pretty good for the most part. I have had some trouble with my outer thighs. I severely bruised both of them when my platelets were really low in the beginning of this cancer fiasco. They stayed bruised all the way through my hospitalized treatment. They would fluctuate between a dark purple & black color. The bruises have pretty much gone away but I have slightly discolored skin where the bruises used to be. I do not know if this is ever going to go away but I hope so. I've been having trouble when I exercise both legs it is very painful in those areas, which in turn causes me to not walk very well. I backed off of the exercise thinking maybe I pulled a muscle or something but the other day I was on the trampoline with the kids for a couple of minutes literally & when I hopped off it the pain in my thighs was so intense my knees buckled & I went straight to the ground. It scared the hell out of me. The pain slowly subsided but I can't figure out what the problem is with them.

Over the weekend we all had a blast. Marc still has his motorcycle apart in the garage. The weather was so nice except for the wind, I rode up to Indian Lake & back. Zack decided that he is no longer afraid of the motorcycles & he wants to ride so I took him for a very short one around town, he loves it. We went & got him his own helmet so he can ride with us this summer. He holds on real good but Marc has a better seat on his with a backrest that Zack can hold onto. Marc is going to try to find a way to mount handles on it as well, we'll see. It was too cute when we were pulling into the driveway he said no not here, he wanted to keep going. We ended up getting Zack a full-face helmet just to be safe & it fits him a lot better. He insisted on the green Mohawk. The weather was so nice all of the kids had fun outside playing & chalking up the driveway with Zack.Brandon helped Marc in the garage he is moving everything around & throwing stuff away left & right. He made 2 trips to the donation center & he took more of Misty's stuff over to her. Every year he gets into a garage clean up mode when the weather starts to get nice. He is turning the small side of the garage into his motorcycle area. So he is really into cleaning it up out there. I think it is busy work to keep him from smoking. He is on the Chantex & he is doing real good. They went smoke free at his work so he really did not have much of a choice. I am very proud of him. On a side note today is my sisters birthday so Happy Birthday Sharon! Copper is finally home to stay we hope. Her color was too yellow so she had to go back in the hospital for an extra day. Sharon said she is eating good & forgot just how much a baby sleeps. Sierra is doing good as well.

March 5, 2009

2009-03-05T06:36:00.004-05:00

My sister had her baby the morning of March 2nd before she was scheduled to be induced so I am the very proud Aunt of Copper Elizabeth Conrad. I can't wait to see the pictures. Her birthday will be pretty easy to remember because it is the same day as my nephew Loudon on Marc's side of the family.

Marc took me to my Dr. yesterday for my monthly check up. It went very well. My Dr. took me off of the Neuroten since it does not seem to be helping with the night sweats. My energy level is steadily increasing which is a good thing because last month I was wiped out & she was very concerned about that. My pain level has decreased for the most part. I tried to work out with Tony Little on Tuesday morning & I think my muscles went into shock because they have been very sore ever since. I talked to my Dr about my weight gain & she told me not to be so hard on myself about it, that it took 10 months to put it on & it is going to take at least that long to take it back off. My muscles have deteriorated quiet a bit from being so lethargic all the time. Tuesday was the most action they have seen in a long time so no wonder they are screaming.

Here are my Lab Updates:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
12 Feb---163-----3.1----1810---------10.3---------257------------N/A
17 Feb---168-----2.3----1400----------9.4---------246------------N/A
20 Feb---171-----3.1----2200----------9.4---------177------------N/A
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------90---------11.3----------78------------N/A

I will be down at the base today & tomorrow to make up the March drill weekend. My immune system is at 90 so I have to do my drills when there is not a lot of people around until all of my treatments are done & my immune system is normal again That will probably be until around October or November. My Dr. scheduled me for my next cycle of Maintenance Chemo which is going to be March 23 through March 27. We discussed my return to work at my civilian employer on March 30th. It will initially be part time & work its way back to full time. Unless there are any unexpected illnesses or issues that should be a go.

March 1, 2009

2009-03-01T10:39:00.002-05:00

I am feeling much better than I was a few days back. The sinus pressure is all gone & the congestion has all pretty much went away except for a little bit in the mornings.

Marc has both of our bikes taken apart to get them ready for the riding season. It is probably a good thing it has been so cold out & we can't ride. We took our carbs in to have them re-jetted & he has to get new lines to fit his ape hangers that he did not put on last year. I am surprised he waited so close to riding season to do this but with me being sick he has been a bit pre-occupied.

Friday night after we did our taxes Marc & I made it up to Marysville for our friend Ruthie's retirement party. We had a really good time. I even sang a little bit of redneck woman & danced to the cha cha cha song before we left. Saturday Brandon & Paige went to their Grandparents house to see their Aunt Wendy who is up visiting. I took Zack & Katie to Walmart. Katie got another game for her DS & a movie set with the rest of her gift cards & Zack got the movie Gremlins, he loved it. Katie's last Manga book she ordered over a month ago just arrived in the mail this morning so she was really happy.

I am anxiously awaiting news to see if I am a new Aunt again. My sisters due date was over a week ago & now it looks as if she will be induced on Tuesday if she does not pop it out before then.

I will not pick up my Friday lab reports until I go in tomorrow to have more labs drawn. I feel pretty good for the most part I know my platelets were dropping last week but they were not so low that I needed an infusion. I am scheduled to go to the Dr. on the 4th. I will have to wait & see what she says but I am hoping she is ready to seriously consider letting me go back to work at least part time for now & see how I tolerate that. I think I am ready!

February 24, 2009

2009-02-24T11:40:00.005-05:00

Here are my Lab Updates from Friday & today:
Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700--------10.6---------131------------N/A
4 Feb---155-----3.9-----????---------9.9----------160------------N/A
6 Feb---157-----3.2-----1500---------10.0---------190------------N/A
9 Feb---160-----6.0-----4000---------11.8---------262------------N/A
12 Feb---163-----3.1----1810---------10.3---------257------------N/A
17 Feb---168-----2.3----1400----------9.4---------246------------N/A
20 Feb---171-----3.1----2200----------9.4---------177------------N/A
24 Feb---175-----2.4----1800---------10.5----------97------------N/A

As I told you in my post on Friday Brandon has been sick, I was finally able to get him into the Dr. this morning. They gave him a breathing treatment & a few prescriptions. His Dr. believes he has bronchitis.

Unfortunately these last few days I have not gotten any better I have gotten a little worse especially with the congestion & runny nose alternating. I was getting pretty paranoid especially with my counts dropping last Tuesday. However I was able to pick up my labs today 7 they have come up some, yes my platelets are still dropping & my ANC has went down a little from Friday but it is still above 1,000 so that is a good thing. I called the James cancer Hospital this morning just to be safe. After reviewing my labs they were comfortable with calling me in a prescription of Zithromax & as long as I don't get worse or any fevers I should be alright, WHEW! I was getting scared they would try to admit me again. I am glad I currently have a little bit of an immune system to fight this bug or I would be back in the hospital for sure.

Over the weekend I felt really good, I even wore a little make up on Saturday night & Mark took me to a meeting. I haven't really wore any make up at all since I got sick. I noticed I still do not have any eye lashes & my eyebrows what little is left are getting thinner by the day.

I am supposed to be going back down to the base tomorrow & Thursday to make up my February drill weekend. My waiver is supposed to be expiring at the end of March but I got a phone call over the weekend that said it is expiring the end of February so I e-mailed my Dr. to get an updated letter with my progress ASAP. If I do not get this sent in soon I may have to go a couple of more months on a medical profile 4 which will not let me participate. I e-mailed my Dr Saturday so I hope we can get it in time for the waiver to stay in place. I thought I had until the end of March & I see my Dr on the 4th so I was going to get the letter then, I must of been having chemo brain, that was happening quite frequently awhile back so it would not surprise me.

I am looking forward to my appointment on the 4th. I hope my Dr is ready to release me back to my civilian job at least part time. She was not ready to do this last month so we will have to wait & see.

So that is what is happening for now. We did pick up some paint for Zack's new" bedroom up stairs, it used to be the girls old bed room. He was all excited about picking out the colors last night. He finally settled on London Red Raider's Red & White. This should be interesting...

February 20, 3009

2009-02-20T16:18:00.007-05:00

Hi everyone, I have really neglected my blogging this week. As my life begins to return to a semi-normal state between treatments the rest of this year, my updates may become less frequent but as a minimum I will try to update weekly. On the plus side I made it back in my military uniform which was was the most concerned about!

Here are my Lab Updates from Tuesday, today's as you can see are still pending:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700--------10.6---------131------------N/A
4 Feb---155-----3.9-----????---------9.9----------160------------N/A
6 Feb---157-----3.2-----1500---------10.0---------190------------N/A
9 Feb---160-----6.0-----4000---------11.8---------262------------N/A
12 Feb---163-----3.1----1810---------10.3---------257------------N/A
17 Feb---168-----2.3----1400----------9.4---------246------------N/A
20 Feb---171-----Pending

My (ANC) or neutraphil count is dropping along with my white blood cells. Aahh the timing of the drop sucks! Brandon has a little cough & runny/stuffy nose & the sneezes going on. I started feeling a little tickle in the back of my throat last night & I have been sneezing a little bit but not to bad. I did stop & get some cough drops on the way into the base today because Marc was really getting on me to do it. My head is a little achy & my throat is slightly sore but I still don't feel too bad. I went ahead & made Brandon wear a mask when we got home & I put on one as well. I am scared to death to get sick again. I asked Brandon if he was sick the other day & he said no, today when I picked them up from school he said he felt terrible & he is sick, but he still made me take him to practice & he has every intention to wrestle this weekend at the district tournament. I think it is a bad idea & I told him he was going to be to weak & get stomped he said he does not care, he is still going. Teenagers, you cannot tell them anything! (I would have never admitted this when I was a teenager)

This is a good picture of Katie & Paige. Katie's drwaing books she ordered finally arrived & the Sims game Sara ordered her arrived this week as well so she could not be happier. She pokes her head out of her room every now & then for food & when we call her, I expect she will be engrossed in these for a few weeks & it is going to be like pulling teeth to get her away from them to socialize LOL. Paige is still having some trouble; she got a detention this week for not participating in gym 3 times (dress cuts) & a few other things. Again I say teenagers when my hair does come back in I swear it is going to be all grey.

There was maybe one decent weather day last weekend & Zack could not stand being cooped up anymore so he made a beak for the trampoline. He thinks he is a tough guy to, just like his Bubby!

I survived a whole week working at the base. I completed all of My EMT re-certification paperwork & I have my new CPR card so I am good for a couple more years. It was a pretty small class so I had the time to sit & talk with my classmates & make new friendships. Although I will miss them I am glad I don't have to worry about my CPR & EMT anymore & that the week is over. The hardest part was getting up in the mornings. I really struggled with that. I am not normally a morning person anyway but it was even tougher than normal to get up out of bed however once I was up & had time to adjust I was fine. My evenings were not to bad either. I seemed to have a little more energy than normal at night but it was pretty short lived, as I would find myself in bed quite early for me.

I also noticed during the week that my brain capacity & function seems to be much improved. In the last 3 months I really was suffering from chemo brain quite frequently & could not process information in my normal way. This week there was a noticeable improvement; I even got a 100% on my EMT Exam. I could not even recall some of the basic EMT info a couple of months ago so I surprised myself.

Thank you Aunt Sue & Uncle David I got you card in the mail today. I continue to be so grateful for your very generous Chemo fund donations. You have donated so much already & we are very grateful. As everyone knows my treatment is not cheap & in January I unexpectedly became ill & was hospitalized for an additional 8 days that we had not anticipated, every donation helps so much.

I want to send a shout out to Debra Beck, look me up in face book & send me your e-mail. For that matter if anyone is trying to get a hold of you & me don’t have my e-mail face book is another good way to contact me. Debra used to be in the 445 AES with me, she found me again through the Buckeye Flyer, the WPAFB 445 Airlift Wings monthly newspaper. They did a wonderful article on me for the Blood drive my unit was sponsoring back at the beginning of the month & it also listed my Blog address.

I will try to update my Blog again on Monday, if my lab results come back before then I will post them sooner. I hope everyone enjoys the weekend & Thank you all for your continued support.

February 13, 2009

2009-02-13T11:58:00.012-05:00

Hi everyone here is my Lab Updates:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100---------10.6----------64------------N/A
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700--------10.6---------131------------N/A
4 Feb---155-----3.9-----????---------9.9----------160------------N/A
6 Feb---157-----3.2-----1500---------10.0---------190------------N/A
9 Feb---160-----6.0-----4000---------11.8---------262------------N/A
12 Feb---163-----3.1----1810------10.3-------257------------N/A

I have not updated since the 9th & I apologize for that. The Chemo has been taking a lot longer at the hospital then what I understood it would. They originally told me an hour a day for 5 days. What they left out is I have to get labs drawn on the first & third day & they have to wait on the results which can take an hour or longer. Once the results are back the Dr has to write the chemo order then they have to fax the order to the pharmacy so they can fill it.This can take another hour or 2. The actual Chemo administration takes an hour. So on average I have been spending 3 to 4 hours a day at the hospital to receive my chemo. I do not know how I am going to schedule these chemo treatments in when I go back to work. It is going to get real interesting. After today I will have 5 weeks to recover from the 36mg of Decitabine (Chemo) & then we will start the next cycle, I have 7 cycles left to complete. God willing the Leukemia will stay in remission & towards the end of 2009 I will be completely done with Chemotherapy & just have follow up appointments to ensure I am in remission.

My girlfriend Chanie took me to the hospital on Monday for treatment & then Marc took me on Tuesday. Wednesday & Thursday I drove myself & I didn't do to bad. Today Marc drove me since my counts dropped yesterday & I was really tired. I did manage to cook dinner 3 out of 4 nights this week. So the kids & Marc had to suffer with left overs one night, I don't think that's to bad. The Dr said I would feel the best this week but I hope she was wrong & I will feel the best next week, especially since I have to re-certify my EMT next week before it expires.

We did survive the big wind storms on Wednesday night but our gazebo that was screwed onto our pool deck did not. We were lucky this was the only damage, I heard that some of the wind gusts were as strong as 75mph. I know it sounded like a freight train going past the house most of the night.

Marc & Zack were starting to get a little shaggy so I went with them to get their hair cut. Zack was flirting with the girl cutting his hair.

I noticed this morning in the shower what little bit of hair I have is coming out again. Hopefully it won't all fall out. I have been putting the Olive Oil Root Stimulator that Angie got me back when I was first diagnosed, to see if it will help it grow faster.

Zack has been amazing with school. He has had all white days since returning from Christmas break. He is reading very well & he sounds out words that he does not know for the most part on his own with minimal help. Katie has been being more social around the house so I think she is finally getting back to normal. She was working with her ink splatter technique the other day. We got online & ordered some of her drawing books that she wanted. So everyday she has been watching the mail waiting on them. Brandon's ringworm looks like it has been getting bigger, but he has been putting his medicine on it so he should be allowed to wrestle on Saturday at the SCOL tournament. Paige has been having a real rough week, girl drama.

Marc is taking me out to eat for Valentines day when we leave the hospital today. We have a club meeting later on tonight. I do not know what is going on this weekend or how I am going to be feeling so we will have to play it by ear. Next week is going to be a very long week for me & I suspect I will be very tired at the end of each day, so I may not get this updated for awhile. Please be patient with me.

Although we are leukemia free at the moment my Dr. said that this could change at any time without warning. I choose to believe that the worst is over & we are almost out of the woods. Thank you everyone, who still continues to follow my blog & those of you who send your prayers & encouragement. I still get on her daily to look at your comments even if I don't always post, Marc reads them to me!

February 9, 2009

2009-02-09T09:26:00.010-05:00

I want to send a special thank you out to the 445th AES for sponsoring the Blood & Bone Marrow Drive in my honor at the American Legion in Fairborn, Ohio. Master Sergeant Drake told me they had about 34 people donate blood, some of which doubled up units & they also had about 20 people register to become Bone Marrow Donor's. I thought this was fantastic & everyone that donated & worked the event should be commended. Thank you all so much!

Today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100---------10.6----------64------------N/A
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700--------10.6---------131------------N/A
4 Feb---155-----3.9-----????---------9.9----------160------------N/A
6 Feb---157-----3.2-----1500---------10.0---------190------------N/A
9 Feb---160-----6.0----4000------11.8-------262------------N/A
Today started out rough. I did not want to get out of bed. My sweats have escalated to not only at night but intermittently during the day. This morning after my shower they were real bad, I thought I was going to have to take another shower. Our weekend was pretty mellow. We did go out to the clubhouse to socialize for a few hours on Saturday night but we were home in bed shortly after 10. Marc did make it out for a short ride on Sunday it was in the Mid forty's. I on the other hand said no it will have to warm up a bit more before I try to get out on the bike.

Chanie came to take me to Chemotherapy this morning & I am so grateful. After taking the kids to school I realized I am really not up to driving in Columbus today. I have just been really tired all day. When we got to the Chemo Clinic they did not even call me back for labs until 12:30pm. I figured we would of been out of there by then since the Chemo is only supposed to take an hour. Needless to say they did not even start my Chemo until after 2:oopm. I texted Brandon to let him & Katie know I would not be there to pick them up, so Misty picked them up for me. We got out of the James around 3:30pm & we made it back to London a little after 4pm. Chanie had not seen Katie in years & Zack was his usual charming self. Paige has a make up game at McClain & Brandon was at wrestling practice even through he still can't wrestle.

