Day 31

Yesterday was transplant day 31, over a month ago Mom had her bone marrow transplant. Crazy to think she has been home for over 2 weeks now. I admit they have been a busy couple of weeks in our home.

But yesterday was a big day. Mom went back to LDS Hospital to have her central line removed and was officially released back to her normal oncologist. Dr P at LDS told mom she could be a little less restrictive with her daily activities. She still needs to wear her pig mask around when she is in crowds, but can go outside for a walk without it. She can go out to eat at a restaurant but cannot have salads and would have to ask her server to please bring her food out right after it is cooked. This lessens the likelihood of contamination from various microbial elements. She goes back at 100 days to see if she is in remission. Some lists of do nots include: clean the house, be around sick people, very large crowds, and do not do not do not underestimate the cleanliness of ones hands; also she still has to live upstairs because it gets too cold downstairs.

Dr P told her that they think everything went according to plan and they expect her to be in remission for at least 3 years. Sometimes they are able to see a longer remission, though.

Over the past 2 weeks mom has been able to do many things and she says her strength is back about 65% which is good. She has done the dishes a few times and done some laundry. She takes walks outside, but now that it is really turning cold I am not sure how well she will do. We went shopping for the first time in months (for her) to Target to get some Christmas and Birthday presents for the little ones; I was a mess because they did not have cart wipes; Note to stores: INVEST IN CART WIPES. Then Sister took her to the fabric store where they did not have carts at all. She has discoverd the germ free convenience of shopping online. Mom also has had her first cold, sort of. She feels under the weather still, but the doctors told her she could take something for it now. Also her blood pressure which has been an issue since the chemo is down to normal ranges again. I have had to change her central line dressing daily, and I will not miss that at all. I was always afraid of taking it out or hurting her. I did hurt her more than once and telling her to just "suck it up" was really mean. Last week she was craving pizza but could not have take out yet. So the Brothers told her that they would make pizza for her on Sunday. They each took a different assignment and it was wonderful. They even got pork-free sausage and pepperoni so I could eat everything.

Mom started losing her hair the day before she was released from the hospital (Day 13) and now it is almost all gone. She still has her eyebrows and eyelashes. Must be nice to not have to shave for months!! (This is me looking on the bright side of chemo.) The rest of us, sans my oldest brother who is shaving still by choice, have a bit of hair again. Dad is even growing back that mustache that he loves so much.

Well that is all I can think of writing. Things could not be going better for Mom! Thanks again for all who have been keeping her in prayers, donating blood or plasma, sending cards or silly gifts, calling her, calling me, and the kind thoughts. We needed them and it is nice to have support. Love!!!

Dumb Dumb Dumb

Below is the conversation I should have had with the nice hard of hearing man at Ikea that I believe to be single. I shall play the part of smart single Stephanie, or in other words, the woman I was not tonight:

Nice Man: Hi
Stephanie: Hello
NM: I should have looked to see how much these weigh before I chose them.
SJ: Need some help lifting it into your trolley?
NM: That would be great. Thanks.
SJ: No problem.
(Pause to lift the bookcase into the trolley, it is fair to note that this is the larger version of the bookcase that I have been saving up to buy.)
NM: Hmmmm. I wonder how I am going to get these into my house with no help. (This is the point where SJ decides this man is single.)

The above actually all happened; below is what I now should have said and the conversation now continues only in my mind until a certain point... you will know it because it will cease to be in italics and will again be black.

SJ: Do you live alone then?
NM: Yes I am single but I am looking for a nice woman like you to fill the cavernous gap in my life.
SJ: Well it just so happens I am single too. I also noticed you are wearing hearing aids, I know sign language!
NM: Really? You are too good to be true. Would you like to maybe have dinner with me sometime?
SJ: Absolutely. Thank you for asking me. I am free Friday night.
NM: Here is my email address, will you send me an email so we do not have to use the relay service? Also do you like Chicago Dogs? I know a place in Midvale that serves Chicago Dogs. They are so good.
SJ: Yes I love Chicago Dogs!! I just had Chicago stuffed pizza with a friend. By the way, my name is Stephanie.
NM: Nice to meet you my name is (Insert the perfect name here)
SJ: (giggle) Okay I will talk to you soon.

