These photos were taken Easter day. Mom was feeling pretty good. She even did quite a bit of cooking which is a huge improvement over Thanksgiving and Christmas, when I don't think she felt like celebrating at all. We had a great time and Mom looks absolutely beautiful, don't you think? Not many people can pull off her minimal hair style, but she does.. and with flair!
Now for the update...
Mom is heading back to the hospital to pick up the stem cells she left behind last month. She checks in April 7 and will get her huge dose of chemo that day. The very next day, they will put back her harvested stem cells. They actually harvested twice as many as they need, and she will get them all back, making her recovery that much quicker.
She will stay in the hospital this time, although it will probably just be a couple of weeks.
To prepare for this second phase, Mom went through the full series of tests last week and everything checked out great. Her protein levels are below 0 now. 0.6 to be exact... which means their is virtually no myeloma protiens there! Her bones look pretty good, although some myeloma damage is showing up in her back. As soon as she get back on her Zometa, that should get better.
She is feeling so much better. Her only complaint is that her back is so weak, which I'm sure is a result of the Myeloma damage seen on her x-rays.
Please pray for her, especially on April 7th as she gets her chemo. This is the last speed bump on her road to recover and getting back to normal.
I'll be sure and keep you updated daily when she goes back into the hospital.