Chanie offered to help me fix dinner, spaghetti & meatballs. Marc was home & able to help me & I knew we got back later than we expected. Her girls have Karate class tonight so I sent hr home. On a side note, I know my brain is still off. I left my cell phone at the hospital & did not realize it until I was almost home. They have it & I will pick it up tomorrow at my next treatment. I still feel tired but all n all I can't complain. I don't feel sick from it. In all honestly I think the tiredness is still part of my recovery from being sick. This should be a long week with treatments everyday & driving back & forth to Columbus. At least my labs are up & we should be able to monitor them pretty closely all week. They hospital does not think my counts will drop until the third week. Or at least that is when they said I should feel the worst, we'll see.

Sharon White made a donation to my Leukemia fund right before I went back in the hospital with the bacterial infection so I have yet to tell her thank you. I some how missed it because I do not check my credit union account but every other week, so I missed it. Sharon, thank you so much you have already done so much & I don't want you to think we forgot about you because we haven't. The family also got a Valentine's card from my niece Sierra & I got another Valentines card from a great friend Katie Miller. You ladies are all awesome & you know just how to lift my spirits, thank you all.

I will try to update tomorrow we will have to see how the energy level goes!

February 7, 2009

2009-02-07T08:12:00.009-05:00

The 445 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is hosting a Blood Drive in honor of me, MSgt. Sandi Golden-Vest today Saturday, Feb 7, 2009 from 8:00am-1:00pm. Walk-in’s are welcome!

Site: American Legion Post 526
526 Legion Lane
Fairborn, OH 45324
Site phone: 878-3831

Contact on Arrival: Major Kimm Sandusky (1-513-678-2715 ) MSgt Joseph
Drake (George Copfer, Post Commander )

While you are waiting you can become a Bone Marrow Donor as well, no appointment is necessary for this & there is no cost associated becoming a registered Bone Marrow Donor on this date at this location.

Beginning registration for the blood drive is 8:00am. Please come out & donate if you can.
***Community Blood Center will provide juice and cookies and a t-shirt to all
blood donors.

Yesterday's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Jan---144-----3.3----2700---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----4320---------9.0----------28----------------N/A
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100---------10.6----------64------------N/A
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700--------10.6---------131------------N/A
4 Feb---155-----3.9----????----------9.9---------160------------N/A
6 Feb---157-----3.2----1500------10.0-------190------------N/A

I am sorry I was unable to post yesterday, I had a really bad headache & my body was aching badly all over but especially in my hip. The resting MUGA tests seemed to go well but took forever. I thought I had one of those tests before but after going through it I was wrong. They put an IV in my arm, drew blood, then they mixed it with radiation & injected it back in my arm. They performed an EKG & then waited about 30 minutes, then they remove all but 3 of the leads. There is a big metal container with a camera inside in the shape of a plate. They put you in 3 different positions to take 3 pictures of the heart. From what I could see on the monitor it was just a bunch of tiny dots that went into a white blur so I do not know how they read it. We got out of the Ross Heart Hospital about noon.

Marc took me to get some lunch & then we headed to Madison County Hospital to get my labs drawn. After that we picked up Brandon & Katie from school. Here's a news flash I forgot to tell you about the other day. Brandon did not get to wrestle in his meet on Thursday. When the referee’s did his weigh in & body inspection they found a spot on the back of his neck that looks like it could be ringworm. So yesterday I took him to see his pediatrician & although it looks like it could be dry skin she said that the pattern of it & coloration could be ringworm so she put him on a prescription just in case. The SCOL District Tournament is on the 14th so he should be cleared up by then.

Here is what you have all been waiting for...I got my results back from the Bone Marrow Biopsy & I am very happy to report that there is 1% Blast Cells in my Bone Marrow & no signs of Leukemia! We could not have asked for better results. I questioned my Neutraphil count again as it appears it is still dropping but since it is above 1,000 we are still ok. They also told me that the pumping action of my heart is at 64% & it needed to be above 50% so everything is good to start my Maintenance Chemotherapy on Monday.

Thank you Aunt Sue & Uncle David for the Cheryl Cookies. The kids & I did not want to wait until Valentine's Day so we dug in not to mention they were a wonderful surprise & a nice treat to celebrate the good news that we received from the James!

This morning Katie let Spike out to potty & there is a skunk that lives under my neighbors shed... well the skunk was out I guess & Spike went for it & got sprayed in the face. Poor Katie let Spike back in the house not realizing it & Marc hurried up & got him back outside but the house has "ode de skunk" smell now. Zack thought the whole thing was cool & wants to see the skunk & Marc wants to shoot the skunk. I think it is the same skunk that got Coral, the Chocolate lab we used to have, a few times. Marc used some white vinegar & dishwashing liquid on Spike to try & tame the smell.

Here is a picture of Paige that I took at her Basketball game Thurseay night.

It is forty degrees outside already today, talk about a heat wave. It is about time it warmed up around here. I am feeling a lot better today then I did last night but I am still a little shaky, I did not get out of bed last night except to eat dinner.

Thank you everyone for being so supportive & your prayers. I know I say this all the time, but it is true we could not get through all of this without you. I will try to update again on Sunday.

February 5, 2009

2009-02-05T09:46:00.007-05:00

Yesterday's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Jan---144-----3.3----2700---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----4320---------9.0----------28----------------N/A
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100---------10.6----------64------------N/A
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700--------10.6---------131------------N/A
4 Feb---155-----3.9----????-------9.9-------160------------N/A

Talk about a bounce in my numbers. The Neupogen shots did their thing, but as you can see as soon as I came off of them my counts dropped just as drastically as they rose. Fortunately my ANC has not dropped below 1,000 so for now I can stay off of the shots. My labs will be drawn again on Friday. I was too drugged up to ask for my detailed lab report before I left the hospital yesterday to get my ANC. If I had to guess it was somewhere in the 3,000 range.

Yesterday was a very long day at the hospital, they drew my labs & then Marc & I went back to the Bone Marrow Biopsy room. They pre medicated me with Ativan & something else about a half hour prior to the procedure which really relaxed me. Marc was great throughout the whole thing. he gets squeamish with blood & needles unless it is horror show, so I was real proud of him he didn't want to take any pictures but I wanted him to so he did. He actually got a picture of them aspirating the bone marrow that is pretty cool. After that I had an EKG done then we saw my Dr. She ended up taking me off the VFEND (an antifungal medication that is generally used to treat serious, invasive fungal infections), the Avelox (an antibiotic agent) & the Fluconazol (an antifungal drug used in the treatment and prevention of superficial and systemic fungal infections) but told me to hang on to what I have left. She told me fungal infections can sometimes take moths to clear up so I am a little confused as to why she took my off the antifungals.

We also talked about the hormone shot that has thrown me into menopause I am due to get it again & I told her I wanted to try to go on without it, for various reasons. The weight gain I have put on since I got the shot 3 months ago has been driving me nuts. The hot flashes & sweats are ridiculous. If I am going to go back to work & be successful, it will make it that much harder to get through the day constantly dealing with that. My Dr. did double up my Neurontin, so I have to go to the Pharmacy later & get the prescription filled, I was to out of it yesterday to do anything.

We talked about me going back to work & in my mind I see at the end of the month. Well she does not think so... I am so irritated because I just want to be well & get back to the way my life used to be a large part of that is my work. She scheduled me to go back in on Friday to get a resting MUGA test done to assess the pumping efficiency & motion of my heart. All of the results should be good along with my Biopsy results, which should also be back by Friday. My researcher told me that she needs the results to be at less than 3% not 5% like I had thought before. She did mention that if the results are not less than 3% the next step is a Bone Marrow Transplant not more chemo. I am pretty confident I am going to be at 1% or less so I am not even going to think about that. After all that was done I had to go down to radiology for a Chest X-Ray & we finally got to go home.

If all these tests are good (they have already scheduled me) I will be starting my third phase of treatment, Maintenance Chemotherapy with Decitabine, starting on Monday. I was not expecting it so quickly but my Dr. was confident that I could do this. This phase of Chemotherapy is the Clinical Trial Portion of my Treatment. All next week Monday through Friday I will be going in & getting Chemo. the bonus is at least I get to come home each night it is all out patient.

So like I said earlier I had high hopes of being back to work by the end of the month. My Dr is saying no, April or May & I said bull are you going to pay my bills for me? So hopefully I tolerate this first round well & when I see her again at the beginning of March she will change her mind & at least consider letting me go back part time & work on building back up to full time.

Today my backside is a little sore but no pain no gain right! I have done real well tolerating my pain since I got out of the hospital so I do no intend on breaking my steak of no pain meds unless of absolutely need to/ I was worried I would get addicted because the whole time I was in the hospital 2 weeks ago they had me on a lot of pain meds for 8 days straight. So I am happy to report that I have not needed any since except what they gave me during the Biopsy yesterday.

That’s a lot of info for one day huh? Well I posted my new slide show from yesterdays adventure. Tonight is Paige's last game, Marc is going, it is against Madison Plains a huge London rival, I want to go but I don't know if I can handle the bleachers that long. We'll see.

Click this link to view a slide show of the Jan 2009 Sledding adventure withthe kids! http://s524.photobucket.com/albums/cc324/Sandittie1/Jan%2009%20Sledding/?albumview=slideshow

The 445 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is hosting a Blood Drive in honor of MSgt. Sandi Golden-Vest on Saturday, Feb 7, 2009 from 8:00am-1:00pm. Please go online & register for this is you are able, last I heard from the Unit there were only 2 people registered for this event.

Site: American Legion Post 526
526 Legion Lane
Fairborn, OH 45324
Site phone: 878-3831

Contact on Arrival: Major Kimm Sandusky (1-513-678-2715 ) MSgt Joseph
Drake (George Copfer, Post Commander )

While you are waiting you can become a Bone Marrow Donor as well, no appointment is necessary for this & there is no cost associated becoming a registered Bone Marrow Donor on this date at this location.

Beginning registration for the blood drive is 8:00am. Appointments are recommended; blood donors are asked to make an appointment by going to our website: www.donortime.com click on Find a Drive and use sponsor code: 986 Last Registration: 12:50pm
***Community Blood Center will provide juice and cookies and a t-shirt to all
blood donors.

Please go online & register if you are able to participate, Per my Unit members as of yesterday there were only 2 people registered for this Blood Drive.

February 3, 2009

2009-02-03T13:53:00.003-05:00

Yes, Zack got a white day yesterday to those that were wondering. You just never know with him , he keeps us on our toes. Marc & I went to Parent's night last night it was a little delayed because the Basketball game went into overtime. I did not want Paige to be upset but I was not comfortable being around all those people coughing & sneezing so I asked Marc to take me home. This was probably a good thing because I got a call from the school today Paige threw up & was not feeling well so i had to go up to the school & get her. I wore my mask just in case. After I got her home & talked to her it sounds like she is going through a hairy situation with some other girls at school & not feeling good on top of it made it worse. It's tough being a teenager & kids are mean these days. I am hoping she feels better soon & it is nothing serious. My counts were up yesterday but I also quit the Neupogen shots so they could drop as quickly as they rose, well see tomorrow.

I did not wake up with a headache today so maybe it was the shots. I have felt weird all day though. My mind seems a little behind my actions, & I am more fatigued then I was yesterday & I haven't done anything. Even though I am tired I feel like I am doing better. I have been sitting going through paperwork & receipts trying to get ready to do our taxes, fun fun! Other than that there is nothing else to tell except this. When Marc got home yesterday he pulled up my blog & busted out laughing at my picture, he said it was because of the way I was smiling & not showing my teeth, he's got one coming for that. The picture really was kinda like "BLAM" when you pull up the Blog. Oh well if you can't laugh at yourself you got bigger problems than me! I am in for lounging the rest of the evening. I will be posting late tomorrow or on Thursday depending on how I feel since tomorrow we have #5 Bone Marrow Biopsy. We will be at the hospital pretty much all day because I have to wait a few hours to see my Dr. in the afternoon & she may order another CAT Scan. So that's it for now...

The 445 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is hosting a Blood Drive in honor of MSgt. Sandi Golden-Vest on Saturday, Feb 7, 2009 from 8:00am-1:00pm.

Site: American Legion Post 526
526 Legion Lane
Fairborn, OH 45324
Site phone: 878-3831

Contact on Arrival: Major Kimm Sandusky (1-513-678-2715 ) MSgt Joseph
Drake (George Copfer, Post Commander )

While you are waiting you can become a Bone Marrow Donor as well, no appointment is necessary for this & there is no cost associated becoming a registered Bone Marrow Donor on this date at this location.

Beginning registration for the blood drive is 8:00am. Appointments are recommended; blood donors are asked to make an appointment by going to our website: www.donortime.com click on Find a Drive and use sponsor code: 986 Last Registration: 12:50pm
***Community Blood Center will provide juice and cookies and a t-shirt to all
blood donors.

February 2, 2009

2009-02-02T10:30:00.006-05:00

I have to say this before I forget it is t funny. Marcus has always called me Princess for years. Well here lately he has a new name he has been calling me, his Chia Pet & the picture below will show you why.....
Today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Jan---144-----3.3----2700---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----4320---------9.0----------28----------------N/A
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100---------10.6----------64------------N/A
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000---------10.4----------85------------N/A
2 Feb---153-----36.4----31700-------10.6-------131------------N/A

This is the first day I have been at home "alone"...well I guess I am not really alone Spike is here with me. I woke up at 5am with a throbbing headache again. I popped 2 Tylenol & 5 hours later it is pretty much gone. I am staying pretty hydrated throughout the day so I am not sure that is what is causing the headaches, although I do sweat a lot at night & a little bit during the day.

Zack was in a a fussy mood before school, I asked him to have a white day & he said he would, but I don't know there was something rotten brewing in him so we will have to wait & see. Paige's bus comes at 7am so she is always the first one up & put the door. After Katie put Zack on the bus I took her & Brandon & dropped them off at school then it was off to the lab. Check out those numbers today! I think it's safe to say I can stop taking the Neupogen shots. Hopefully my numbers will hold out until Wednesday & I can get the Bone Marrow Biopsy out of the way. My Neutraphils are going to drop I just don't know how fast. They are extremely high at the moment along with my White Blood Cells. The last round I had my numbers seemed to yo yo a bit just not quite this high. I don't know the science behind it but given I may still have some infection running through my body I will take the high over the low numbers any day.

Spike & I played a little bit this afternoon. He is getting a little antsy when you take him out he does not always want to come back in right away. We used to be able to entice him with "scooby snacks" but the luster of the treat is not as strong as the call of the wild here lately. He has yet to roam further than the neighbors yard but we have a very busy state route in front of our house & that worries me. He is still a pup so I hope we can find something to get him back on track.

The main event in the Vest house tonight is... parents night for Paige's Cheerleading so we have to go up to the Middle school for a little while & then walk her across the court. Brandon & Paige both have about 3 weeks left in their sports. I think everyone is ready for a break. It has been a long season this year with me being sick. Marc & I usually go to all Brandon's Wrestling meets, I only made it to one this year. Hopefully by the next sports season, football I think, I will be better & we can get back to the normal.

The 445 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is hosting a Blood Drive in honor of MSgt. Sandi Golden-Vest on Saturday, Feb 7, 2009 from 8:00am-1:00pm.

Site: American Legion Post 526
526 Legion Lane
Fairborn, OH 45324
Site phone: 878-3831

Contact on Arrival: Major Kimm Sandusky (1-513-678-2715 ) MSgt Joseph
Drake (George Copfer, Post Commander )

While you are waiting you can become a Bone Marrow Donor as well, no appointment is necessary for this & there is no cost associated becoming a registered Bone Marrow Donor on this date at this location.

Beginning registration for the blood drive is 8:00am. Appointments are recommended; blood donors are asked to make an appointment by going to our website: www.donortime.com click on Find a Drive and use sponsor code: 986 Last Registration: 12:50pm
***Community Blood Center will provide juice and cookies and a t-shirt to all
blood donors.

February 1, 2009

2009-02-01T17:00:00.008-05:00

I woke up with a headache again today. I have been back on the Neupogen shots since Friday night, Marc seems to think that is what is causing the headaches. I don't remember the shots doing that in the past but I don't remember a lot of things here lately. It seemed to subside a little after lunch so that is an improvement from yesterday. I go get labs again tomorrow & hopefully the Neupogen shots worked & my Neutraphil count is up.

Zack came in this morning & laid in bed with me & watched TV for a little bit.

I went & had a manicure & a pedicure done back in September right after I found out I had Leukemia. I had to get my gel tip finger nails removed since I was going to be in the hospital & have y oxygen saturation's monitored for so long & the pedicure was just because I wanted one. I only bring this up because I have not painted my toenails since. Marc was so sweet today & painted my toenails for me. It was great because I have felt so unfeminine for so long with no hair, it was just what I needed today, happy feet.

I guess it got pretty warm today, I didn't go outside. A good part of the snow started to melt only to reveal not quiet an inch of ice coating the driveway. Marc said he was worried that I would fall on the ice trying to get to the car in the driveway so I could go to the hospital. Brandon & Marc spent a large part of the afternoon trying to get the ice off.

Paige spent the night at Olivia's & will not be home until halftime. Brandon is going with Marc to the Columbus Clubhouse to watch the Super Bowl until halftime. Katie & Zack are home with me & we have the house to ourselves for a few hours tonight.

The 445 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is hosting a Blood Drive in honor of MSgt. Sandi Golden-Vest on Saturday, Feb 7, 2009 from 8:00am-1:00pm.

Site: American Legion Post 526
526 Legion Lane
Fairborn, OH 45324
Site phone: 878-3831

Contact on Arrival: Major Kimm Sandusky (1-513-678-2715 ) MSgt Joseph
Drake (George Copfer, Post Commander )

While you are waiting you can become a Bone Marrow Donor as well, no appointment is necessary for this & there is no cost associated becoming a registered Bone Marrow Donor on this date at this location.