NM: Thanks again for your help.
SJ: You are very welcome.
NM: Have a Happy Thanksgiving
SJ: You too (insert charming smile here)

(Stephanie then walks away to look at another isle for some wall shelving units. Then down another isle for a table top. Both of which are out of stock in the color desired.When she turns around the nice charming man who should one day be the father of her children standing at the end of the isle. He gives Stephanie a cute smile.)

NM: Oh hi again, would you mind helping me lift something else?
SJ: Not a problem at all.
NM: I really should have looked at the weights.
SJ: I don't actually think they are listed on the display units.
NM: Hmmmm, maybe they should list them. (chuckle)

Both lift the table into the trolley.

SJ: I am really looking forward to seeing you again on Friday (calling him by his super perfect name.)
NM: Me too. Thanks for your help. My mom told me I would meet a nice girl one day who was strong, liked Ikea, and knows sign language.
SJ: (little giggle) Well that is me, Ikea is my Mecha.
NM: I really like your very short hair, it is almost like you shaved it to be suportive of someone close to you who has cancer. You look great.
SJ: (blushes) Thanks, I usually keep my hair short, just not this short!

SJ: Do you need any help with anything else? I am about ready to leave.
NM: No thank you for all of your help today.
Nice man gives Stephanie a High-Five.

Nice man gives Stephanie a not-at-all-creapy-I-just-met-you hug.

Thus ends the narative of what should have happened tonight if Stephanie did not talk herself out of properly intrucing herself to the nice man at Ikea.

Another post to come

I know I know... far too long since I posted anything. I will update on Mom when I have time to do a proper post but she is doing so well!!

$1.96?!?!

So I was driving home way too late last night after a rediculously fun night with Besty, and saw gas at the Sam's Club for $1.98, I was excited and figured I would gas up in the morning. As I drove past today and it was $1.96 I decided to hold off and see if it goes down more tomorrow since I am at half a tank. Happy Gas Day everyone.

Some late pics

Okay these pictures are some of my favorites that really depict how last week went.

First I "tried" to donate blood last Monday because I had some time after a funeral. They have a new process for people with O+ blood to donate what they call Double Red. So they take 2 units of only red cells from you and put the rest of your blood back. Fine, I thought it was a great idea since Mom had needed 6 units of red blood. Well they take out and put back from the same arm and some how the needle had gone through my vein. They took out just fine, but the put back was not so great. But it made for an awesome bruise!! (By the way the tech helping me told me I was only the second person that this had happened to that he knew of, so it really is a great process that gets the blood to the patient in only 2 days, so I will try it again but on the left arm not the right.)This is the night after. My arm is as straight as it would go, the lump there was painful and turned into this:Alright so my sister and I have some morbid fascination with bruises, probably because she and I have had some pretty good ones over the years. None like the ones Mom currently has, but for her sake I am not posting those (you are welcome!)

This next pic is of Mom waiting to be released from the hospital... and waiting ... and waiting. It took a really long time, but she was able to get a hug from cute nurse Ben... I did not get a hug from cute nurse Ben. But cute nurse Ben did give me 2 Tylenol and a Dr. Pepper (yuk) to help me fend off an oncoming migraine until I could get home to take my pill. Ben... he's cute and was a blog worthy nurse. But enough about Ben let's get back on topic. This is right after they unhooked her from the machines, she put on mostly real clothes after wearing pajamas for 3 weeks straight, and threw away her slippers to don some cumfy Crocks.
And then the meds... oh the meds one has to take when one has cancer. Granted some of these bottles are vitamins but the rest are for various conditions caused by cancer or other preexisting conditions. All I can say is it is so great to have Mom home. Yes I miss the nurses taking care of her full time (Ben... oh Ben... just kidding) but it sure is nice to have her home with us. She is tired and sleeps a lot but that means I can do my homework or watch a good flick on tv.

