over 1000

hello,
sorry its been a few days. Her counts this am 1,048. as most know, sally is home and i have gone from a turles pace to just crazy. I was playng bacheleor(sp?) for almost 3 weeks. so spent the weekend cleaning, laundry, and taking care of sally. she still takes a hanfull of meds 4x/day and at least 2 i.v. bags. learning how to get the routine down. Nausea still an issue but slowly subsiding. boys came into town today for four days so that made her smile. they are acutally all napping now. I will post some pics tomm with the latest info and craziness.

craig

going to apartment

well,
today her counts have gone up to 480. eating, taking meds and keeping it down. She is doing well and the team agreed to send her to the apartment. yeah ha. she will still need an i.v. a day in the apartment that i get to do but hey, something to do. She plans on sending out an email to everyone in a few days. thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers.
craig

Hello,
Well its Thurdsday and only a few things to talk about. Her counts are now at 180. Slow but progressing. They have switched all her meds to pill form and she is eating a good amount of her daily caloric intake. She is slowly feeling better and nausea is decreasing. She's still walking and starting to get alittle moody which of course are all good signs.

150 now and walking

Hello,
Well today is Wed and the counts are at 150. the specialists say should be a few more days and might go to apt. They told her she needs to eat and start walking. so included are some pics of her walking. Also caught her looking for a way out---at least thats the way it looks. Nausea still here but she is eating some.

140 and rising

well had an update from bloodwork earlier this am and her neutrophil count is now at 140. they expect her to be around 500 in 2-3 days. she is also going to try to eat dinner so should be interesting

Day 16

Hello everyone,
not sure where i left off last time but today her neutrophil count is 110. so still on track. I think the thought of getting out in less than a week has had its benefits. Shes asking what "needs" to be achieved so she can go home. So the usual type A personality is coming back. She has to take in her daily caloric intake, all meds, and counts to 500 for about 3 days. The nausea is the big factor for her but little by litle getting better. As u may have seen in her last pic the hair is gone. except i noticed she must be sleeping on her sides more because there is one big stripe down the back. I included the picture for embarrasment. I'll pay the piper later I'm sure.
craig

No News is Good News

Hello,
well is's Saturday the 21st at 2:00 p.m. with nothing new to report. Sitting in same chair wondering what makes time so slow. Sally is doing good. She is still having alot of nausea which repquires meds which makes her tired and sleepy which makes me bored. Counts are still the same. Meds still the same except they had to give her some blood this morning so I took some pictures. It happens when they destory your bone marrow that makes the blood products.
Boys are doing great and actually having a blast with the Sauberan's. I'm jealous.
Otherwise have a great weekend!

counts are here

Hello everybody,
Well today was a big suprise in a terrific way. The "Team" of doctors and of course P.A.s who do the rounds in the morning notified Sally that she actually has started to show counts. For those of you wanting to know what counts are----they are white blood cells (WBC).
the chemo destroys all marrow which of course makes WBCs. The donor marrow settles in and starts to make cells and one kind are WBC. Now although it is a terrific sign, they wont consider her engrafted until she reaches a count of 500. she is at 30. The team expects it to reach the mark of 500 in a few days.
Sally commented on that her mouth and throat feel alot better and is the first time that the body is starting to fight back.
She still is on everything under the sun I.V. and still has a week in the hospital if everything continues to improve.
Included are a few pictures i took. One picture is the chair that i've spent many house sitting in. Another is the weather channel that she was watching. Spend enough time in a room feeling like garbage and even the wetaher channel becomes exciting. Another is of the case of diet coke hidden behind the chair. And oh ya, Gonzaga plays today so theres my plug for them.

St. Patricks Day

Hello,
Well just figured out yesterday was st patrick's day. so happy day. nothing new to report. same o same o. she's still feeling miserable but should start feeling better by this weekend and next week the counts should go up. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. I'll post some new pics tomm.

Maury?

Hello everyone,
Today is day nine since it's day nine after transplant. Its how they keep track during her 3 week stay. She has had alot of mouth, throat and stomach pain. It is to be expected due to the chemo.
As far as new events. She has found Maury Povich on T.V. to help pass the time. If you have spare time, it is a funny show.
Jan and Galen left yesterday and got home safely. I think they missed the 70+ weather. Seattle in March is a little different than Arizona.
Brennan and John Paul went to Leavenworth, WA with the Sauberans. Its a small town with Bavarian heritage and still looks like its homeland. Of couse Sally and I haven't beent here yet.
Its difficult to keep busy in a room for 3 weeks. Thank God for internet. Otherwise nothing else new which is good news.