Beginning registration for the blood drive is 8:00am. Appointments are recommended; blood donors are asked to make an appointment by going to our website: www.donortime.com click on Find a Drive and use sponsor code: 986 Last Registration: 12:50pm
***Community Blood Center will provide juice and cookies and a t-shirt to all
blood donors.

January 31, 2009

2009-01-31T16:09:00.013-05:00

I woke up this morning with a pounding headache & it has not went away all day. My night sweats & chills were real bad last night. I keep taking my temperature but it keeps reading normal. I think the broken sleep throughout the nights is starting to catch up with me. I have not been out of bed much at all today.

Paige had her friend Oliva spend the night last night, Zack swears that Olivia is his girlfriend, I don't think he gave them to much peace. Katie spent the night over at her friends house. Brandon did not get home last night until real late, he lost his first match & won his second. Early this morning he lost his match so since it is a double elimination tournament he is out & has to watch everybody else the rest of the day. Marc headed off to Columbus a little bit ago with Benny so for now it is just me & Zack hanging out & he is being a real sweetheart, he is watching Inspector Gadget in my bed now. He is a totally different kid when he is the only one in the house.

My 5th Bone Marrow Biopsy is this Wednesday morning followed by an afternoon appointment with my Dr. I am anticipating since the 4th Bone Marrow Biopsy came back at 1% Blast Cells that this one will be the same or 0% since the chemotherapy has continued non stop. If this confuses anyone what started this all was my first two Bone Marrow Biopsy's came back with 33% Blast cells in my Bone Marrow & 34% Blast Cells in my perepherial blood. My type of Leukemia, AML, is defined by the presence of >30% Blast Cells in the bone marrow. At this stage of the game with my treatment anything over 5% Blast Cells is not good & we have to re-evaluate & possibly start all over again. This is obviously worse case scenario next to me getting sick again. We won't get the results back from the biopsy for a few weeks but I anticipate that they will be 1% or less so we can press forward with the Decitabine, Maintenance Chemotherapy treatment.

Here are some of the pictures from the kids sledding down at the Missing Link Property. Katie although very apprehensive at first about going seemed to genuinely enjoy herself.
This was Zack's first time sledding & he absolutely loved it.
Brandon was not content with the big hill he had to make a ramp at the bottom to get some air with his snow board.
Paige was the first one down a hill & for hot chocolate.
Then there is the biggest kid of them all, Marcus!

I have a lot more pictures but I will try to upload them all into a slide show & post it on the Blog later.

The 445 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is hosting a Bl00d Drive in honor of MSgt. Sandi Golden-Vest on Saturday, Feb 7, 2009 from 8:00am-1:00pm.

Site: American Legion Post 526
526 Legion Lane
Fairborn, OH 45324
Site phone: 878-3831

Contact on Arrival: Major Kimm Sandusky (1-513-678-2715 ) MSgt Joseph
Drake (George Copfer, Post Commander )

While you are waiting you can become a Bone Marrow Donor as well, no appointment is necessary for this & there is no cost associated becoming a registered Bone Marrow Donor on this date at this location.

Beginning registration for the blood drive is 8:00am. Appointments are recommended; blood donors are asked to make an appointment by going to our website: www.donortime.com click on Find a Drive and use sponsor code: 986 Last Registration: 12:50pm
***Community Blood Center will provide juice and cookies and a t-shirt to all
blood donors.

January 30, 2009

2009-01-30T09:16:00.008-05:00

Today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan---142-----0.7-----410---------9.0------13/43--1 Unit of Platelets
23 Jan---143-----1.8----1400---------8.5----------38----------------N/A
24 Jan---144-----3.3----2700---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----4320---------9.0----------28----------------N/A
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100---------10.6----------64------------N/A
30 Jan---150-----2.8----1000-----10.4----------85------------N/A

Marcus is at work today, I know he struggled with leaving me at home but the kids don't have school today again so I will have lots of company. Marc left at 6am & did not get to work until a little after 7am he said the roads are still real bad. Brandon is having a 2 day wrestling tournament at Marion Pleasant I thought with school being cancelled that the tournament would be as well. After many phone calls the tournament is still on but there is no school bus for today so I had to write a release for him to ride with one of the coaches. I stressed coaches because I hear the roads are worse up north & I did not want him riding with a teenage driver.

It was snowing this morning when I got up pretty heavy but it stopped & then the sun came out by the time I had to drive to the hospital for my lab draws. It was so bright even with sunglasses on. I must admit even though it was right here in town I was real nervous & not just because the roads were bad. I do not know if it is my vision is off or if it is still my balance that is messing with my vision. So I just took it slow. My last trip out of the house was to drop off Brandon & Dakota at the school & pick up my lab report from the hospital. The roads were much better & the sun was even brighter. I felt a little more comfortable driving but I don't see me driving to Columbus or any other distance any time soon.

I want to say thank you again to Misty, she had a ton of food delivered to our house from Kroger's today. The kids were ecstatic especially when they saw the Smores pop tarts, chips & pop. Zack immediately wanted the Doritos it was too funny.

My labs were not what I had hoped they would be. The James Cancer Hospital called me & per my Dr. I am to go back on the Neupogen shots starting tonight & through the weekend until I get my labs drawn Monday then we will re-evaluate the situation. I noticed my hemoglobin is doing pretty good but my platelets are being very stubborn. They normally bounce back quicker so I do not know if it is because I am still sick or if something else is going on. I feel a little better each day but I am not going to push it I have never been in this position before. It was a major event for me to go out the two times that I did today. Each time I got home I went & laid in bed. I still can't stand for long periods of time I know this will eventually change but in the mean time it frustrates the heck outta me that I have hardly no strength.

You may notice that I have removed the fundraising progress thermometer that has been a permanent fixture on my blog. I chose to do so for a number of reasons.

First, as I have been using the funds for different expenses related to my Chemothearpy treatment, I decided it would be seem negative to see the amount raised appear to decline when in fact it is simply a reflection of your generous donations in action. And let me tell you the panic I feel when I spend a dollar of it! I am particularly aware of how blessed I am to have to have the money as a resource.

Second, after getting sick last week I really don't know anymore how much I am actually going to need, so a specific goal is impossible to determine. While I know there will ultimately be many expenses that I will incur, I do not want to mislead anyone by stating a number I can no longer be sure of.

Humbly, I ask that if you still are ever able to donate, please do so. The "Donate" button will continue to work and the Credit Union, will continue to accept any donations sent. Anything and everything helps.I still am in awe of the incredible support I have received from so many. Thank you for being a part of my success.

January 29, 2009

2009-01-29T18:15:00.001-05:00

Nothing new to update tomorrow should prove more interesting with my labs. I am still tired & weak. I am taking the day off from Blogging, the computer screen is really bugging my eyes.

January 28, 2009

2009-01-28T14:47:00.016-05:00

Here is how I look today, still holding a lot of weight & tired but compared to January 22, 2009 I look fabulous!
Today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-------2/35-1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan---142-----0.7-----410---------9.0------13/43--1 Unit of Platelets
23 Jan---143-----1.8----1400---------8.5----------38----------------N/A
24 Jan---144-----3.3----2700---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----4320---------9.0----------28----------------N/A
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100---------9.1----------37------------N/A
28 Jan---148-----2.7----1100-----10.6----------64------------N/A

I should have went & got my labs yesterday but somehow I lost a day so I changed up my routine & went to the New lab today. The new lab is definitely not Sue, they did get me on the first stick though. I asked them to call me with the results & they said they do not do that her if I want them I have to write a letter & then come back in & pick them up. She said since we were in a level 2 snow emergency she would do it today so I would not have to come back up. I thought to myself gee thanks. Man Sue spoiled me . I am going back in on Friday to have her draw my labs again before the weekend. I hope my ANC comes up.it is down quite a bit from what it was when I left the hospital if it drops below 1,000 I go back on the Neupogen shots again. Marc said it is so close I should start them back up tonight. The lab results are supposed to be faxed to my Dr. at the James so I went ahead & called them & they told me to hold off for now my both my platelets are starting to recover & my hemaglobin is doing good so they want to see my ANC & WBC do the same. We will see Friday I guess.

We had snow then freezing rain & then snow again so there is a layer of ice coating everything in all I think we got about 4-5 inches of snow. I hope that is the end of it. The roads were a mess when Marc took me to the hospital. I am still to weak to drive or do much of anything. I am still resting a lot & will continue to until these infections have completely cleared up so I can recover. I have a slight cough that came on the day we were leaving the hospital. I think it is from whatever is in my lungs. I still am fever free, the sweats & chills continue to taunt me day & night. I just keep telling myself I want to be well, I am really tired of being tired all the time. Slow & steady wins the race I just need to keep my but in bed for now.

The kids of course did not have school today. So it has been video game heaven in the house. Brandon & Paige have been thumb warriors texting all day. Katie hasn't said to much here lately. She has been more quite than normal ever since she came back from her dads. She dropped a bomb on me the day I came home from the hospital about possibly going to live with her dad & she has been acting weird ever since. It usually takes her about 3-4 weeks for her to get back into the swing of things here. So I keep waiting on her to snap out of it. We talked a lot about it this afternoon.

Zack got a splinter in his foot running around without his socks on. So Marc played Dr. & tried to get it out as you can see Zack was not happy when it was over.
Here's Paige always posing for the camera
Brandon with his phone in hand ready for the next text message while watching CMT. He's going country now.
Katie was lounging on the couch watching Zack Play My SIMS's
The Zack Attack!
Of course we can't forget Spike!
Did somebody say Brrrrrrr, Marc was out trying to clear the sidewalk & driveway so we could go to the hospital.

January 27, 2009

2009-01-27T11:17:00.002-05:00

How good it feels to be at home. The kids were all happy to see me & I them. Zack gave me a huge hug boy I needed that. Spike was up in my bed at least 3 times last night & once this morning. Marc actually picked him up & put him there when he was whining because our bed is so high he can't jump up.

I am still very sick but no fevers. I had hot & cold spells all night long followed with sever sweating. IT is daytime & I am awake doing the same thing. The sweats are bad & I have yet to get a break from it. Marc is keep a very close eye on my temperatures so far so good. My nose is also so sensitive to smells. I think the anti fungal they have me on is doing this. The anti fungal is Cephalexin, smells strongly of sulfur & I have to take it 4 times a day. I have not figured out what it is but there is something in the house irritating my nose something awful.

Marc wanted me to thank everyone that donated time for him to be able to be with me while I am sick. I have absolutely no energy it is a major effort just to get out of bed. I do not know what I would do if Marc wasn't here I am a mess. I can't think straight, I feel unsteady & dizzy all the time. It was all I could do to sit at the table with Zack last night while he read me his book for homework.

I called my RN Sue at the Chemo Clinic here in London to let her know I would be in Thursday for labs & since I don't have a PICC anymore she will not be taking care of me. I have to go to the Park Ave Building that is part of the Hospital they have a lab there so this should be an interesting adventure. Sue spoiled me with calling & telling me what my counts are & being there if I need something else.

My 5th Bone Marrow Biopsy is next Wednesday in the morning & then I see Dr. Walker in the afternoon so that is going to be a long day she may order a follow on CAT Scan to check to see if the Fungal Infection is still there. I am going to go for now may be a day or two before I update again bad weather is moving in & the kids will more than likely not have school.

Know that I am still fighting the fight & I appreciate everyones support & prayers as we battle though these stumbling blocks on my road to recovery.

January 26, 2008

2009-01-26T08:15:00.004-05:00

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0-------7.9/9.4-----------35--1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-------2/35-1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan---142-----0.7-----410---------9.0------13/43--1 Unit of Platelets
23 Jan---143-----1.8----1400---------8.5----------38----------------N/A
24 Jan---144-----3.3----2700---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----4320---------9.0----------28----------------N/A
26 Jan---146-----4.5----3100------9.1----------37------------N/A

I sweat like a freight train through the night then I froze because the bed was soaked. I woke up to Carli's smiling face saying you want to go home today. I sat up & said Hell Yeah! She laughed & said she was going to e-mail Dr. Walker my oversight Dr. & work on my discharge paperwork & new prescriptions. I am so relieved I miss the kids so much. It has been a very long week & one if not the toughest of my life. In talking to Carli my fever broke sometime between Thursday night & Friday Morning, they removed my PICC Friday afternoon, the PICC culture came back negative. The CAT Scan showed whited patches on my lungs so they started me on the anti fungals right away & they are sending me home on a months supply of anti fungals. They are uncertain which was the cause of the fevers because they stopped before the line was out & before the CAT Scan. I have to have a follow up CAT Scan in a couple of weeks to check to make sure the white patches on my lungs which is assumed to be a fungal infection is gone. They cannot confirm it is a fungal infection without doing a bronchoscopy procedure & they are not going to do one. I will be getting my 5th Bone Marrow Biopsy in a couple of weeks as well to see where we are at with my Cancer before we start the maintenance chemotherapy. I asked Carli to make sure Dr. Walker finished my Employer letter to have my disability continued since I cannot go back to work like I had planned to try in a couple of weeks. So it looks like that will get pushed back another month or so which is for the best. It is going to take me a few weeks just to get my strength back from this.

Marc was up here at the hospital first thing this morning he is patiently awaiting my discharge paperwork. I guess when Marc brought Zack home from Misty's yesterday he said "where's my mom?" Marc told him I was still in the hospital he said he did not care I want my mommy. Marc said he didn't seem pressed about it he was more concerned I wasn't home. It will be nice to surprise him & the rest of the kids later on this afternoon.

Dr. Lam Came in & assessed me & she is going to send Dr. Flynn down here to access me one more time before they let me outta here.

The important thing is I'm going home!

January 25, 2009

2009-01-25T10:20:00.015-05:00

From what I hear the Benefit was a big success last night. There were people coming in & out the whole time with takeout. Several dined in as well, Marc's Dad & his girlfriend Pat came up, There were about 30 or so Missing Link Members from Columbus that came, Paula & her husband came up for their "date night" I thought that was cool, Misty brought Zack up as well as many members from the London Community. Marc said he thought there was a couple of people there from ODH but he could not remember their names. Paige took some video of it so I can't wait to see it. Mom Drum & the Marysville Rainbow girls came & helped out. Marc said Mom Wendy was in the kitchen all night cooking over a spaghetti pot. Katie & Paige tried to help out & Mom Wendy ran them outta the kitchen & told them to go eat. The Rainbow Girls girls were very busy serving everybody, Marc said all the girls did a really good job. This Benefit means a lot to us I know Wendy & Keith Hall really put a lot of hard work into it along with all the girls & it came from the heart. Thank you so much London Assembly #208 & Marysville Rainbow Girls to, you ladies are awesome!

While everyone was at the Benefit I was taking a much needed rest. It's nice to look over this morning & see my lonely little IV Pole only has 2 bags instead of the 8 bags that it was holding all week long. My C-Diff culture came back negative today so I am off contact per-cautions. We kinda figured the antibiotics was what caused that problem, they had me on so many powerful antibiotics it was a matter of time before they altered my digestive tract.

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0-------7.9/9.4-----------35--1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-------2/35-1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan---142-----0.7-----443---------9.0------13/43--1 Unit of Platelets
23 Jan---143-----1.8----1400---------8.5----------38----------------N/A
24 Jan---144-----3.3----????---------8.4----------34----------------N/A
25 Jan---145-----5.9----????------9.0----------28----------------N/A

They did not come in & draw my Labs until 7am & they stuck my left hand again, she got it on the first try but I am so tired of getting stuck in my hands it is really painful. I was looking at my right bicep where the PICC line used to be, the spot is about the size of my pinkie fingernail. It feels so weird to not have the line in, my right arm mobility & strength has been so diminished since they put it in back in September. My bicep is saying wimpy wimpy wimpy like the old Hefty trash bag commercials. We still do not have the culture back from the line but is it comes back positive it is hard to believe that little hole about took me out. Look at my WBC counts my little soldiers are multiplying like crazy. I don't know my ANC Counts because no one down here knows how to do the calculations but they took me off the Neupogen Shots so I am close if not over 5,000 Earlier this week I was dying & that is no exaggeration but today I am alive & well WOOHOO!

I had a low grade fever of 99.9 last night around 10ish but I haven't had any fevers today. They are taking me off the IV antibiotic Vancomycin & putting me on something else. They are pushing to get me on all oral antibiotics & mentioned that my counts were doing really good & they may send me home tomorrow, so I am very excited. My longtime best friend from Lima Lisa Benhke, is coming to see me today. I have not seen her in years & I can't wait to see her. Kathy Putt & Momma Morrison are also coming up later on this afternoon I am sure to be smiling all day my face is gonna hurt tonight, so I am so glad I took a break from all visits yesterday. I need this day really to refresh & re-energize. I felt better than I have all week & I haven't even had my shower yet.

It just started snowing outside & it looks like the inside of a snow globe from up here the snow flakes are so big!

January 24, 2009

2009-01-24T02:36:00.019-05:00

Spaghetti Dinner Benefit Tonight Saturday, January 24, 2008 5-7:00PM
The Benefit will be held tonight at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available.It is my understanding that Kroger donated most of the food for this Benefit & National City has raised money as well. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net>

Marcus, Katie, Paige & Zack will be there, I am still admitted at the James but I am there with you all in spirit. I am pretty sure Paige will be running around with the video camera if you all want to put a message on there for me feel free I will be watching it as soon as Marc brings it up to the hospital. I also hope to have pictures to post of it on m blog as well. Both Marc & I used to be on the Advisory Board & I was also the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were active in Rainbow.