We did have a long running joke in the hospital (I can say long running since she was in there for almost 3 weeks right? Oh and plus it is my blog so I can say what I want to!) asking if the nurses were blog worthy, only the good ones get a mention on my blog. The PA Amity is by far the most blog worthy, she seemed to always be at the hospital and was very good to Mom. Natalia and Tammy are the two nurses who stick out in my mind because she had them more than once. There are a few nurses who were blog worthy but for the negative and since I just read Emily's blog I shall say only positive things because I can!! John was also very good, kind of sarcastic, but really cared. The CNA's (there are too many to remember names) were usually on top of things and very helpful especially on lasix days. (You got a beeper Gloria?) Not nurses but super helpful were Rachel (LOVE HER!), Patrick, and Brenda. Rachel was her transplant coordinator who told made it all happen, Patrick is the social worker who was there in case she needed to talk and also made sure everyone on the floor voted, and Brenda was the clinical pharmasist who made sure that all of the meds Mom needed were available at HAFB so mom would not have to pay (pays to be married to retired miltary). Then the doctors: Peterson and Asch. There were two others but they were not her primary doctors. Dr Peterson is from Denmark so Mom had fun talking to him and Dr Asch is from Jersey so I had fun talking to her.

Well this post started out small but I can not seem to shut up. Needless to say: Welcome home Mom! And thanks to the LDS 8th floor BMT staff for keeping her here a little longer.

Be It Ever So Humble...

Mom has been home now to 2 days. Her doctors told her on Friday morning they were considering sending her home. Mom told them she would like to go home because she felt she would eat, sleep and feel better at home. They finally told her around noon that they were sending her home, BUT they wanted to give her one more dose of potasium first. This they do slowly so it took until 4 for it to be done. They needed to check her blood an hour later and then wait for the results. Mom was a little anxious about 5 to leave. The PA Amity (cool name, huh?) came in at 6 to tell her that her potasium was still not up, but that they would still let her go home provided she could come back the next day for some follow up blood work. Done and done and off we went.

We had a nice little surprise when we came home to a small flood in the laundry room because the washer had over flowed. Small crisis taken care of by my wonderful siblings. Mom settled in for the night to some wonderful clam chowder Aunt Colleen had made and super yummy chocolate cake Aunt Della had made. Mom settled into bed about 9:30.

Saturday she had to go back up to the hospital for blood work but her numbers looked good, even the potasium, and she came home to Patrick playing the Wii (I was a work) and an overall quiet day. Saturday night she was tired but managed to organize her medications (wait for the pictures that are still on my camera, it is incredible the amount of meds...) while the rest of us cleaned the house again. I had the upstairs scrubbed before she came home and when I got home from work today it was a disaster. Mom cannot live in dirt right now. In fact Sister went to get her a HEPA filter for the room she is living in; we have a sign on our doors outside that says "While we appreciate visitors if you are now or have been sick or have been around anyone who is sick we respectfully ask you visit another time." This is because since she has little immune system she can not fight infections that could come into the home or are lingering here which is why I need to be even more of a germ nazi that I usually am. I digress; she and I both were ready to crash at 8, but managed to stay up until about 10 or so.

Today being Sunday we woke up really late... late enough that I slept through church. She was not going to go, but I was. Oops. I guess my body just could not wake up. Today we hope to be able to go to a viewing of a neighbor (early so to avoid big crowds) and enjoy a quiet evening at home. I just put a roast in the slow cooker (my first time, thank you very much) and it smells good even now! I think I might take a crack at gravy too. Growing as a person. But all is well!

A Political Tirade... for good I hope

Alright so readers here will know that I am a Democrat. Not a surprise. I do have to say something though in defense of President Bush. Shocked? How about we as a country return to a time when we showed the Office of the President the respect it deserves. President Bush was elected twice by the people of the United States of America and as such deserves respect. Is he my favorite President? Not even a little bit. I do think he sounds like an uneducated man sometimes when he talks and more than once I have uttered the phrase “Idiot” when listening to his policy. HOWEVER until the day I die I will respect this man for his service to our country and his love for this nation. President Bush is a patriot who did the best he could in some very difficult situations the past 8 years. President Bush is the President of the United States and deserves way more respect than he is getting now. For example: When did we stop referring to him as President Bush and start referring to him as Mr. Bush? (Actually I think this practice started with Former President Clinton) Even in one article that I read from another friend’s blog in defense of President Bush he is called Mr. Bush. I did not vote for President Bush either time and do not care for the man, but he will always be associated with the Office of the President and as such deserves all of the respect that the title offers. This goes for President Elect Obama. There are those who do not like his policy as well (much like I do not like many policy stances from President Bush) but he does deserve the respect of the American people because he is our duly elected official. Thus ends this week's last political tirade.

