I just wanted to pop in with a quick update. Mom is still home and doing well. She is weak to be sure, and has had some tummy issues, but nothing like what one would expect going through this type of procedure. Although her curly hair is kind of straigtening, she hasn't lost any yet. I'm not sure what the timeline is on that. She was told she could expect to be admitted to the hospital around day 5 or 6. We are on day 9 and no hospital stay yet. The nurse told dad that in all her years of working with these transplants, she has only known 2 or 3 patients to go without being admitted. Methinks mom could well be number 4. Right now, she simply goes to the hospital every morning to get some fluids and a blood count. Then she gets to go home to the comfort of her own bed.
Mom is now officially neutropenic which essentially means she has no white blood cells. This is all part of the course. Over the next few days, until her stem cells are harvested and her white blood cells return, she is particularly vulnerable to infection. We are watching her closely for fever, which would mean a definate hospital admittance.
Thank you so much for your prayers. They are working! Please continue to pray, specifically against infection.
Stay tuned for updates.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
at the hospital
Mom finished up all three doses of her chemo and has amazed everyone by how well she has tolerated it. In fact, her only side effect has been weakness. This morning her weakness was enough that she decided she needed to be checked out up at the transplant unit. They found that her blood pressure was a little low and her pulse was a little high. It seems she is a bit dehydrated. A bag of IV fluids will make her feel much better. She will go home as soon as she's done with the IV. They did tell her that next week would be a little rough on her and she will probably be admitted then. Of course, I think she won't feel nearly as bad as they expect... She has some extra help from above.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
She's home
Mom's home now. Her first round of chemo is under her belt. She will be going back early tomorrow morning for round two.
Thanks for the prayers!
Thanks for the prayers!
quick update
I just wanted to let everyone know, after a little delay where the surgeon was called into another surgery, mom now is sporting a fancy new catheter in her chest. She did well with the procedure. Right now they are waiting on the chest x-ray to confirm the catheter is where it is supposed to be and then they will start her chemo.
I'll keep you posted.
I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A New Year and New Bone Marrow
Mom has sure been a trooper. This was a holiday season like no other. Mom had to endure chemotherapy on Christmas Eve and also on New Year's Eve... which was her birthday as well. The chemo isn't terrible, but it does make her feel bad and it's not the way to celebrate the season.. BUT it has been worth it.
The latest numbers show Mom's protein levels to be 1.4 so it has dropped considerably and that was a great Christmas present. All her other numbers look great, she is no longer anemic and here is the best number of all: When they first tested her bone marrow, they said it had 90% myeloma cells. Her latest bone marrow biopsy showed less than 10% myeloma cells.
She recently had to undergo a battery of tests to make sure she is ready for the stem cell transplant and she has come through with flying colors. In fact, the transplant has been scheduled.
Bright and early January 16th, she will go in and get an aphoresis catheter in her chest. It will be a surgical procedure but will make her much less of a pin cushion. This catheter will allow chemo to go in, blood to go in and out, and they will even harvest her stem cells through it.
She will take her first dose of chemo that day and then again the following two days. It will be a high dose chemo, so we think those three days will be all the chemo she will take during this harvesting portion of the transplant. She will have to go to the dr. everyday for lab work during this time.
She will probably start feeling the effects of the chemo within 2 weeks, and when she feels she can't handle the effects at home anymore, she will be admitted to the hospital. There they will be able to manage her side effects and make her feel better. Of course, I'm holding on the belief that her side effects will be mild - She told her transplant coordinator that she wasn't going to throw up. The coordinator told her that it certainly wasn't a requirement! In fact, there are some that don't get sick in that way. Considering that mom doesn't ever remember throwing up, she might stand a good chance of getting through this with nary a yak!
Mom will probably lose her hair, and she has prepared by buying some of the cutest hats. She also has a brand new wig, which I have to say, is beautiful on her. It looks very natural, very unwig like!
Of course, she is anxious as anyone would be, but she is ready to get this out of they way and begin enjoying remission. We all are.
Mom's sisters, Joyce and Brenda, and her mom have been for a visit. In fact, Joyce and Mamo just left for Texas a couple of hours ago. I know they hated to leave, but look forward to seeing mom healthy and in remission very soon!
As always, your prayers are appreciated.. and they are working!
You can be sure that I'll be updating more regularly as we go through this season so check back often...
The latest numbers show Mom's protein levels to be 1.4 so it has dropped considerably and that was a great Christmas present. All her other numbers look great, she is no longer anemic and here is the best number of all: When they first tested her bone marrow, they said it had 90% myeloma cells. Her latest bone marrow biopsy showed less than 10% myeloma cells.