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0-------7.9/9.4-----------35--1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-------2/35-1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan---142-----0.7-----443---------9.0------13/43--1 Unit of Platelets
23 Jan---143-----1.8----1400---------8.5----------38----------------N/A
24 Jan---144-----3.3----????------8.4----------34----------N/A

Dr Flynn & Dr. Lam came in to see me early this morning. I have been able to finally make it 24 hours without a fever & my counts are on the rise. Dr Flynn said that the spots on the lungs that they found from the CAT Scan he thinks may have been there before but he cannot discount them, the radiologist said they are a fungal infection. I asked him if they were going to do another test to find out for sure & he said no. They are going to take me off of the Caspofungin & the Tobramycim IV antibiotics, then put me on a pill form anti fungal Voriconzole, something about insurance costs & the medication being very expensive & leave me on the Vancomycin IV antibiotic.They are changing my meds so fast I cannot keep up with what I am on & what I am not on.I also asked Dr Flynn about the Blood Infection gran positive cocci I was positive for, he said that was the only Blood Culture that came back positive & it was taken from the ER & since then all the rest have been negative. They have not got the results back from the PICC to see if it was the source yet so we will have to wait. They want to continue to see my counts rise over the next few days & me to stay fever free. IF that happens we will start talking discharge somewhere around the first part of next week so keep praying!

I slept a lot better last night which was long over due. My PCA "Nick at Night" woke me up at 4am to draw my am labs, I was nervous about him sticking me in my hand but he got it the first time.My PCA this afternoon Wendy had to draw a lab again in the same hand so I got real nervous again but she did real good, I had so much bad luck getting stuck the day before so it has been a nice break getting stuck & landing it on the first attempt, I am so grateful.

January 23, 2009

2009-01-23T11:49:00.030-05:00

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0-------7.9/9.4-----------35--1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-------2/35-1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan---142-----0.7-----443---------9.0------13/43--1 Unit of Platelets
23 Jan--143-----1.8----1400---------8.5----------38----------------N/A

Benefit Scheduled for Tomorrow Saturday, January 24, 2008
Marcus & I used to be on the Advisory Board & I was also the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were active in Rainbow. Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls contacted me a few months ago & expressed that they wanted to do this Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available.It is my understanding that Kroger donated most of the food for this Benefit & National City has raised money as well. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

I talked with Mom Wendy this morning I am so excited about the Benefit & yet I am so bummed I cannot be there in person. I will be there in spirit. Marcus & all the kids will be there but Brandon he has another wrestling tournament. He told me he would miss it if I wanted him to but I told him no the Benefit is only 2 hours the tournament is an all day event & he should go to that it would be more fun for him. I am making Marc take the video camera so I can see it & me & Brandon can watch it together later.
This is Aunt Bonnie & I before she left yesterday I miss her so much already!

Yesterday I was here all day with no tests performed. Carli was not here & I got a conflicting lab report from her replacement that said one of the cultures showed Strep but when they cultured it, it was negative. My RN that was treating me was in my face most of the morning doing my blood draws & meds. By lunch time she had a nasty little cough & did not put a mask on, I asked her to & she said it was just a little tickle in the back of her throat & she would never jeopardise her patients, I told Marc to get me a mask. She would come to my room without it on or it hanging on her chin more than once so I had to tell her about it. Well I have her again today & she still has that cough but she is wearing her mask all day.

Dr Flynn came in & asked where my Aunt was, he wanted to know if he made her upset talking about her niece, I told him yes, he said & you looked like you wanted to hit me & I told him I did he said you are not supposed to agree with me Sandi & I told him look I am really sick & I don't need that from him his supposed to treat me medically not make me his joke & that I was tired of it from him. He did not have much to say when I told him that hopefully he will be a little more respectful now & just do his job.

I had minimal sleep again last night, I sleep in 10-15 minute intervals & wake up throughout the night. Last night they came in & drew a viral specimen & sent it to the lab, the day shift is saying the lab never got it. Marcus was up here first thing again today. I am so grateful because today held so much pain & drama that I don't think I would be holding up as well as I am without him.

I am still receiving the same 3 antibiotics & fighting the fevers. Carli was back today YES! I told her the latest news flash I have diarrhea today so I could possibly have C-Dif or VRE or it could be from the antibiotics were not sure they cultured that. I also expressed to her all my concerns from the nurses not wearing masks & gloves to Dr. Flynn's arrogance with me, my missed appointments for tests from the nurses not paying attention to my orders, the fact that I have been here 5 days & no one knows what is wrong with me & I am still having these high grade fevers etc. Carli had already talked to the Charge nurse on this floor Wed & she went & talked to her again. Carli is trying to get me moved up to the 10th floor where they are used to really sick patients & they follow the precautions because they know how dangerous it is first hand. She is also ordering me a CAT Scan of the Chest & talking with Dr. Flynn because he has not ordered anymore tests & it appears he is no longer looking for what is wrong with me. Carli told me that every single Blood Culture they have done so far has come back negative. Obviously something is causing these fevers & they need to find out what that something is. So I should get to talk with her later this evening to see what she found out.

In the mean time I had a real rough afternoon today at the hospital. Dr. Flynn ordered my PICC to be removed & tested to see if it was the source of the infection. I did not realize how huge the line was. The specimen for the lab is 6 inches. So that left me with only the peripheral line they put in the other day & My 2 PICC lines have been continuously in use since Monday 24/7 with fluids & therapy drugs. Speaking of which I got 4 grams of magnesium today via IV. So the nurse that coughs got to take out my PICC, she has never done one from the arm before only the chest so they brought in the float nurse to watch her & make sure she does it right. She actually did pretty good except she got blood all over the bed because she did not have the specimen container close by.
.After that was done the float nurse had to put in 2 more peripheral IV lines. I really do have a hard time with needles. I tolerated the first one pretty good. He had a real hard time finding another good vein & when he did he could not get a good flashback so he looked around for another one & tried for a second time & could not get it, he dug only a little but it hurt so bad I was starting to tear up & he stopped. They are using the old peripheral line I got 3 days ago in the mean time. I am still going to have to get stuck daily every time they need labs drawn & since I only have 2 lines odds are they will be back to put the third one in. The only bad thing is these lines are only good for a few days & they have to be moved. The meds that I am getting are so powerful I hope they do not infiltrate or I will be in a lot more pain.

There really is no way around any of this. I just hated to lose my PICC as inconvenient as it was to have & I lost a lot of right arm strength over the past 5 months it has saved me hundreds if not a thousand needle sticks seriously.

So I got my CAT Scan done & hopefully Carli will have some good news for me later!

January 22, 2009

2009-01-22T09:05:00.027-05:00

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
9 Jan-----129----3.9------3800-------8.7-----------163--------------N/A
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0-------7.9/9.4-----------35--1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-------2/35-1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7---------26----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0----------9.5----------17----------------N/A
22 Jan--142---0.7----443-----9.0----13/43---1 Unit of Platelets

The top left picture is my IV pole today, I call it my Christmas tree. The top right one is one of many PICC Blood Culture draws, they really had a hard time getting blood to draw out of it. The is a picture of the Blood Culture Bottles that they have to draw on me every 24 hours. Speaking of Blood Cultures did I mention that yesterday they blew 2 of my veins in my left hand trying to draw one of the Blood Culture tests. They had to bring another PCA in because I would not let my PCA touch me again after he started digging & blew the 2 veins. Third time is the Charm because she did get the butterfly her first try, I told here where were you 20 minutes ago when I needed you:) The 2 pictures with green scrubs & needle to skin are of the 3rd/successful draw for a Blood Culture. The other picture is the peripheral line they had to put in me to accommodate all of the antibiotics & blood products I keep getting. My IV medication list has increased daily. They are still trying to figure it out, they only know I have the blood infection, the specific type is still unknown so they cannot tailor my treatment yet.

Marc came back up again today we are still not out of the woods the stress is really waring him down. Don't get me wrong I am glad he is here by my side & I would not have been able to get out if bed for the toilet or a shower yesterday without him. I know he is up here on FMLA leave without pay right now because he ran out of leave a long time ago. Some people in the past have been very generous & donated some time to him but he has exhausted that as well. I think he is too scared not to be here right now, that there are no assurances coming from the Dr.s at this point. Until they get theses fevers under control I don't know what to do. I am starting to get even more nervous because how long can my brain keep tolerating temperatures over 103 every day, several times a day with out being damaged by it.

As you all know I have always pushed myself when I have been up to it. Well yesterday remember I said I could not get out of bed with out Marcus. Up until yesterday at 9am I have been able to move around for the most part without difficulty, maybe a little slower than normal. At 9am I tried to get up to go to the bathroom & it was like a lightning rod shot through my neck & spike when I leaned forward to start to get out of bed, because of that pain my reflex was jerking my knees in towards my chest was automatic, the pain was instantaneous in both of my calf's. I yelped & laid back because it took my breath away & started sweating profusely immediately. I had tears running down my face the pain was more severe than Labor pain. Marc kept telling me it was from not getting up & moving around enough that I need to try to get out of bed. I told him no I don't. The Nurse came & gave me some morphine for the pain & paged Carli. In the mean time it took about 7 minutes, a lot of pain & a ton of motivation from Marcus plus bore most of my weight to get me to the side of the bead & on the toilet which is about 10 feet from my bed. I was bawling like a baby.It took about the same amount of time to get me back in bed. Carli ordered an ultrasound & Doppler of my leg veins & arteries & wrote an order for the Dilaudied, because the Morphine makes me nauseous. We found that the Dilauded does not do a thing for me which from what I hear is stronger then anything I have taken to date. We had to go through all that pain again to get a shower, only to have my fever break when I got out & I instantly soaked my clean bed clothes, you could actually wring he water out. So I had to get back up & get dry clothes on. I was so wore out by the time Bonnie got here but I was so happy to see her. Bonnie was able to spend the night, she went with me down to my ultrasound to make sure I did not have blood clots causing the pain.

Bonnie & I stayed up talking until a little after 11pm when I had to take my Benadryl & I was out by 11:30pm. I woke up at 2am from a fever spike up to 103 again. They gave me 3 more Tylenol to bring my fever down. So about 4am my fever broke &my bed was soaked literally. Bonnie slept in the recliner she looked so comfy. I am so glad she came down.

Benefit Scheduled for Saturday, January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 21, 2009

2009-01-21T04:05:00.020-05:00

This is what a Gram positive cocci in chains stain result looks like, Staphylococcus

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
8 Jan-----128----3.9------3800-------8.6-----------181--------------N/A
9 Jan-----129----3.9------3800-------8.7-----------163--------------N/A
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0-------7.9/9.4---------35------1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0----------8.2-----2/35----1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0----------7.7------26-----2 Units of Blood
21 Jan---141-----0.3------0---------9.5------17-----pending

I slept from about 11:30pm to about 3:00am. I woke up with an intense headache & sever bone & joint pain. I was having Rigors so bad from the blood infusion & sweating profusely. They gave me 10mg of Oxycontin & morphine which took away the bone pain but did nothing for my headache. They brought me in 2 Tylenol & it took away the headache right away. My rigors did stop, until later this morning but my temp is down to 98.7 the last 2 readings. I sweat through breakfast & then it stopped/ I did have a fever spike sometime during the night but I don't know when or what it actually spiked up to. I am hoping it was the last one but we will have to wait & see.

On a side note, for future reference I will not wait until morning to call Dr. Walker if I ever have another fever spike at home even if I am able to control it with Tylenol. Tylenol masks a fever & it is the infection that the fever indicates that requires immediate antibiotic treatment. The attending DR.Flynn really gave me hard time about waiting to come in. He did not care for my response when I told him I sat in the ER for 9 hours & they did not even start any antibiotic's until I had been in the ER for 7 hours they had a room for me but they needed housekeeping to clean it, thus the additional 2 hour wait in the ER. Did I mention no Dr. ever came back in & talked with me about the results from all my tests & what was wrong with me. After requesting it for the third time one finally did come in & tell me what was going on, she said the original Dr. that accessed me had briefed her on me & she was surprised that he had not said anything to me. So the attending Dr. Flynn was giving me a hard time said I was cocky. I told him no, I felt that bad & knew I could not tolerate sitting in an ER that Sunday night. I also told him I am very involved in my treatment plans I would do what ever they need me to do, but he needs to quit lecturing me, it is water under the bridge & I was too drained to argue with him. The resident Dr.Lam came in & I have had her before both her & my Nurse Practitioner Carli told me not to worry about it. Carli said she also sent an e-mail to my Dr. Walker to cancel my appointment that was scheduled for today & but she still came down to see me. She said I have been so lucky up to this point that some people go through these types of infection in between each chemo treatment & their counts drop. That is part of the reason why the mortality statistics are so high in comparison to other types of Cancers. Dr Walker & Carli are both very positive & seem to think that with the proper treatment they can get this infection under control unfortunately we still do not have the other blood culture back yet. Dr. Walker did not give me a hard time either so the attending can kiss my booty, that is cocky.

My Discharge Planning Nurse Janet came in to let me know that Carli wants me to go to Madison county for labs 3 times per week M-W-F instead of 2 when I am in my Nader. Carli says this way I will not have to go 4 days between blood work & my Platelets will hopefully not drop as low in between labs.

My PICC line came back clean so that has not caused the Blood infection. They are waiting on the other Blood Cultures & I think Carli is ordering a full body CAT Scan & not just the head. She wants to rule out that it is not affecting any of my other organs.

My Aunt Bonnie is supposed to be coming down from Lima to see me today & may stay at the house at night or at the hospital with me. She got her van back later than expected last night & I told her not to drive when it is dark. She has vision problems that make It more difficult for her to see at night.

My Dad ended up going back home, I am hoping that he is able to come back & see me at the house when I am doing better, I will get better.

I was so groggy yesterday from all the meds they game me plus the Benadryl they gave me for my 2 Blood infusions they gave me. I was drifting off in mid sentence & mid bite of my dinner. Marc had to yell at me to wake me up because I had a bowl of soup in my hand & I was drifting off to sleep & almost wore the whole bowl. I took a bite of pizza & I fell asleep with it in my mouth, Marc was afraid I was going to choke so he had me finish chewing what I had in my mouth, get a drink, & he laid back my bed & told me to go to sleep. They added a third antibiotic to my treatment regiment yesterday afternoon as well it is called Tobramycim. So I have the PICC that one line was being used for the Blood Infusion, the other one for an antibiotic, then they also stuck a peripheral line in my left wrist for another antibiotic. So I am continuously receiving 2 antibiotics at a time. & they rotate the other one in. Marc was a little freaked out when he saw all the lines & bags hanging plus my Neupogen shots look bigger then my ones form home the tube is skinner. Marc was up here until sometime after 6pm & I told him to go home to the kids, he had already missed Brandon's wrestling yesterday & today Paige had a basketball game to cheer at so I was hoping he would maybe make it up to that for s little bit. I called him later on & he said all the kids were fine, Katie & Zack were playing my Sims & Fishing Master on the Wii so they were pretty content all day. Brandon went to Wrestling Practice & Paige went to her friend Olivia's before the game. They keep asking Marc how I am doing. I called Marc back last night around 11pm & told him to go to bed, I knew he probably fell asleep watching TV in the living room in the Blue Chair & if he did not go to bed & sleep he would pay for it in he morning when his neck pain.

Marc is coming back up again today he is really worried about me & I am worried about him, I just don't want his stressing himself out. I am really sick but I am getting the best care I possibly can get.

Benefit Scheduled for Saturday, January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 20, 2009

2009-01-20T05:53:00.013-05:00

Here are today's labs
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
8 Jan-----128----3.9------3800-------8.6-----------181--------------N/A
9 Jan-----129----3.9------3800-------8.7-----------163--------------N/A
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0------7.9/9.4---------35------1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0------8.2-----2/35----1 Unit of Platelets
20 Jan---140-----0.2------0-----7.7---26--2 Units of Blood

I was awake pretty much all night, my temp kept spiking up to 103 off & on. I usually sweat a little bit at night but I have been sweating continuously since about 3pm yesterday. I don't mean sweating a little bit either. My clothes & my bed are drenched. I am currently on vancomycin & piperacillin antibiotics, my RN Jerry told me this morning that my blood cultures they drew in the ER shows I am growing bacteria in my blood, gram positive cocci in chains, basically from what I understand it is a blood staph infection. My Dad made it down this afternoon. I am supposed to get a blood infusion later this evening.

Marc has been with me all day he is really worried. With the current situation as it is we could really use all the prayer we can get right now so if you know any prayer warriors please ask them to say one for the family & I.

Benefit Scheduled for Saturday, January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 19 Update

2009-01-19T21:45:00.011-05:00

Here are today's labs with the updated lab reports from OSU:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
8 Jan-----128----3.9------3800-------8.6-----------181--------------N/A
9 Jan-----129----3.9------3800-------8.7-----------163--------------N/A
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0------7.9/9.4---------35------1 Unit of Blood
19 Jan---139-----0.2------0------8.2-----2/35----1 Unit of Platelets

Sue my RN at Madison County called my Dr & after she gave me the Platelets she sent me to The Ohio State University Emergency Room per my Dr.s Orders. We got to OSU about 12pm. After multiple lab draws, a blood culture, urine sample, chest X-Ray, CAT Scan, EKG they decided to admit me. I knew this was going to happen because my Dr told me that was what she wanted, she was upset I did not call her last night when I first got the fever. Shortly after 9pm they finally got me into a room at the James, not on the 10th floor but they got me a private room on the 8th floor that has heat, Room 865 the room phone number is 614-293-5687, after the 9 hour ER experience this is why I did not come in last night. I sent Marc home after they got me settled into the room. They sent me back down to X-Ray again around 10:30 for a panoramic of my mouth. So far they are telling me that I have a neutrapenic fever, they do not know any specifics, there is talk that they are going to do a spinal tap tomorrow.For now they have me on 2 different extremely high dose antibiotics.

My temp has been holding between 102 & 103 between doses of acetometephin. That is the only thing that is working so far & it only works for about an hour if 2 & then it is right back up again.