Yippee

MOM IS COMING HOME TODAY!!

My 101

Inspired as always by my Wretchel here are my 101 things in 1001 days:

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
2. Stay Focused. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.
5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Starting Date: Saturday, November 1, 2008
Ending Date: Saturday, July 30, 2011

Short Term (within the month of November)
1. Make the List
2. Get a pedicure
3. Get a facial
4. Deep clean the house for Mom’s return
5. Vote
6. Clean and organize bedroom

Long Term (Before the end of 2009)
7. Graduate from College
8. Write 7 PLA essay
9. Take a class to improve computer skills
10. Design plans for improvements to new home
11. Blog daily for a month one thing I am grateful for and why

Long Term (Before the end of 2010)
12. Direct another play
13. Take a continuing education class
14. Take a dance class
15. Visit teach monthly 100%
16. Participate in one civic event as a volunteer

Family
17. Tell one member of my family a week that I love them
18. Start a date night with the nieces once a month
19. Eat all currently frozen Power Cooking meals
20. Make new Power Cooling meals
21. Plan and execute a Family Reunion
22. Cook a Thanksgiving Dinner
23. Host a Hanukkah party yearly with a new food to try

Friends
24. Participate in a Girl’s Night Out quarterly
25. Have an afternoon tea with the girls at The Grand
26. Learn a new skill from a friend
27. Organize a friend’s service project
28. Plan a surprise J&JDOF
29. Have a ba/grl party where I have to invite a man
30. Host a cheese night

Health/Beauty
31. Reach insurance goal weight by October 2009
32. Reach goal weight by the end of this list time
33. Get my dream 90 minute massage from Hutch
34. Get a hot rock massage from Lisa Jo
35. Plan a menu for a month and adhere to it
36. Read 4 health books (4/4)
37. Invest in 4 new exercise videos (0/4)
38. Get a bra fitting
39. Replace clothing as it becomes unflatteringly too large
40. Plan a weekly exercise schedule until October 2009 and stick to it
41. Train for and participate in a sprint tri by 2011
42. Exercise with someone new to learn a new workout
43. Clean out shoe closet and get old shoes repaired or thrown out
44. Get a new pair of great running shoes
45. Yearly tune up for bike
46. Take a tai chi class
47. Learn yoga

Home
48. Clean and organize every drawer in kitchen
49. Buy all of “my dishes” by the end of 2009
50. Donate unused items to DI
51. Organize DVDs and get shelving for them
52. Buy 2 new book shelves and organize books
53. Keep bedroom/office organized and clean for an entire month
54. Have laptop fixed
55. Make a meal for home once a month

Travel
56. Go on a rafting trip with Tonya
57. Plan a trip to Boulder Colorado for 2009
58. Visit one national park I have never been to
59. Plan my next cruise for 2011
60. See Mount Rushmore
61. Go to Vegas with Candice and eat one of “her” steaks
62. See one of Brady’s plays
63. See one of Dylan’s games (or visit D at school in case of injury)
64. Go fishing
65. Road trip to St. George

Personal Growth
66. Study the Book of Mormon each year with a different learning theme in mind
67. Say morning prayers daily for a month
68. Say evening prayers daily for a month
69. Read one good book a month after college graduation
70. Have Mom teach me how to make the baby blankets/rags
71. Have Colleen teach me to knit
72. Volunteer for a political campaign locally
73. Join a book club
74. Start a mini enrichment class at church
75. Do all of the required reading for one class in school
76. Read the weekly lessons for a month at church

Finances
77. Plan a budget for 2009
78. Add $150 from each paycheck to savings
79. Invest in a stock
80. Ask for a raise
81. Take a class on economics
82. Pay off credit card debt by end of 2010
83. Consolidate student loans
84. Pay off car