She recently had to undergo a battery of tests to make sure she is ready for the stem cell transplant and she has come through with flying colors. In fact, the transplant has been scheduled.
Bright and early January 16th, she will go in and get an aphoresis catheter in her chest. It will be a surgical procedure but will make her much less of a pin cushion. This catheter will allow chemo to go in, blood to go in and out, and they will even harvest her stem cells through it.
She will take her first dose of chemo that day and then again the following two days. It will be a high dose chemo, so we think those three days will be all the chemo she will take during this harvesting portion of the transplant. She will have to go to the dr. everyday for lab work during this time.
She will probably start feeling the effects of the chemo within 2 weeks, and when she feels she can't handle the effects at home anymore, she will be admitted to the hospital. There they will be able to manage her side effects and make her feel better. Of course, I'm holding on the belief that her side effects will be mild - She told her transplant coordinator that she wasn't going to throw up. The coordinator told her that it certainly wasn't a requirement! In fact, there are some that don't get sick in that way. Considering that mom doesn't ever remember throwing up, she might stand a good chance of getting through this with nary a yak!
Mom will probably lose her hair, and she has prepared by buying some of the cutest hats. She also has a brand new wig, which I have to say, is beautiful on her. It looks very natural, very unwig like!
Of course, she is anxious as anyone would be, but she is ready to get this out of they way and begin enjoying remission. We all are.
Mom's sisters, Joyce and Brenda, and her mom have been for a visit. In fact, Joyce and Mamo just left for Texas a couple of hours ago. I know they hated to leave, but look forward to seeing mom healthy and in remission very soon!
As always, your prayers are appreciated.. and they are working!
You can be sure that I'll be updating more regularly as we go through this season so check back often...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
About time for an update...
First off, let me apologize for the radio silence. But rest assured, that in this case, no news is good news. Mom is feeling much better and is relatively pain free these days. She went to the doctor on Tuesday to find that her blood tests confirm she is getting better every day. Her protein levels have dropped down to 2, based on blood collected 3 weeks ago. They drew more blood this week which I’m positive will show her proteins dropping even lower. Just so you know, they started at 8. We want them to be 0.
When I last updated, mom was having a difficult time simply walking across the room. Last week, she actually went to the grocery store. Of course, she wore a surgical mask to avoid germ exposure. Daddy joked that several people handed her their wallets. I guess it’s better to mistake her a for a thief than an extreme Michael Jackson fan. Luckily, she didn’t wear a sequined glove.
There have been quite a few changes. Five months ago, Mom stood just a hair taller than me at about 5’8”. Today, she looks up at me from about 5’3”. We are hoping she will be able to get back some of her height, but I’ll take health over height any day. Oh, and she can also finally raise her arms above her head like the angel picture on this blog. That was one of her goals from the start.
December is test month. The doctors will be giving her a thorough work over testing everything they can think of to ensure she is “fit” enough for a stem cell transplant. (Of course, I would prefer that she be fit enough not to need said transplant)
So some might be asking, “what is a stem cell transplant and why does she need one?” Let me see if I can shed some light on the subject. Granted, my medical “degree” only comes from Google and much of that is beyond me. I could get my 14 year old to explain it all to me, but instead I just listened intently when we visited the transplant doctor. He put everything into terms we could understand, and while he didn’t make it sound like a picnic, he did put our hearts and minds at ease.
The stem cell transplant will consist of two stages. Stage One is the “Harvest”. Mom will be her own donor, as this is a much safer option with a greater success rate. But, wait… how can she be her own donor. We have firmly established that her bone marrow has issues! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here now would we… Good question! Basically, they will zap mom with a powerful chemotherapy drug, giving her quite a bit more than they would use in a typical chemotherapy treatment plan. This drug will seek out and destroy all rapidly multiplying cells. The myeloma cells are rapidly multiplying and so they will be destroyed… Unfortunately, so are hair cells, and the cells that line the digestive track. These cells will be sacrificed as well. So while she will be getting rid of all those myeloma cells, she will also probably be very sick. We expect she will spend about a month in the hospital during this stage.
At this point the will collect her stem cells which should now be free from any nasty cancer cells and store it in the freezer. Fortunately, these stem cells can be collected with a simple blood draw as opposed to going into the hip for her marrow. As a result of the chemo, these stem cells, normally found in the bones will be purged into the blood stream.
Mom will then get a chance to recover from this process. Probably about 2 months… and then they will zap her again.. With an even higher dose of chemo. The point here is to go ahead and kill what’s left of the marrow.. But that’s ok, because she has a clean supply waiting for her in the freezer.. Free of any myeloma cells. It’s the ultimate do over. She will get these sparkly clean stem cells and once back in her body, they will get to work, rapidly multiplying… but in a good way. Once again, she will be in the hospital for a while as a result of this round of chemo, but because they put stem cells back in she should bounce back more quickly.