My Dad was on his way down to the ER to see me from Lima & he put his car in the ditch on SR 117. He is in the process of having it towed to Bellefountine, he did not have a spare. Odds are he will not be able to get a new tire tonight but should be able to in the morning. The important thing is he wasn't hurt. I though the roads were clear but I guess there were a few nasty patches & he happened to hit one just right. He is going to come down & stay at the house with Marc & the kids for a few days while they figure out what is wrong with me.

Brandon had the Harry Steele Classic Wrestling tournament today in London, it was cancelled due to Weather last weekend.Brandon won one match & got a buy on another (forfeit) & he ended up losing the rest. Marc said every time he talked to him on the phone today he kept asking how I was doing. All the kids are real worried. Marc said Paige was crying at one point because someone told her at school if I get a fever I will die. So I told Marc to reassure them am I am fine. They have never seen me this sick. Katie looked scared when I left for the hospital but she did not say anything. I am glad we did Katie's Birthdays cake (Chocolate Snickers)& ice cream (Snickers) on Sunday. We also took them all out to the Asian Buffet which is Katie's favorite. Tomorrow the kids have a teacher COTA day or something like that so there is no school. Zack was upset because he could not spend the night with Misty due to plumbing issues & with me going back in the hospital on top of that today, is going to cause him some stress this week for sure.

The Benefit that the London Rainbow Girls Assembly are holding for me is this week, I hope that I am better by then so I can go.

Benefit Scheduled for January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 19, 2009

2009-01-19T08:28:00.003-05:00

Things got really bad last night. What started out as a low grad fever with chills turned into fever spikes up to 104.2 This morning I have a temp of 102.4 & I am sweating like a freight train. I feel terrible my head hurts so much, Marc was able to get my temp down to 100.7 last night with some Tylenol before I passed out & I just took some more a little bit ago. I am going to the Madison County Hospital at 10am. I have a feeling Sue is going to send me to the James. My tongue has huge black spots all over it & I have been having severe nose bleeds all day yesterday & last night, My platelets must be drastically low I am covered in the petichi rash again. I never really recovered from the third treatment before they started the 4th. I am scheduled to see my Dr on Wed but I don't think I am going to make it that long. I have to get this fever under control I have been so luckily to this point I don't want to start having problems now, but there is definitely something going on I need to get my ANC count today, if I have an infection there could be huge problems because I do not have an immune system at the moment my ANC was 0 last Thursday.

I will try to have Marc update this later I just don't have the energy,

January 17, 2009

2009-01-17T09:16:00.003-05:00

I went to Madison County Hospital yesterday & received 1 unit of Blood. We did not draw any other labs because my counts are low & the order is only for twice weekly lab draws. I am pretty certain my Platelets will be almost 0 by Monday so I had Sue, My RN go ahead and order me a Unit of Platelets for Monday morning.

I have been really weak & tired these past few days. I went with Marc to Columbus yesterday & that was a major event, I was exhausted when we got home & was in bed the rest of the night. I have virtually no energy. I was anticipating going back to my civilian employer at the beginning of February, but since mt counts are taking longer to recover & I am not tolerating the treatment as well, I think it may be closer to the end of February.

Zack got another white day on Friday, so far he has had a trouble free month WooHoo. Brandon has another wrestling meet on Monday. He spent the night at a friends house on Friday & Paige had her cheer leader friend, Olivia spend the night at our house. Zack is in love with her, they even did a mock wedding, Brandon has the video on his cell phone. Katie drew me a cool Rooster picture & has been engrossed in her DS nintendogs game.

This afternoon we plan ti take the kids to Columbus to spend their gift cards from Christmas & if I can handle it we are also going to do Katie's Birthday tonight. Misty called Zack last night & wants him to come spend the night with her tonight.

It has been unbeleavably cold here the past few days, thank goodnes for the Alpacca hat Lynn, my head would be freezing without it. Marc said he does not like the cold but he loves the changing of the seasons so he would not trade it for warmer weather. Evrybody keep warm!!!

January 15, 2009

2009-01-15T15:14:00.005-05:00

Here are today's labs:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------2640------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------1380-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A
6 Jan-----126----6.8------6100------10.1-----------203--------------N/A
8 Jan-----128----3.9------3800-------8.6-----------181--------------N/A
9 Jan-----129----3.9------3800-------8.7-----------163--------------N/A
12 Jan----132----0.7-------448-------9.5-----------117--------------N/A
15 Jan---135-----0.3------0------7.9------------35--------------N/A

My counts are in the bottoms as you can see. I will be getting a Blood infusion tomorrow only 22 days between this one & the last one. I am so much weaker this go round. I knew it was coming because I had a rough time the last round but I did not expect to be this wore out all the time.

It is amazing in the past I have never had any trouble making a decision or staying busy & now I cannot make even the simplest decision, for example what do you want to eat. When placed in that position it totally confuses me & chaos ensues as I lose all rationality. Nuts I tell ya, I am sure it is the medicine I am on & at some point once I am off of it, I will go back to normal. I know this but it still does not make it any easier.

Today I took Brandon to the BMV to get his permit, well needless to say because of his citations last year we had to go to the main BMV on Broad Street. When we got there they tried to send us to another location on Alum Creek to \get his license reinstated so we turned around & headed for home. We got sidetracked & ended up shopping for a little bit in Hillard, we got some lunch at Chipolte & then came home. (I remembered to get Marc some this time) Brandon & I had a good afternoon together.He will be 18 in a little over a year it is crazy how fast he has grown up just in the last year. I plan to take Katie & Paige out one day next week if I can get to feeling better. They all need to have their own time.

My second day at the base was not as smooth as the first. Work wise that was easy enough but I just felt bad. Looking at my counts today now I know why. I would have never went in if I had known my counts were going to drop that fast. I was having more vision problems & just felt outside myself all day. The weather ended up getting so nasty yesterday they let me leave the base early, about 3pm, to get home.I was grateful because I was really struggling the last hour. It took forever with all the snow, ice & slush on the roads. I thought for sure the kids would not have had school today due to weather but instead they ended up with a 2 hour delay.

Zack has been doing wonderful, which has really surprised me. I expected quite a bit of trouble going back to school from Christmas break, me being in the hospital & Misty moving out. He has been just the opposite though. Everyday has been a white day at school & he has been listening a lot better at home & helping out more when you ask him. He is also reading so good. I just can't get over how tall he is getting, he is still a chunky monkey but his face is starting to get a little longer like Marc's.

Beth, thank you for your donation to my Leukemia fund & your words of encouragement & Support. I am about a week behind on my e-mails so I have not had a chance to get back with all of you. The Spaghetti Benefit is coming up & anyone that wants the flyer for it let me know & I will e-mail it to you. We all plan to be there as long as my counts are back up by then.

I found this picture today, this was taken not to long before we found out I was sick I look so different there I think it is a good picture.

Benefit Scheduled for January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 13, 2009

2009-01-13T19:25:00.003-05:00

Sorry guys things have been real busy since I got outta the hospital Saturday

Here are Monday's labs:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------2640------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------1380-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A
6 Jan-----126----6.8------6100------10.1-----------203--------------N/A
8 Jan-----128----3.9------3800-------8.6-----------181--------------N/A
9 Jan----129-----3.9---3800------8.7-----------163--------------N/A
12 Jan---132-----0.7----448------9.5-----------117--------------N/A

I ended up getting out of the James around 1am Saturday morning. Marc & I beat the weather home which ended up not being that bad after all. Most of the day Saturday we spent moving our bedroom. Sunday we had a National meeting that took us through the afternoon & yesterday was a blur. As if Marc has not been busy enough, he has hung pictures & put stuff out that we never unpacked since we moved into this house in the Fall of 2004. The kids were great helping out over the weekend & each night there has been a nice calming effect in the house.

I started back to Military duty today. I was up at 2am I could not sleep last night. So I headed down to the base about 6am this morning. I put in a whole day without to much difficulty. I stopped at the Commissary on the way home & cooked dinner as soon as I got in the door (chops, fried potatoes & baked beans) so it has been another full day today. I am back at the base tomorrow & that catches me up for missing January Drill weekend. I was not anticipating my counts dropping so fast when I scheduled the make up I thought I would get ahead of the drop but I am already into my decline. So I am going back in tomorrow, they are letting me go at my own pace & I am not overworked or stressed about it. I rather enjoyed getting out & being productive today, it has been awhile where I have felt I actually accomplished something (that is work related).

So there you have it, the down & dirty short version, I am pooped. I will not update again until Thursday & that will be later in the day after I get my counts.

Benefit Scheduled for January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 9, 2009

2009-01-09T06:22:00.005-05:00

I am so excited to report over 40 people donated Blood yesterday at the Allen County Department of of Job & Family Services Blood Drive in my honor & a 5-year-old girl who was also diagnosed with AML approximately the same time frame as me in September pf 2008. I cannot thank my My Aunt Debe & all of her colleagues enough for their dedication & support that ensured this very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved went so successfully. To everyone that donated Thank you so much, you truly have given the gift of life, to those of you who wanted to donate but could not for medical reasons your prayers & support are equally as important. Thank you all so much!

Here are today's labs:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------2640------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------1380-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A
6 Jan-----126----6.8------6100------10.1-----------203--------------N/A
8 Jan-----128----3.9------3800-------8.6-----------181--------------N/A
9 Jan---129-----3.9---3800------8.7-----------163--------------N/A

I have been on 2 continuous IV bags all week & last night the sever bloating finally caught up with me. I was in so much pain I could not sleep all night. No matter which way I tried to lay down I felt intense pressure. I thought it was too late to take any Lasix but in hind sight I didn't sleep a wink all night so I probably could have taken it. My night sweats have persistently gotten worse I wonder if it is because I am so full of fluid, who knows. I know they are trying to protect my kidneys but it is a rough process. I took the Lasix this morning, they have not weighed me all week since my admission so I am how much water weight they put on me this time. Today I have had a lot of weird side effects that they were concerned about. I got a real intense head & spine ache coupled with chest pains within the first 15 minutes if them administering my 5th dose of Chemo. The gave me 2 oxy's & had morphine on standby, they also flushed me with 40 Lasix & after about 30 minutes most of the pain was gone, but my body has been drained all day.

On a side note my new room mate is very nice, she is in here for uterine cancer. I wish I would have had her all week, it has been nice to have someone to talk to & that is respectful of the room.

My friend Paula Parker coming up to see me this morning. It was nice to get a visit even though I wasn't feeling to great. It has been such a long & boring week. Paula told me she wants to do a Mary Kay Spa Day & Tastefully Simple fundraiser for me in the future. With the economy at the moment, all of the local layoffs & friends of ours getting their hours cut I told her it might be better off to put that off for a little later on down the road.

I am a little nervous for Marc to come get me tonight because the weather is supposed to get real nasty later. I hope it is not so bad that he can't make it up I really want to go home tonight weather permitting. I haven't seen him or the kids all week & I miss them so much. Marc told me last night he is almost done painting the bathroom. He has been so busy all week & tonight he has our monthly Chapter MLMC meeting so I don't think he will be able to get any more done with the room until after I come home.

I have my discharge paperwork & I went down to Walgreen's & got 3 of my 4 new prescriptions filled. So as long as the Chemo starts on time there should be no delays tonight. So that's it for tonight I will try to update this weekend.

Benefit Scheduled for January 24, 2008
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 8, 2009

2009-01-08T10:49:00.006-05:00

Roll up your sleeves Blood Drive Today
For those of you in the Lima area today between 8:00am -2:30pm the Allen County Department of of Job & Family Services 1501 S. Dixie Hwy.Lima, OH 45804 (in the old Westinghouse building) is holding a Blood Drive in my honor. This is open to the public, walk-ins welcome. My Aunt Debe has been working real hard with her employer & they have made great strides ensuring this is a very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved. Unfortunately I am still admitted at the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus finishing my 4th & hopefully final round of hospitalized Chemotherapy treatment however please know that I am there with you all in spirit!

Here are today's labs:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------2640------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------1380-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A
6 Jan-----126----6.8------6100------10.1-----------203--------------N/A
7 Jan-----127-----4.8----4200-------9.3-----------171--------------N/A
8 Jan---128-----3.9---3800------8.6-----------181--------------N/A

I forced myself to get back on the treadmill again yesterday. It was a lot tougher than Monday. I stayed on it for 40 minutes walking most of the time but I did manage to get up to a decent jog intermittently. My muscles ached through out it, but not my bones which was interesting. I managed to go a little over 2 miles. I was tired after that I went back to my room & laid down sweaty & all. I didn't take a shower or change my bed until 9pm & it took all the strength I could muster to do that.

My roommate left last night around 11:30pm & I am supposed to be getting another new one around noon today. My favorite nurse practitioner Carlie is back today, she has been the most informative & up front with me throughout my hospitalizations. She is ensuring I have my new prescription for Neupogen Shots & a few others prior to my last does of Chemo tomorrow night so there will be no delays getting out of here. She also gave me a heads up that it looks like I will be getting my 5th Bone Marrow Biopsy as soon as my counts recover from my last set of consolidated chemotherapy treatments to ensure I am still in remission before we move on to the 3rd phase, Maintenance Decitabine treatments. This is a lower dose of Chemotherapy that will be treated in out patient. I will receive it 1 hour per day for 5 consecutive days with cycles repeated every 6 weeks for a total of 8 cycles (the total course of treatment is 42 weeks) My understanding is this treatment is what they give to a lot of the elderly patients that have the same type of cancer as me that cannot tolerate the high doses of Citerabine I have been going through. It all sounds very promising.

Well 2 more days & I am outta here, I can't wait the clock moves a little slower each day. I miss Marc & the kids so much. I told Marc not to come up this time because the kids need him at home.

Brandon competed in a wrestling meet at Miami Trace last night & won both of his matches in the 160lb weight class. All of the Christmas decorations I took down before coming back to the hospital Marc & Brandon stored them for me, I just need to get the actual tree & outdoor decor down when I get home & then it is all done. Seems like there was so much more space in the house afterwards. I love the decorations but it does tend to clutter things a little.

I brought the prayer blanket with me to the hospital that Betsy & her church made for me. It is really pretty & warm. All the knots around it each represent a prayer someone has prayed for me. Again thank you so much to everyone for your support.

Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 7, 2009

2009-01-07T11:12:00.012-05:00

I forgot to post my hospital info, I am at the James Cancer Hopitial on the 10th Floor room 1064B. The phone number to my room is 614-293-5665.

Roll up your sleeves Blood Drive on January 8th
For those of you that will be in the Lima area tomorrow between 8:00-2:30 at the Allen County Department of of Job & Family Services 1501 S. Dixie Hwy.Lima, OH 45804 (in the old Westinghouse building). I believe this will be open to the public (walk-ins welcome), however if anyone knows ahead of time they want to participate please call Tracy Hollar @ 419-999-0297 for possible scheduling. My Aunt Debe has been working real hard with her employer & they have made great strides in making this a very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved. Unfortunately I will still be in the James at the time of the Blood Drive finishing my 4th & hopefully final round of hospitalized Chemotherapy but I will definitely be there in spirit!

Here are today's labs:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------????------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------1520-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A
6 Jan-----126----6.8------6100------10.1-----------203--------------N/A
7 Jan---127-----4.8----4000-------9.3-----------171--------------N/A

No treadmill for me yesterday,my bones were protesting so I took the night off. Hopefully tonight they will not be as painful & we will give it a try again. My day was very boring yesterday.I had a 24 hour break between the sets. So after my persistent bugging they bumped my next set of Chemo up to 8am this morning instead of 1pm in an effort to get me out of here around 11pm Friday night. The nurse did not get it hung until about 8:40am so hopefully they will get it back on track with this evening dose. I hate to have Marc come up here so late on Friday night to get me, but I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. My sleep has been real broken when I get it because they are constantly waking me up for vital checks, lab draws & medication administration.

I did complete another section of the Senior Non Commissioned Academy on line, it would be nice if I can get the whole course complete before I go back to work so I do not have too much on my plate. The material is a bit dry so it is a matter of staying focused & getting it done. I have 2 tests I need to schedule at the bade once I get out of here. Hopefully I can get one of them done when I am down at the base on the 13th or 14th making up my January Drill weekend. It should be interesting I have not been allowed to work since my diagnosis so this is my first attempt at getting back in the saddle, it is very light administrative duty for 2 days only so I do not anticipate any major problems other than trying to fit back into my uniform, it is going to be screaming at the seams!

This is the picture of Brandon after he got a clean bill of health from Dr. Gieb, no MERSA!
This is Paige & Zack making sugar cookies for Santa.
Zack with flour on his face, like he needs help accentuating those cheeks!
Katie & Marc
Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 6, 2009

2009-01-06T09:26:00.012-05:00

These were my admission labs they drew on Saturday, it is a wonder I don't need a blood infusion while I am here they draw so much blood when you come in & then daily thereafter.

My day went really slow yesterday but I had no bad side effects from my Chemo so I cannot complain. I actually felt good enough to go get on the treadmill in front of the Nurses station for 30 minutes. I was able to do a little over a mile & a half! No that may not sound like good time for all you health buffs out there but I have not been able to do that since June of 08 when I did I it in 16 or 17 minutes roughly. I remember the next month in July of 09 I was at UTA doing the mile & half run for PT and I had to stop jogging at the quarter mile mark. I was so out of breath & my heart was racing so fast it was all I could do to walk & breathe. So this is tremendous progress. I still have a lot of work to become "fit to fight" again but I will get there.

My room mate had the OSU game up so loud last night & then left it on so I could not sleep until her boyfriend left about 3am. They have me on 2 separate bags of IV fluids at 245 ml's per hour so I put out over 3,000cc's last night it was cray, I begged them to reduce the fluids this morning & they dropped me down to 145 ml's which is still a lot when you add to what I am drink as well but it is better than what they had me on.

