January 23, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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