It is a scary process, but it also has an amazing success rate.. I don’t want to see my mom sick, but I really want to see her well. She is understandably nervous about all this so your prayers for a smooth procedure, with no complications are needed. Prayers for peace would be great too!
I promise I will keep you updated as we get closer transplant time.
When I last updated, mom was having a difficult time simply walking across the room. Last week, she actually went to the grocery store. Of course, she wore a surgical mask to avoid germ exposure. Daddy joked that several people handed her their wallets. I guess it’s better to mistake her a for a thief than an extreme Michael Jackson fan. Luckily, she didn’t wear a sequined glove.
There have been quite a few changes. Five months ago, Mom stood just a hair taller than me at about 5’8”. Today, she looks up at me from about 5’3”. We are hoping she will be able to get back some of her height, but I’ll take health over height any day. Oh, and she can also finally raise her arms above her head like the angel picture on this blog. That was one of her goals from the start.
December is test month. The doctors will be giving her a thorough work over testing everything they can think of to ensure she is “fit” enough for a stem cell transplant. (Of course, I would prefer that she be fit enough not to need said transplant)
So some might be asking, “what is a stem cell transplant and why does she need one?” Let me see if I can shed some light on the subject. Granted, my medical “degree” only comes from Google and much of that is beyond me. I could get my 14 year old to explain it all to me, but instead I just listened intently when we visited the transplant doctor. He put everything into terms we could understand, and while he didn’t make it sound like a picnic, he did put our hearts and minds at ease.
The stem cell transplant will consist of two stages. Stage One is the “Harvest”. Mom will be her own donor, as this is a much safer option with a greater success rate. But, wait… how can she be her own donor. We have firmly established that her bone marrow has issues! Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here now would we… Good question! Basically, they will zap mom with a powerful chemotherapy drug, giving her quite a bit more than they would use in a typical chemotherapy treatment plan. This drug will seek out and destroy all rapidly multiplying cells. The myeloma cells are rapidly multiplying and so they will be destroyed… Unfortunately, so are hair cells, and the cells that line the digestive track. These cells will be sacrificed as well. So while she will be getting rid of all those myeloma cells, she will also probably be very sick. We expect she will spend about a month in the hospital during this stage.
At this point the will collect her stem cells which should now be free from any nasty cancer cells and store it in the freezer. Fortunately, these stem cells can be collected with a simple blood draw as opposed to going into the hip for her marrow. As a result of the chemo, these stem cells, normally found in the bones will be purged into the blood stream.
Mom will then get a chance to recover from this process. Probably about 2 months… and then they will zap her again.. With an even higher dose of chemo. The point here is to go ahead and kill what’s left of the marrow.. But that’s ok, because she has a clean supply waiting for her in the freezer.. Free of any myeloma cells. It’s the ultimate do over. She will get these sparkly clean stem cells and once back in her body, they will get to work, rapidly multiplying… but in a good way. Once again, she will be in the hospital for a while as a result of this round of chemo, but because they put stem cells back in she should bounce back more quickly.
It is a scary process, but it also has an amazing success rate.. I don’t want to see my mom sick, but I really want to see her well. She is understandably nervous about all this so your prayers for a smooth procedure, with no complications are needed. Prayers for peace would be great too!
I promise I will keep you updated as we get closer transplant time.
Monday, September 3, 2007
What do Mom and Geraldine Ferraro have in common?
Well, funny you should ask! My cousin Jamie (Thanks, Jamie!) gave me the heads up on this news story that appeared on the Today show. The medication that Ferraro talks about in the video is the same medication Mom is taking now.
In fact, she just completed her second cycle and now has the week off. Next week she will start cycle #3. She is improving every day. Although she still has pain in her chest and ribs, her breathing, walking, moving, and eating are 1000% better.
When Mom was in the hospital, one of the doctors told my dad about a patient who was in the same condition as Mom, and after three cycles of Velcade, they were doing much better... pain free, gaining weight... We can certainly see that it is working well for mom too!
In fact, she just completed her second cycle and now has the week off. Next week she will start cycle #3. She is improving every day. Although she still has pain in her chest and ribs, her breathing, walking, moving, and eating are 1000% better.
When Mom was in the hospital, one of the doctors told my dad about a patient who was in the same condition as Mom, and after three cycles of Velcade, they were doing much better... pain free, gaining weight... We can certainly see that it is working well for mom too!
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