Here are today's labs:
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------????------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------????-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A
6 Jan---126----6.8---6100------10.1-----------203--------------N/A
I asked my Nurse Practitioner for my ANC counts since the nurses have not been calculating them. Once I receive them I will add them in, but as long as the White Blood Cell count is high it is safe to assume so is the ANC count.

Marc took Brandon with him out to the clubhouse last night to watch the game until halftime & then they were home to bed. The girls did real well with Zack, who by the way got a white day at school yesterday!

This is a cute picture I took of Brandon & Zack before I was admitted last weekend.Paige was showing her Christmasy SpiritThis was Katie giving Spike a treat
So there is nothing real eventful to report other than I am still fighting the fight & we all appreciate your support so much.

It's Time to Roll up your sleeves
For those of you that will be in the Lima area on January 8th from 8:00-2:30 there will be a Blood Drive dedicated to me at the Allen County Department of Job & Family Services 1501 S. Dixie Hwy.Lima, OH 45804 (in the old Westinghouse building). I believe this will be open to the public (walk-ins welcome), however if anyone knows ahead of time they want to participate please call Tracy Hollar @ 419-999-0297 for possible scheduling. My Aunt Debe has been working real hard with her employer & they have made great strides in making this a very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved. Unfortunately I will be in the James at the time of the Blood Drive undergoing my 4th & hopefully final round of hospitalized Chemotherapy but I will definitely be there in spirit!

Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 5, 2009

2009-01-05T00:04:00.013-05:00

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122-----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A
4 Jan-----124----4.4------????------10.0-----------225--------------N/A
5 Jan-----125----2.9------????-------9.9-----------214--------------N/A

This is me, Aunt Debe & Amber when they came up to visit on Saturday.

Marc took me to the hospital yesterday the weather was just a yuck day with fog, rain & cold. I think it was an omen for what was to come. I have never been admitted to the James on a weekend so I had no way of knowing that the attending physician leaves very early. No big deal right? Wrong! No attending means no Chemo order & no pharmacist to fill it. I basically came in for lab draws & a kidney drowning. I could have got all that done at Madison County Hospital. I didn't have the energy to be raise any Cain about it. I keep telling myself that this is the last round in the hospital don't get worked up over the small things.

The fellow, Dr blah blah, I don't even know her name, was very thorough in her assessment of me. This last round was not as event free as the previous ones. In the past 2 weeks I have had a lot of sporadic memory loss that was troubling & way out of the ordinary. At moments I have a hard time carrying on a conversation without bouncing from topic to topic without closing one out. The Dr started talking about having a Cat Scan or a MRI of my brain, just to make sure the Chemo isn't eating my brain I guess. After the Dr came in in the morning to look at me he believes it is just Chemo Brain catching up to me.

So one night down 5 more to go. To my dismay today did not start out much better.delay after delay. They finally started my Chemo a little after 1pm which is better than the 8pm they told me which had me in an uproar earlier. So I am stuck here until Saturday. There is no way around it. I will miss another club meeting which sucks but considering the alternatives I can live with it. I just hate having Marc at home to deal with all 4 of the kids by himself. That is enough to wear you down & he has been so stressed here lately.

Brandon update: after damn near starving himself & pushing his body to the limits Brandon did not make weight for the wrestling tournament by not even a pound. He ended up having to wrestle at 160 after all, he was pulverized. It was a 2 day tournament he put on 7 pounds that night afterwards & wrestled 160 again & won 2 of his 3 matches. He has given up the fantasy that he can wrestle in the 140's & is now content for the most part with wrestling at 160.

Can you tell I got the photo's from my camera uploaded finally, unfortunately our Christmas day photos are on Marc's Camera.

This is a picture of Katie down at her Dads, she looks great!
This is Dorene & Viola when they came bearing gifts for the family from my friends & Colleagues at ODH. It was really awesome, I know I said it in a previous posts but it bears repeating, Thank you so much!

On a side note, Marcus has been a very busy bee painting "the Room". We really had a hard time finding a color that would go in there, everything we tested on the wall showed up purple next to the Fun Yellow color Misty had on the walls. This picture was our first color tester. We took a chance on an antique marble color & luckily with 2 coats it covered the yellow & looks really good. When I get out of here I will take a picture & show you. He still has the bathroom to cut in & put on a second coat but that should be done by the time I get out, he is amazing.

It's Time to Roll up your sleeves
For those of you that will be in the Lima area on January 8th from 8:00-2:30 there will be a Blood Drive dedicated to me at the Allen County Department of Job & Family Services 1501 S. Dixie Hwy.Lima, OH 45804 (in the old Westinghouse building). I believe this will be open to the public (walk-ins welcome), however if anyone knows ahead of time they want to participate please call Tracy Hollar @ 419-999-0297 for possible scheduling. My Aunt Debe has been working real hard with her employer & they have made great strides in making this a very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved. Unfortunately I will be in the James at the time of the Blood Drive undergoing my 4th & hopefully final round of hospitalized Chemotherapy but I will definitely be there in spirit!

Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 4, 2009

2009-01-04T09:24:00.007-05:00

I forgot to post my labs from Friday so here they are.
Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A
2 Jan-----122----2.7-----1400------10.1-----------193--------------N/A

Katie made it home from her Dads without incident! I was nervous with her flying alone for the for the first time but she did real good. Her Dad bought her a cell phone (Paige is extremely jealous) & put her on his plan so she was very excited about that & her DS. She got sick later that night & was sick most of the day on Saturday as well so she will have to wait for her birthday with us until I get out of the hospital.

I got my package from Aunt Lynn with my Alpaca Hat on Saturday. I tried it on & not only does it fit but it is so soft & warm. I showed it to Marc & he joked that he wanted a Black one for riding so Aunt Lynn spoke to the lady that made mine & she is making him one, how cool is that!

Yesterday we had a great visit with my Aunt Debe & my cousin Amber, they drove up from Lima & stayed all day. Amber got a very full dose of Zack Attack & is well on her way to being a Wii Fishing Master. Debe & I got to talk a lot it was a very nice & relaxing day.

If it isn't one thing it is another. My ANC Counts went down on Friday even lower than what they were & they have not come back up since. I am still out of the Neupogen shots so we have been being very careful. I knew I was being admitted Sunday & I would not see my Dr. until then to get a new prescription. So First thing this morning I called the James to make sure they had a room for me & they told me I was not scheduled until the 7th. I got real upset about this & so did Marc because no one called us & told us of the changes (again, this happened the last time). Marc made me page my Dr. & have her fix it. After talking to her she called in & was able to get me in today, I guess a nurse was supposed to call me & tell me that I was not going to get the 4th but she never did. So my next issue is that hopefully they can get me on the 10th floor & start my Chemo tonight but we will have to wait & see.

On a side note Marc got the bedroom all painted & has started in on the bathroom. I can't believe how fast he got it done & it looks great. I suspect he will have the guys come over & help him move the furniture this week while I am in the hospital.

I am sure there are some things I missed but that is the quick down & dirty of what has been going on this past week. I hope to get all the pictures uploaded this week while I am in the hospital.

It's Time to Roll up your sleeves
For those of you that will be in the Lima area on January 8th from 8:00-2:30 there will be a Blood Drive dedicated to me at the Allen County Department of Job & Family Services 1501 S. Dixie Hwy.Lima, OH 45804 (in the old Westinghouse building). I believe this will be open to the public (walk-ins welcome), however if anyone knows ahead of time they want to participate please call Tracy Hollar @ 419-999-0297 for possible scheduling. My Aunt Debe has been working real hard with her employer & they have made great strides in making this a very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved. Unfortunately I will be in the James at the time of the Blood Drive undergoing my 4th & hopefully final round of hospitalized Chemotherapy but I will definitely be there in spirit!

Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

January 1, 2009

2009-01-01T15:51:00.004-05:00

Happy 2009 everyone!

We went out to the Clubhouse last night & had a good time but we were home in bed by 1:30am this morning. I only drank a large Rooster (my speciality) & Marc only had a few beers so we woke up without too much difficulty. I can't believe this is a new year already, this past year has went by so fast. I can honestly say I have not made any New Year's resolutions because every time I do they never stick. So My biggest hope for the new year is that I make it less stressful than the last year. It is realistic & obtainable if I can shut out negativity when it comes my way. It sure sounds easy enough so we'll have to see.

we were supposed to go on a polar Bear Run this afternoon but instead we have been very busy moving the rest of Misty's stuff. I have to say thank you Clutch & Slinky for helping us move all of her furniture, we could not have done it without you. Krome & Thumper are the only 2 that I know of that went on a Polar Bear Run, it was rally cold out. They stopped over to see us they looked so cute all bundled up. Marc is in the process of taping the room so he can paint it. It looks very big when it is empty.

I have not posted any labs since Monday because I did not make it to the hospital Wed with everything going on but I will be going in first thing tomorrow. I have no clue what my counts will be but I am hoping for good ones.

December 30, 2008

2008-12-30T14:13:00.007-05:00

It's Time to Roll up your sleeves
I am very excited to share with you that for those of you that will be in the Lima area on January 8th from 8:00-2:30 there will be a Blood Drive dedicated to me at the Allen County Department of Job & Family Services 1501 S. Dixie Hwy.Lima, OH 45804 (in the old Westinghouse building). I believe this will be open to the public (walk-ins welcome), however if anyone knows ahead of time they want to participate please call Tracy Hollar @ 419-999-0297 for possible scheduling. My Aunt Debe has been working real hard with her employer & they have made great strides in making this a very coordinated effort with multiple agencies involved. Unfortunately I will be in the James at the time of the Blood Drive undergoing my 4th & hopefully final round of hospitalized Chemotherapy but I will definitely be there in spirit!

Things have been busy this week. I still have not started taking down Christmas decorations, I may not get to this until after I get out of the hospital. The kids are home & we have been playing Wii a lot as a family which is kinda cool, Zack is almost to the pro status in bowling, Paige is right behind him. I suck, but it's fun. My recovery this round has not went as well as I would have hoped for. I keep expecting that things will go as well as the time before & so far they were. Other than being weaker and the pain being more intense then usual my biggest concern is my low ANC counts, it just takes one little flu bug to wipe me out. I hate living in fear of that, hopefully I will get good news tomorrow with my labs that my counts are back up again & all this worrying will be for nothing.

We ran out to look at paint tonight for Marc to paint over the Fun Yellow color Misty had the entire addition painted, needless to say I picked Ancient Marble which is a much softer tone. I was irritated after Misty moved out & Marc told me we were going to put our bedroom in there because the way Misty designed the room was not my preferred choice when we had the addition built for her last year. But Marc has convinced me with changing the paint color & my diminished capacity with this cancer(not tolerating the stairs well)it will be ok. Marc & Brandon got 2 loads of Misty's stuff moved to her new apartment. I did not realize she had so much stuff & she is unable to move most of herself. When she was ready to move in with us I paid a mover, well a lot has happened since then & I can't afford to have a mover move her out. If everything goes according to plans good friends of ours will be helping us move the rest of Misty's large furniture out on New Year's Day.

Brandon has a 2 day wrestling tournament this weekend & he is trying to cut weight, he was not feeling to good tonight after practice. I told Marc we need to watch him a little closer & make sure he doesn't cut too much weight too fast if he does me & him are going to have words. He is all muscle as it is & I don't think he fully understands how dangerous it is to cut weight. He thinks because the school tests their body fat at the beginning of the season that it is ok to drop down to that lowest point. His lowest class he can drop to is 145 & he easily weighed between 157-160 last week,he doesn't always listen to the voice of reason.

I posted information below about a benefit the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls are holding for me. I will continue to post this information along with the Blood Drive information at the bottom of each post until they have occurred. Thank you all for your support.

Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

December 29, 2008

2008-12-29T11:03:00.005-05:00

Over the course of 9 days I had 8 infusions with this round of Chemo recovery. Thank you so much to those of you who are out there donating blood & platelets in my honor. Even though I may not receive your donation directly your donations are essential so that others may live myself included.

I could not get over how quite the house was this weekend. There were several moments where I would find myself relaxing on the couch & look over at Marc, he would look at me & it was nice not having any stress. Of course there were moments where I think we were both a little bored as well. But then there was the occasional energy bursts from Zack, we don't call him Zack Attack for nothing. Even Spike was exceptionally mellow, he was on my lap every chance he got. He always sleeps with Paige so I went ahead & put him in our bed, Marc can't wait for Paige to come home because he said Spike is a bed hog.

We rented some movies from Blockbuster Death Race for us, Hancock & Snow Buddies for Zack. After watching Hancock I knew we were in trouble because Zack is a huge movie buff, not only does he memorize entire scenes he tries to reenact them. There was quite a bit of cursing in the movie, so I am a little nervous that he may try to repeat them.

The three of us went out to the Clubhouse Saturday afternoon to get something to eat & hang out for a little bit. Kim called me Sunday night & said she took my purse in the house because I left it out at the clubhouse. I went a whole day & never noticed it was missing & have no memory of taking it out there. This Chemo has to be affecting my brain a little bit because I have never done that before.

I have been having real intense bone pain in the evening for the last 2 nights. I keep blaming it on my bone marrow making all my blood & platelets. I have taken 2 oxy's each night but they really are not phasing it, hopefully it will hurry up & be done soon, it cripples me to where I can't hardly get up.

Today is Katie's 15th Birthday, I talked to here this morning, sounds like she is having a good time at her Father's, she flys back on Friday. Brandon & Paige will be home later today so that should liven up the house a bit. It's hard to believe but it will be nice to have some noise back in the house. I have to say Zack surprised me with how good he has been considering all the older kids were gone this weekend, I think it helped having all his new toys to play with.

Zack went to the Hospital with me this morning for my lab draws & PICC care. He went with me last Friday as well. The first time he had a lot of questions but this time he was just chatting away about all of his toys. I think it may help him understand & cope with my illness a little better by seeing that I am not getting hurt when I go to the hospital.

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-----29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A
29 Dec-----118----3.6-----1836------9.6-----------121--------------N/A

So these are my labs today, I do not know what is going on with my immune system, I'm down then I am through the roof, it's a yo yo & I don't get it. So far in my treatment once my counts drop & then come back up during recovery they stay up, that is not happening. So I have to go back on my neupogen shots again. When I went to Clinic at the James 2 weeks ago my Dr. told me once my counts hit 5,000 quit taking the shots, if it goes below 5,000 start taking them again. I had 10 shots left when I saw her & she told me they should last through my next chemo treatment because my counts have always bounced back so quickly. At the rate I am going the shots are not going to last me through this round let alone the next phase. So I am going to have to call my Dr. this afternoon & see what she wants me to do, I only have 3 shots left.

December 26, 2008

2008-12-26T08:21:00.008-05:00

Marc & I made it to bed about 2am & Zack awoke at 6:50am Christmas morning. I figured Zack would have been up a lot earlier than that, I was grateful for the little bit of sleep we got.

Zack really surprised me this year, he helped pass out the presents & actually looked at what he got before he would move on to the next one. He is at the fun age as Marc calls it. Katie & Paige seemed a little bummed that they did not get as many presents as Zack until they opened their gift cards & the Will. Brandon is easy to please it almost seemed like he was having as more fun playing with Zack's toys. The Wii, our family present this year, has not had a break. Marc & I have had it for months, it was driving him nuts not to give it to the kids early, but I made him wait. Everyone in the house including Zack has made their own Wii person, they have a slight resemblance, mine is short, stocky & bald, LOL. I couldn't believe Brandon was up & had the Wii on at 6:40am while Katie was doing her last minute packing.

This Christmas was extra special for so many reasons. The outpouring of support from my friends & co-workers at ODH was just unbelievable. The kids absolutely loved the presents from "Santa". Everyone that has sent in financial contributions to help out with the medical costs of my leukemia treatment, you all enabled us to not have to tap into the kids Christmas fund that we save up for each year. There is also my prayer warriors, you keep on praying because we still have a long way to go. I am just so thankful for our friends & family & their unwavering support. Marc & I cannot thank you all enough, we truly are so grateful. We made & received so many calls yesterday & even still there are many of you I missed. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Jill & George, Katie's grandparents, came to pick her up Katie at 7:30. I should have got a picture, she looked real cute. Misty got her a real good hair straightener for Christmas & Paige helped her straighten her natural curls last night(Katie hates her curly hair).I am still real nervous about Katie flying solo this year but she has the cell phone & has been told several times what to do.She has had a few delays already today I won't be relieved until I get that phone call saying she made it to Shreveport, LA. I can't believe my baby girl has grown up so fast, she is as tall as me now if not taller.

Brandon & Paige headed out about 10:00am to their Grandmas for the weekend, so it is just Zack, Marc & I. The house is going to be way too quiet this weekend. Marc took some pictures & taped the kids opening their presents. Once I get them downloaded from his camera I will make a slide show & post it, this might take me a few days. In the mean time for your viewing pleasure I posted the the kids elf dancing video, it is hilarious!

So I went to the hospital at 9am for my labs & Sue wasn't there. I must of got the time wrong, I was blaming that on the chemo brain until Sue called, she ended up sending her other nurse up to draw my labs.

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3---------45----1 Unit of Blood
26 Dec-----115----32.5-------29600------8.8-----------70--------------N/A

Yeah, I am back off the Neupogen shots, my hemoglobin level is holding & my platelets appear to be producing on their own again. I go back in on Monday for more labs. My ANC & White Blood Cell counts should drop down significantly, I need to sustain on my own an ANC of 5,000 or higher.

I will not be posting again until Monday more than likely so I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

December 25, 2008

2008-12-25T10:13:00.005-05:00

From our house to yours Merry Christmas! Special thanks to all the Santa's that made this Christmas extra special for our kids.
The Vest's

December 24, 2008

2008-12-24T06:26:00.006-05:00

Happy Christmas Eve!