Tower of Pisa

Well its Thursday and a few new things. Sally's nausea is under control and starting to walk around the wing of the hospital. She still has hair as you can see in the picture but only for a few more days. We spoke with the P.A. and she will have more nausea and stomach pain until the new cells start to take over. The "engraftment" is still approx 10 days away. The chemo kills all cells so anywhere there are living cells that reproduce quickly get affected. i.e. stomach, throat, and mouth tissue, hair follicles, etc. Heart muscle, lung tissue etc don't reproduce.
Overall she is doing o.k. Still has about 2 weeks in the hospital. The staff and nurses are great and have been doing this for a long time.
The Pisa pic is her I.V pole. it contains nutrients, fat emulsion, 2 antibiotics, antivirals, and an anti rejection medication. the machines have 6 pumps and many tubes that lead into her Hickman line. Amazing how it all works out for the good.
I'll be keeping you guys informed and maybe with pics of her walking around.

Nothing new

Hello,
Well, nothing new to report. She is still having nausea and giving some meds to control that which makes her droggy. She is starting to get mouth and belly pain which is to be expected. It's a reaction to the chemo. Otherwise sleeping when we can and wishing for sunshine here in Seattle.

New Birthday

Hello Everyone, Well last night, Sally got a new Birthday. After expectating the cells to get there around 8:30, they finally appeared around midnight. The Nurses brought in three I.V. bags and attached them to the pump. Thats it. Pretty amazing that rebuilding one's bone marrow which supports all your cells in your body is all done by connecting a hose. It took about 4-5 hours to infuse the three bags. Sally and I slept through most of it. Included are a few pics of the process and a video of the i.v. line with the blood reaching her port. It was somewhat anticlimatic but amazing to see the process of ones's new life. The evening did have the feeling of a new born baby appeared in this world. Sally is resting as am I.
P.S. The Hannah Montana window magnet was from me.
Take care all.

cell day

Hello, O.K. I'm a day late on the update but actually nothing really to comment on yesterday. Thursday was a day of rest. In other words, no chemo and sleep. She's doing well besides the nausea. Her parents came in on Wed. We hosted a "new" birthday party today for her. she was pleased as you can tell by the pics. She will get the new cells/marrow tonight around 8:30. Then after that we sit and wait for the blood counts to rise. the chemo of course kills all white and red cells. so after the transplant, we wait to see if it takes. Kids are doing great so hats of to the Sauberan's for keeping that off the worry list. I sent out a text earlier just to let everybody in my phone with the correct number an update.

day 2

Well Hello,
today is the beginingof day 2 of being admitted to the hospital. yesterday was pretty boring. she did get her 1st dose of i.v. chemo which was uneventful, a good thing. alittle nausea but controlled with medication. today is the same. 1 more dose of chemo and more meds to control the nausea. The docotrs say it is boring till about day 4 or 5. then the sickness, hair loss and diarrhea starts.
she is sleeping alot from the side effects from the meds to control the side effects of the chemo. isn't medicine terrific. she has a great view of the bay and capitol hill. I'll try to post some pics later.

Holy Cow!!!!!!

Hello everyone,
Well this is my first time posting a blog so I need some slack from you internet stars. This will be a quick update. Fot the last 5 days, Sally has been taking meds around the clock. Aprox 150 tablets a day. The first chemo meds are 28 tablets every 6 hours. Not to mention the other meds to help with side effects. I of course have to set alarms around the clock to wake her up to take them. the side effects are contolled very well, except their side iffects. she is corked up like a drunk which is better than being sick all day.
Everyday she has bloodwork at the clinic every 2 hours from 8:00 a.m. till about 3:00 p.m. so with the combination of labs, meds and regular day activities, sleep has been of upmost imprtance for both of us.
She will be admitted on Tuesday for the big chemo and then the donor marrow on the
6th.
I found it interesting that the marrow is given I.V. The cells know where to go after that. Isn't nature amazing. They have no idea why or how, but they do.
when she is in the hospital, we should be able to keep up with the information and events almost daily. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts and will talk to you all soon,.
craig