Yesterday was so busy I did not have time to post. I had to update the MLMC website with the 2009 Calendar of events, take Brandon to wrestling, than pick him up & take him to the Dr. I am happy to report it is not MERSA on Brandon's wrist, she thinks he may have got something under the skin that caused an infection. From there we went to Walmart to drop of his prescriptions, plus the last minute Santa stuff & get groceries.

When we got home the fun did not stop. I don't know where I got the energy from but I emptied out the refrigerator & cleaned it thoroughly. It seemed to take forever because to get the shelves in & out you have to do it in a certain order & needless to say it took longer than I planned. It does however look brand new on the inside now, Marc came home from work & said "Holy S**t" when he saw it.

Paige & Katie were a great help with Zack, they worked on his Christmas break activity pack with him & he is done with the whole thing. He also has a list of other activities we still have to complete before he goes back to school. Katie leaves the 26th to see her dad in Louisiana. This will be the first year she is flying down there unattended & I am nervous about it. I borrowed a friends Boost cell phone to send with her so she can call us both every step of the way. Hopefully the weather will cooperate & she will not have any trouble making her connections.

I made Marc & the kids sit down & make a menu with me so I know what to cook for the week. Last night I made toasted subs, I can't mess that one up. Marc always teases me because there are very few things that I can cook what he calls real home cooked meals & not something out of a box, but I try. It is going to take a little bit for me to get back in the swing of things, Misty was a really great cook.

I had a real nasty fall on the ice last night except for that I have been feeling pretty good for the most part. Santa was in wrapping mode last night & early this morning.

So today is Christmas Eve & I am mailing our Christmas Cards out today, Katie & Paige were outstanding helpers with the envelopes I could not print the labels from the computer so they hand wrote everything. Were sorry they are so late this year, but better late than never. Thank you so much Aunt Sue & Uncle David, I got your card today with your words of encouragement & another very generous donation for my medical fund.

Zack is super hyper-excited, he can't wait for Santa to come tonight. Zack, Paige, Katie & I are going to make sugar cookies with me this afternoonish, Zack won't stop asking can we make them now, it is too funny. I remember when our 3 teenagers in the house used to get that excited. Later tonight we will all sit down & read Twas the Night Before Christmas & then they can open their presents from Grandma.

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A
24 Dec-----113----3.3-------1400------7.3-----------45----1 Unit of Blood

As you can see my hemoglobin dropped so I had to go in & get an infusion today. My ANC is bottoming out so I am back on the Neupogen shots until Friday at a minimum, My RN Sue is going to come in (even though she has the day off) to draw my labs to make sure my labs are good & to give me an infusion if I need another one.

I don't plan to post tomorrow but we'll see, just on case I don't I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

December 22,2008

2008-12-22T08:01:00.009-05:00

3 days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet
20 Dec-----109---5.2-------4300-------8.6-----------43----1 Unit Platelet
22 Dec-----111---12.3------10800------8.6-----------23--------------N/A

I was expecting another platelet infusion when I went to the hospital Saturday morning, even my RN Sue was to the point that she pre-ordered the Platelets on Friday afternoon. You can imagine to both of our surprise when my Platelets came back in at 44! This is really good news, my bone marrow must be kicking into overdrive because my counts are coming up. The side effect to this is my bones hurt like hell but I don't care.

Weekend review: Friday night the kids had a great time at the clubhouse for the London MLMC kids Christmas Party. Saterday we went up to Findlay & I think they got the ice storms up there because all of the trees & the back roads were still covered in ice. Sunday, Misty, my mother-in-law, found an apartment & is in the process of moving out.

Today my White Blood Cell & ANC counts went through the roof & my platelets came down some. I will take a good ANC count over low Platelets any day, I can get an infusion if I need one but if I get sick & my ANC Count is low my body can't fight it.

This morning it was -20 with the wind chill, Brrrr all day. Spike even went out & took care of business without running around. Paige had Olivia one of her Cheerleading friends spend the night last night, I think Zack is in love & Katie was irritated. To add to the list of what is going on Brandon has what looks like the beginning of MERSA on his forearm from wrestling. I have him scheduled to be seen at his Dr. in the morning if it is what we think it is I will have to take him to Children's Hospital Urgent Care in Dublin to get him treated.

I want to send special thanks out to David Nunley & MLM Digital Stream for their generous donations to my Leukemia Support Fund.

As Christmas draws closer with everything going on & the kids on break my posts will get a little shorter so bear with me, I will post when I can. I am scheduled to go back in the hospital on January 4th for my 3rd & hopefully final round of Consolidated Chemotherapy, this will be my toughest round yet. This unfortunately will not be the end to my Chemo but it should be the end to hospitialized Chemo & that is awesome!

Benefit Scheduled
Many of you who know me may remember I used to be on the Board & the Treasurer for the London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls when Katie & Paige were in Rainbow. I was contacted by Mom Wendy Hall, Mother Advisor from The London Assembly #208 Rainbow Girls & they are holding a Spaghetti Dinner Benefit for me on January 24th from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the Chandler Lodge located at 65 North Main Street, London Ohio. The Menu will be Spaghetti, sauce with meatballs, bread & butter, salad with dressing & a drink for $5.00. Desserts will be available for a donation & you can dine in or carryout is available. If you would like any information please contact Keith Hall @ 614-302-0431or airforcekeith@sbcglobal.net

December 19, 2008

2008-12-19T10:13:00.018-05:00

6 Days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet
19 Dec-----108---2.6-------1300-------8.6-----------4-----1 Unit Platelet

I awoke this morning to Spike in my Bed. Marc usually takes him to work with him in the morning so it was a pleasant surprise. He laid with me a lot on the couch last night with me so I took him to bed with us, he usually sleeps with Paige. Marc must have figured we needed so time together.

It is raining today, what was ice ice turned into a nice slush & then everything was just wet. The temperature was 34 when I dropped the kids off at school & headed to the hospital for my lab draws. I was amazed to see the sun come out for a brief smile before the rains came back this afternoon.

Our other child in the house, his name is I don't know or I didn't do it has been playing pranks on me. The latest one involves a load of whites I put in the washer. When I got home from the hospital & was putting them in the dryer low & behold there was a red hand towel in there that wasn't there when I started the washing machine. Thank god the bleach must have already ran through because nothing turned pink or I would have blown up for sure.

Sue, my RN, was scheduled off today but she came in for me. The rash & all the bruises are still there the only new ones that I can tell are on the sides of my head. Speaking of my head, in spots my hair is growing. It looks like peach fuzz only a little longer in patches. I think for every hair that grows another one falls out. I am constantly finding these little hairs in my head caps. Anyway, Sue used the Highway Patrol to get my Platelets again today, they are 4 so at least they came up a little bit. I am loving my ANC number increase, once I hit 5,000 I can quit taking the Neupogen shots, I am running out of places to shoot it because everything is so bruised up not to mention here lately they have been stinging & hurting like heck when I shoot it.

Dorene Burkhart & Viola Webber from the Ohio Department of Health, Office of Public Health Preparedness came out to the house today bearing all kinds of gifts for our family from my friends & colleagues. Everyone up at ODH has been so supportive through phone calls, prayers, visits, gifts & Finical donations. It feels so good to know that we are cared about so much. Thank you so much to everyone up at ODH & especially to Dorene & Viola for making the trip to our home, I miss all of you!

I was talking to Dorene & Viola before they left, I have to say I was having a real hard time at first even asking for help, I almost felt guilty about it because Marc & I have always taken care of ourselves. In the past we have been through some really hard times between my Iraq War deployments , Brandon & Paige's Mothers death, it was really tough on everyone but somehow we always got through it together. After many conversations with others (My sister Sharon, Aunt Lynn, Dorene & Viola, etc) It has taken awhile but I am finally understanding that it is not placing a burden on other people, that people genuinely want to help us & they will not put themselves out to do it. My sister told me yesterday "it's not like you put yourself in this situation Sandi, people want to help you & it makes them feel good doing it so quit beating yourself up about it". I have to say it can be very overwhelming at moments just how much people really do care & want to see me make it through this. I never really knew how much until now & it makes me feel so warm on the inside & I am fighting that much harder each day.

I take my ANC count increase as a sign that things are on the up & up for next week. I can't think of a better way to end this week because this week has been a rough week for me physically & mentally. I hope all of you enjoy your weekend, I plan to make the most of mine. Happy Holidays everybody!

December 18, 2008

2008-12-18T08:00:00.034-05:00

7 Days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
3 Dec------92----5.0------4,400-------9.5--------183------------N/A
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet
18 Dec-----107---1.3---------90-------8.5-----------2-----1 Unit Platelet

When I updated the Blog yesterday I was so tired I did not see the comment from Jenny Goldberg at OCSEA Headquarters that posted under the Dec 16th Blog. I went to my Blog Dashboard to start writing today's blog when I noticed that her comment was added. I was so surprised when I read it, This past week I have been so out of it, its a wonder I get anything posted on my Blog. I apologise now for all the spelling & grammatical errors. I reread my Blog sometimes & catch them but they are already posted & read so its to late to fix them.

Jenny I don't know what to say other than it is amazing that OCSEA is willing to do a Blood drive in my honor, I will try to get a hold of you today. We got rid of our house phone a few months back & we only use our cellphone now. I am sending a letter to Aetna with my donor numbers attached to it to see if they will apply a discount for 23 of the infusions. I still need Blood & Platelet infusions, this week it has been daily, I am up to 39 total if you count today's infusion. I am a firm believer that you never take more than you need & when you can give back do it. I have 23 people that have sent me their Donor ID Numbers since I have been diagnosed and several other people have told me they have donated blood as well. I still want people to donate in my honor when possible because I cannot donate myself. It is important to me that for every unit I can say that someone replaced it for me & if we could double or triple the amount I use it is even better. When I was a flight medic with the Air Force & an avid Blood Donor before I got sick I knew it was important to donate blood but I never really realized just how important these blood products are until my life was literally hanging on by a thread with a hemoglobin of 4 & my Platelets at 14 back on September 3, 2008. Those 6 units of blood & platelets I received kept me alive, today it's the infusions & treatment coupled with everyones prayers & support.

I go in this morning to see Sue,my RN at Madison County Hospital, before she even drew my labs this morning she ordered the platelets ASAP, both of my legs & feet are now covered in petechiae rash, along with all the other bruises & sores. She was very concerned when I told her my Platelets were less than 2 yesterday, she said what would happen if I didn't have any. So far the only place I have blood oozing from that I know of is my mouth & my nose only does it if I sneeze or blow it. She had the Highway Patrol called to go & pick up the Platelets & bring them back, I asked her why & she said otherwise we have to wait on the Red Cross to bring it out in their van & that takes a lot longer, the Highway Patrol can drive a lot faster. I did not know that they did this.

Here are the pictures of the petechiae rash on my legs & feet. Don't be making fun of my toe nails. I haven't painted them since I was admitted to the James the first go round back in September.

There was an anonymous comment left on the Blog about contacting the Credit Union with regard to my Leukemia Fund account, I did contact them today & they said there was no problems, the way I have it posted on this Blog is correct. If you choose to send in a donation for me through the State of Ohio Credit Union please follow the directions listed under Donate, they said they spoke with a caller about this today & that the most important part is ensuring you have my name spelled correctly on the check. I have recognised everyone under contributors that has donated so if you do not see your name there please let me know so I can correct this & contact the Credit Union. My e-mail is sandittie1@yahoo.com if you need to get a hold of me.

Zack woke up happy this morning but was being kinda rotten before he left for school so I was hoping that he got a white day today & thank goodness he was all smiles when he got of the bus (he had a white day)! He has been ornery as heck tonight singing love stinks into a basting brush.

Marc helped Misty out in the kitchen & later during dinner a laundry conversation went all bad.

I was finally able to make it out to pick up the parent's night photo we had taken a couple of months ago.

All of the kids start their Christmas Break Friday night! We are taking them out to the Clubhouse for a Christmas Party, I think they will have a real good time.

December 17, 2008

2008-12-17T15:40:00.026-05:00

8 Days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
3 Dec------92----5.0------4,400-------9.5--------183------------N/A
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-------1 Unit Platelet
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3---------3--1 Blood & 1 Platelet
17 Dec-----106---0.6--------168-------9.0-----------1-----1 Unit Platelet

Last night I took 2 more oxys for pain & tried to get Zack from Misty's room, he was watching the Polar Express. Needless to say it was not over so he did not want to go to bed. By 9 it still was not over but I made him go to bed so I could. I think I was passed out by 9:10 at the latest.

There was a winter storm advisory all night & we awoke this morning to everything coated in ice outside. It was very pretty but also quite dangerous. Marc took off work to take me to the hospital & I am so grateful, I would of had a really hard time driving that far with the weather & my fatigue after infusion issues. We left for my Dr. appointment at 7:45am & Marc was grumpy because he wanted some McDonald's & said we didn't have time to get any. I told him the weather was bad, go through the drive through if were late were late. I wanted McDonald's so bad it smelled so good but my mouth hurt so bad I knew I couldn't eat it plus I did not want to have any food stuck in my teeth when the Dr. looked at my mouth.

We made it to my appointment on time. The Highway was clear & we managed to avoid all traffic delays.
My Dr. ordered a platelet infusion & took a look at my mouth & ordered me some more magic mouth wash to help numb the pain of it. I thought one the hematomas in my mouth was starting to look infected but she said it is just mucosa. I also expressed my concerns to her about my neutraphil counts this past week & she said some people Nader for 10-14 days & not to worry about my counts being so low for 5 days in a row, I was fortunate to bounce back so quickly the first few times. She gave some new prescriptions for pain among other things & told me I need to keep being careful especially avoiding sick people & wait it out my counts should start coming up soon.

My Platelets came back in at less than 2, I asked so I have 1 then & they all kept saying less than 2. I found it a little humorous, because they would not say 1 or 0 because according to the nurse I couldn't possibly have 0 platelets. My ANC was 168 which is up from 0, so I got a little excited about this until the nurse said anything under 500 is like having 0 because you are severely neutrapenic. Now that I look back at my results for the past 4 days I probably did have a neutraphil count but it was so low they just told me 0, the ANC is calculated as a percentage of your white blood cell count & your band & segmented neutraphils.
They moved us to an infusion room after my Dr. saw me. The nurse asked me if I got pre-medicated & I told her yes so she gave me 2 Tylenol & 1 Benadryl. Marc said what do you need that for & the nurse told him it helps prevent reactions to the infusion. Marc can be real sarcastic when he wants to be, he said yeah right cetametaphin & Benadryl what does that prevent. I said rigors the nurse said also fever & hives & that it can get even worse. That shut him up for a minute. I got real tired real quick from the Benadryl, my Platelets take a little over 30 minutes to infusion at the James because they run them through with a pump. I was real out of it when Marc woke me up.

Because the weather was so bad last night I told MSgt Bill Larue not to come out, I did not want him to get in an accident, so we met at Rooster's in Columbus for lunch. We had such a nice visit. My ability to taste food has been off & on, I was happy because I could actually taste the food today & it was good. It was so good I took Bill's last cheese stick, he said some things never change, it was real funny. Bill got both Marc & I Harley Davidson T-Shirts from Frankfurt, he gave me a sweatshirt from the Alps, he got Zack a cool Ausfart T shirt & the kids Kinder eggs (Chocolate eggs with toys inside, they are really neat). He brought back 2 cases of wine from Germany & gave us a bottle of Muhlmichel Schlosshof Kirchheim Cuvee, it is supposed to be a fruity red wine that is low in nitrates so you don't get a hangover headache. So I am looking forward to having a glass of that with Misty, she like wine. As usual Bill outdid himself, he is such a good friend & a real sweet heart when he wants to be, now if I could just find him a good woman...

My Dr. told me earlier today that I need to quit waiting so long to take my pain meds. By the time we got home I was starting to have some healthy bone pain so I took an Oxy. Katie was home & got her chores done, out of all the kids she does her chores the best, its weird because she is real good about cleaning everything, but when it comes to taking care of herself she does not put the effort in. I keep waiting for her to snap out of the phase she is in. I notice if Paige helps her do her hair & pick out her outfit she is really into it but if she has to do it on her own she does something quick & simple.

As soon as Zack walked in the door I knew he did not have a white day, it was written all over his bottom lip that was sticking out. He said he got on yellow ( the middle of the color chart). He said he laughed at a kid during the concert. Marc took his computer time away & I was just happy he didn't kick or hit someone. He has been doing really well since his incident at the beginning of the month. Since I have talked about Zack & his color chart so much I thought you all might like to see what we are talking about.

Misty is cooking a Spam concoction tonight for dinner it actually sounds pretty good. Paige has cheerleading & Brandon has wresting practice tonight. I plan to just sit back & relax. Hopefully my counts will start going up soon so I won't be stressing over them so much.

Lynn you are awesome, I know we talked earlier today on the phone but I just thought I would tell ya again I love you. You always post a comment for me on the Blog & you have been so supportive through all of this. The Alpaca Hat is going to be awesome I know it, I would have never thought of that & I think it is so cool that she is going to put some Mojo into it.

Aunt Bonnie, I tried to call Aunt Eileen a few months ago when I first got sick & I left a message but never heard back. I have a feeling now maybe that was not her phone. If you could please e-mail me her phone # I would appreciate it.

December 16, 2008

2008-12-16T15:28:00.007-05:00

9 Days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
3 Dec------92----5.0------4,400-------9.5--------183------------N/A
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-----------1 Unit Platelets
16 Dec-----105---0.4----------0-------7.3-----------3-1 Unit Blood & 1 Unit Platelets

On the 9th day of Christmas my cancer gave to me a crappy lab report & a whole day at the hospital!

I really need to vent a little so I don't hold all this in. I was so bummed to see this mornings lab report, I only gained 1 Platelet from my entire infusion yesterday. I should have known this though. When I got home all of the signs were there... My petechiae rash got much worse on my hands & my right ankle looks like it was tied up or something. My stomach look terrible from my injection site bruises, one of which is about the size of a softball. When you add this to the red petechiae where there was once white skin, it looks like the rest of my stomach went many years as a bar room dart board. I have multiple bruises on the rest of my body to, there are just to many to mention, so I am highlighting the newest ones. My mouth is a mess. I have 7 at last count hematomas in my mouth that keep busting & bleeding. I am sure there are more than that in my GI tract. it is so hard to feel like a woman right now. Every time I look in the mirror with this bald head it just pisses me off. I hate this, I just hate the whole thing. This is the ugly side of cancer that your not supposed to talk about, or that no one really wants to hear about. I am hoping someday I am going to look back at this moment & say I was such a whiner today but, today I don't care I think I have earned the right to whine every now & then. I do try to be positive I really do, but I looked in the mirror when I got home after being at the hospital for over 7 hours just to get 2 infusions & the person looking back at me I didn't even recognise, so part of it made me cry & the other part just pissed me off.

I am going to blame my outburst on being nuts because I literally did not sleep at all last night, that is a good an excuse as any I suppose. I took to oxycodones last night because the bone pain got so bad, I figured for sure they would knock me out. I was so tired but I just couldn't fall asleep.

Zack just walked in & told me he got on White today & gave me a big kiss. That kid can brighten anyone's day. How can I keep wallowing in self pity & gripe when he is such a huge motivational factor.

I have to go to the James tomorrow for Clinic, I am a little nervous that they are going to admit me because my Neutraphils have been at zero for so long & the neupogen shots are not working. I have to be there at 8:30am, I hope I am able to get some sleep tonight.

For some reason my camera card reader is not working on Marc's computer so I can't upload any of my photo's from today!

December 15, 2008

2008-12-15T09:40:00.041-05:00

10 Days until Christmas!

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
3 Dec------92----5.0------4,400-------9.5--------183------------N/A
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1----------31--------------N/A
15 Dec-----104---0.4----------0-------7.8-----------2-----------1 Unit Platelets

Well my counts are pretty much as I expected, real low. I am really surprised that the Neupogen shots are not giving me any boost to my ANC counts. I take them to give me some what of an immune system, unfortunately they are not working because I still have virtually no immune system. It is making me a little nervous that I am going so long without without one this time. The last round my systems bounced back really quick, I am having no such luck this time. On the upside my RN at Madison County hospital was amazed that I am up & walking around & functioning so well with my counts so low.

I started bruising late Saturday night & it continued over the weekend. I have real nasty looking bruises on my belly at the Neupogen injection sites.

When I went in this morning for my lab draws I noticed a petechiae rash all over both my hands that was not there this morning. By the time I got home I looked and the petechiae is now starting to show up all over the rest of my body. My mouth sores came back & my gums are oozing blood but I figure I will not gross you out with those pictures.

Sue rushed my labs while I was at the hospital & when they came back she ordered me some platelets. I am scheduled to get those around noon today, they have to go to the Red Cross & pick them up. Sue also told me tomorrow I am going to get an infusion of blood first thing. My parameters are if my hemoglobin is below 8 I get a infusion.

I got a phone call last night from my friend MSgt Larue that was deployed for quite awhile, he said they all made it back to the States safely, but they were having a few problems that caused some delays but they had made it to DC when he called me. He is planning to come over to our house Tuesday night if all goes as planned, can't wait to see him. Welcome home guys!

We went to the MLMC Circleville chapters Christmas Party & had a really good time. I won $44 from the 50/50 drawing which was great! They had a huge monkey there that they auctioned off, it was so big it would take a flatbed truck to haul the thing. I am going to try to get pictures from Pixi or Oatmeal for the Missing link Website. I usually take my camera with me everywhere, but here lately I would forget my head if it wasn't attached. We ended up leaving party early, I got tired quick & my bones started aching. I wanted to stay but my body was not up for it.

Sunday we received a wonderful gift of sundry items, staples & a toy for each of the kids from the Organized Labor of Central Ohio. Bill Davies, a very dear friend & fellow motorcycle enthusiast, who also happens to be in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) put our family in for this. They provide this to Union workers that have fallen under hard times as well as the community every year. Marc & I are both in Union, OCSEA but we had no idea that this program even existed. The set up they had at the UAW was unbelievable & very streamlined. The people were all very friendly as well. The whole thing was just amazing. I want to send a huge thank you out Bill Davies (who was right there out front smiling real big when we pulled in) and to everyone that was out there volunteering, to all the unions, companies & organizations that made it possible.

While I am thanking people I want to include Ruth Gerding for her donation & for diligently keeping me in her prayers. I have only known Ruth for a short time in the whole scheme of life but the impact she has had on me has been tremendously motivational & encouraging. I know I have a lot of Prayer warriors out there so I don't want anyone to feel left out, thank you all so much. Keep doing what your doing because it is working!

When we got home Sunday Misty told us that Paige was giving her a pretty hard time & a lot of attitude while we were gone. So we ended up sitting all 3 of the teenagers down & had a talk. About attitudes & helping out. it is nothing we have not told them before, but a refresher was in order. Well see if it gets better, I hope so for everyones sake. Katie said she had a good time at her Grandma Jill's, Zack was his typical self all weekend wired for sound & full of questions (mostly how do you spell this, how do you spell that). He keeps saying he wants 100 things for Christmas. Paige actually sat down with him last weekend & made a list of 100 toys from the adds, I told her she is nuts & I keep having to explain to Zack he is not going to get 100 toys from Santa, he has to give toys to the other kids as well. I tell you what I must admit for as rotten as Zack is he is very smart & he does not forget a thing you tell him. Lets see what about the other kids, Paige went to her dance Friday night & cheered Saturday afternoon, both girls cleaned their room Sunday & even straightened up their clothes in the dressers (I am shocked) Brandon on the other hand moved his piles around to different locations in his room & said his room is "picked up"... The smell of a 16 year old's room during wrestling season... you cannot imagine, I refuse to go in there, I will admit it, I am scared LOL.

This is Katie & Brandon this morning before I took them to school.

So for the next few days I am not planning on doing to much of anything until I get "juiced" back up & my ANC starts coming back up. Aunt Lynn, I hope you are not snowed in to much, Aunt Bonnie good luck with the move. I love all of you,thank you for being there for me & the family we could never do this as well as we are without all of your prayers & support.

December 13, 2008

2008-12-13T10:22:00.010-05:00

12 days until Christmas!

I am still holding up pretty good for my counts being so low. I notice as the day runs its course so goes my energy levels. Typically by the end of the night I am usually moving around like an old woman with osteoporosis. I often ponder what my life is going to be like when I get done with all of the Chemo treatments. Is it the Chemo, is it the Cancer or is it a little of both that is wearing my body down so much. When this is all over am I going to wake up one day & be "normal again" Me & normal have never been in the same sentence so I guess that is a bad analogy. Call it Chemo Brain but I was looking at my Labs the other day & I did not realize it but on my last post it was my 100th day fighting this cancer. WOHOO! When I was first diagnosed with the Leukemia the outlook was very grim, they have since looked at my cytogenetics & given me a 50 to 60% chance of 5 year survivability, which may not sound good to some but for the type of Leukemia I have this is a very good prognosis. Marc is not happy with this, I call it a crap shoot & break it down to it's a fifty fifty shot, I would take that bet in Vegas...

I have noticed that I am starting to get more followers to the Blog & the site hits are nearing 5,000 & I did not start counting those until I was about a month into my cancer treatment. I want to thank all of you for walking down this path with us & being so positive & supportive. There have been more good days than bad & the bad days don't seem so bad knowing that I am not going through this alone.

Marc got a message from Coach Gibson yesterday, his wife Jenifer works for ACCOR, all of the employees there gave our family a very nice gift for Christmas. I also want to thank Alice Chapin for her donation as well.

I have been trying to keep up with the news everyday you hear more & more people are being laid off & everyday life in general is becoming more strained for most families. It is really getting ugly out there & I have a feeling it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. It is times like these that everyone sick or healthy needs to have a strong support system in place. The outpouring of support has not only been for me but for Marc & the kids as well. This is so important to them. I think in times like this it is not uncommon to have a tendency to focus so much on the person who is ill that the rest of the family can easily become a part of the shadow. You all have been so wonderful & positive keeping me motivated in this fight & always asking about the kids & Marc, they have good days & bad days to. I just want everyone to know that your prayers & support are helping them get through this as well.

Brandon had another wrestling meet against Jonathan Alder last Thursday night. He wrestled 160 again & pinned the first kid real fast his second match he won in overtime 12 to 10. Paige has a Basketball game against Fairbanks that she is cheering at today, Katie's Grandma Jill came & picked her up for the weekend, Brandon is going to Columbus for Chipolte with friends & Zack is stuck with us. Misty has been sick for about a week so she has pretty much been staying in her room.

Marc & I pretty much have all our Christmas shopping done. This is a huge relief. Normally Christmas sneaks up on us & we put it off until the last minute & hit all the stores in a mad dash. This year I had the time but I just did not have the energy to go out plus my counts have been to unreliable to be around crowds of people. In the past Marc & I, have always dotted to an excess on the kids & in all honesty we are probably guilty of materializing Christmas too much for them. As much as we both love Christmas somewhere along the lines we got away from the true meaning of it. So this year we downsized tremendously what we are getting for the kids. We sat down & talked to our 3 teenagers about it, I know they were bummed a little by their facial expressions but they said they understood. I think many families this year are facing the same predicament in one form or another. Don't get me wrong our kids are going to have a good Christmas, we set a budget this year that was a bit smaller than usual & the big difference being we actually stuck to it for once. Zack still believes in Santa Clause so we have really been having fun with that this year! (I am trying to get Marc to dress up like Santa, but he is not taking the bait).

Marc is not typically with me when I write these, he is usually at work & reads them when he gets home. I find this comical for some reason. When he is here & I am updating this I always ask him if he has anything to add, his answer is usually nope. It's not that he has nothing to add, he is just more of a private person. I know one of these days he is going to throw me off & say yeah.

December 11, 2008

2008-12-11T10:34:00.005-05:00

Date------Day----WBC----ANC--------Hgb--------PLT---- Transfusions
1 Dec------90----3.4------2,270------10.0--------255------------N/A
2 Dec------91----4.0------3,500------10.5--------250------------N/A
3 Dec------92----5.0------4,400-------9.5--------183------------N/A
4 Dec------93----4.4------3,800-------9.2--------196------------N/A
5 Dec------94----3.5------3,400-------9.3--------170------------N/A
6 Dec------95----3.9----Unknown----9.9--------175------------N/A
8 Dec------97----2.9------2,600------9.8--------106------------N/A
11 Dec-----100---0.3----------0-------9.1---------31------------N/A

My counts are in and as you can see they are dropping, except my Hemoglobin, it is holding pretty steady on its own. My neutraphils are nonexistent at the moment, so I am on "extra super safe mode". I can't believe I hit my Nader so fast again this time. It surprises me that the neupogen shots are not giving me a boost I need, I can only imagine how fast it would have happened if I was not taking them.

My Platelets as you can see are dropping as well, it is only Thursday & I do not get labs drawn again until Monday. It is questionable if I am going to be able to make it through the weekend without a platelet infusion but I am going to try. I suspect if I can make it, by Monday they should be practically non existent. It sounds weird but I am comfortable enough with this cancer & my body that I can tell when they get to low without the lab report. There are the obvious physical signs between the bruising, the petechiae rash & bleeding gums, when it is coming I can just tell even without that, all I can say is its weird.

So I know Aunt Lynn is probably reading this & saying so why not get the infusion now if you know you are going to get that low.... Well part of me beating this cancer, is me beating this cancer. I am trying to push my body to do what it is supposed to even though it does not want to. I know I can't control these things down at the cellular level in my body, but it is my body & like me it is very stubborn. I don't want to give it more than what it needs to get the job done. For example my Hemaglobin, since I have started my consolidated chemo I have been within the parameters to receive a blood infusions & told them no I wanted to try & make it on my own & oddly enough my body complied. I never push it to a dangerous level, not to mention my Dr.s would not let me. So I am going to wait this one out & see what happens.

My vision is actually doing better this time, I was worried because I have soft white auras around everything I look at but it is not drastic like the last time.

Last night we went to Brandon's wrestling match here in London. He wrestled the 160 weight class. He was tech faulted the first match against Hillsboro & won his second match against Clinton Massi. Brandon looked real tired though, he is not in as good of shape as he used to be & it showed. Don't get me wrong there is not any fat on that kid & he is in a hell of a lot better shape than most but you can tell a difference from his 8th & 9th grade wrestling days. He wrestles tonight at Jonathan Alder & then they have a big break.

I got a phone call with wonderful news from Maj Mulhorn at my Unit yesterday. " HQ AFRC/SG has approved MSgt Golden-Vest for a "Participation Profile 4" while her treatment and worldwide duty waiver are being processed." So all you non-military people are asking so what does that mean. In it's simplest form I can start going to Drill & complete my annual tour days. My waiver expires at the end of March 2009 so they will have to re access me then. Up to this point since I was diagnosed I have not been allowed to participate even if my counts were up & I was feeling good. Maj Mulhorn said the unit is going to work with me to schedule my drill periods around my treatments & recovery periods, so this is wonderful news to me. My military career has been weighing heavily on my mind since the whole cancer thing happened so this is a big stress that has been lifted for the moment.

The other night the doorbell rang & it was a box of Cheryl Cookies from my Aunt Sue & Uncle David, Thank you! Zack was quite the little gentleman. He carried the box around to everyone (he went to Grandma/Misty first). Once everyone got a cookie only then did he get one for himself. It was too cute! So far this week has had all white days at school, no trouble, Whew!Each day after school he has his routine of taking off his coat & shoes then telling me who in his class had color changes on their chart & who got red & then he smiles real big with his big dimples showing & says I got white! He loves to show off his school papers & reads me his daily book. To be that young again, the older kids don't get excited to show us their homework, or tell us what kind of day they had.

I was able to get our Christmas cards figured out, we still have not done a family portrait so I had to get a little creative this year. With my Chemo Brain this was a major task.

I found out this morning MSgt Bill Larue from my Unit is coming home, he is a good friend & has been deployed since this summer for Operation Iraq Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom, I am looking forward to welcoming him home.

With my Nader being in full effect I am not certain how my weekend is going to go. Marc & I still have Christmas shopping to do, there are holiday parties for Missing Link & ORW so I think we are just going to have to take it day by day & play it by ear.

So to calm all your fears because I can hear it in the comments now, I will not push myself to hard, I will take it nice & easy.

December 9, 2008

2008-12-09T15:36:00.015-05:00

The weather has went from one extreme to another here. Where it was cold & icy last Saturday, today it is unseasonably warm in the high 40's & very wet.

I woke up this morning to the beginning stages of white out/tunnel vision. I was hoping that it was a one time freak occurrence with the last round. I suspect at the rate I am going, by tomorrow or Thursday I will not be able to see at all again. I did go in & see my Opthamologist . He still believes that I have Cornea dystrophy but that the vision problems I am currently having are unrelated to the dystrophy & it was a fluke that he caught it. He said the dystrophy may be an issue when I reach 50. He believes the tunnel vision/white out is directly related to my Chemo treatments, it is affecting my ability to lubricate my eyes, he said this should not cause any long term damage but they are keeping a close eye on it LOL.

This week should get real interesting, I won't be able to see & I am much weaker than last time, I have been hobbling around like an old woman. Literally every move I make you can hear my bones & joints cracking. It's pretty loud Marc thought it was the floor making the noise last night.

I look at my Blog everyday for the comments & to see the different locations people from around the world are checking up on me from. I am so encouraged by the number of visits my site has received. There are days this all still seems surreal to me, usually its the good days. The not so good days there really is no way to deny it.

Sending a huge thank you out to Sharon White for her very generous donation to my Leukemia Fund. Each time we get a donation whether it is large or small it never ceases to amaze me. Times are tough, people are being laid off from their jobs, the cost of gas is down but the cost of milk is up.

Marc & I sat down tonight to look at where we are at financially with treating my cancer. Once I was diagnosed the original plan was to try & raise $2500 this year. We based this amount on what we each had in both of our savings accounts. We assumed that would be enough for the medical deductibles & copy's so we tapped those instantly, thank god we had something put back. I think I said this in a previous post but when this bomb dropped we had no idea what we were going to have to foot upfront, what would be covered by my insurance, what would not be covered by insurance & the prescription costs. We have just started to complete the 3rd phase of my inpatient chemotherapy treatment.

Realistically best I can tell, it is costing us a little over $2500 upfront as I go through each phase of treatment (& this is with, in my opinion, pretty good insurance). I have not had any major complications (knock on wood). So at this point I am adjusting our fundraising goal to $5,000. Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a realist first so when I set the original goal I did not want to set one that was unrealistic. Now I must say that everyone who knows me, would tell ya in the past I have also been an adamant pessimist. So I can't believe that we have almost surpassed the original fundraising goal I set. Among other things I have since had to change my way of looking at life, being a pessimist is one thing I will not miss.

As we continue to fight this cancer, we really have no idea what that dollar amount is going to be when we start the 42 weeks of outpatient chemotherapy. No matter how much that amount may be, it really does not matter much because I know I am worth it. All of you are responsible in one form or another for me being here now through your prayers, your support, the donations you all are saving my life & I just want you all to know that we really do appreciate everything that everyone is doing for us.