Random
85. Go to the Zoo
86. Go to the Aquarium
87. Visit a new museum once a year
88. Write a policy and procedure manual for work
89. Submit payroll policy manual for work
90. See a school production, a community production, a regional production, and a professional production (4/4)
91. Paint a picture with the help of Liz
92. Take a skiing lesson

Personal Enjoyment
93. See all of the Oscar Winning Best Picture Films as available from Blockbuster cue
94. See all of the Best Picture Nominee Films for 2009
95. Go to the Sundance Film Festival; see at least one Sundance film
96. Audition for 4 plays or musicals (2/4)
97. Try 2 new places to eat next Done O’Round
98. Stay overnight at one of the really nice hotels downtown
99. See a movie in the theater once a month
100. Hold “Award Show” parties for the big 4 in 2009
101. Have a spa day

A Book I am Promoting

Most of you know I was a nanny in Chicago for years and years (okay like 4) Well my little boys are now young men. D is a college basketball (soon to be) star and B is an actor in high school ... he gets it from my side (LOL) The mom, Laurie, just wrote a book about some tips she found helpful while going through the college reqruiting experience. I have not read it yet (my copy is on order), but did talk to Laurie while she was writing it and many of her ideas and thoughts were great; Laurie has a PhD in phychology and I admit I am a fan of anything she does, she has become a good friend over the years. So if you know anyone who has a kid who is high school sports star and might want some help with tips for prospective college recruiting this is the book for you:

Put Me In, Coach: A Parents Guide to Winning the Game of College Recruiting

It can be purchased through the publishers website: http://www.rightfitpress.com/. I added the pictures below mainly because I played for hours with the boy in the back doing a nice slam dunk.

The book is being released in 2 weeks but if you preorder by November 14 Laurie is autographing copies to send out.

It would make a great Christmas present!!

Possible good news

Hey all

My mom's doctors told her yesterday that she can come home as soon as: 1) her platelet counts stay up where they need to be 2) she can eat a proper amount of calories and 3) she feels good i.e. no fevers. The rest of her numbers are where they want them to be so this is great news!! My only other concern is that her lung capacity is down a bit from where she was and she is back on oxygen to help her breathe. Lung capacity will increase as she gets up and is more active which is hard since she does not feel good. But over all this is great news and she could be home by this weekend.

Happy Obama Day

My non-political brother sent me a text with the phrase: Happy Obama Day. I was actually giddy with delight to receive it mostly because Barry really is so non-political. But I also want to say Happy Huntsman and Matheson Day!! I am excited to see how Prop 8 in Cali turns out. I am excited to see that 34% of the population of Utah voted for President Elect Obama. I saw a snapshot of results last night that had Obama ahead in the Utah polls... that was kind of cool for about an hour or so to see him in the lead. Bless the early voting!!

Oh and pardon this diatribe: With 99.73% of the precincts reporting who are the 22,905 people who voted for Dell Shanze for Governor? No I understand that everyone has their own right to vote as they will and for the person they feel will do the best job. But seriously anyone who is listed on the ballot as "SUPERDELL" is not someone who is taking the office seriously and does not deserve a single vote... alright maybe one vote: HIS. Come on. The election process is not a joke. Diatribe over... and scene.

Oh What a Night!

I am sitting alone in my living room watching the news and eating a celebratory carmel apple. President Elect Obama is expected to speak soon. Oh what a night!! I do have to say I loved Senator McCain's talk. It really is time to put this campaign in the past and move forward to change what needs to be changed. Oh what a night!!


a post script... what was Michelle Obama wearing tonight? Not a fan of her wardrobe this evening.

Happy Election Day

Today is my favorite holiday... er... day. As those who follow my blog often will know I LOVE ELECTION DAY! I am a political junkie for sure! Today I get to vote AND turn in my mom's ansentee ballot as well. I broke out my special Kennedy pin and put it next to my Obama Utah pin on my shirt. Yes, I am excited for today. I have never worn the Kennedy pin. It is pin that JFK gave to his staffers in the 1960 election (thank you eBay!) that I have had for years now. I will take the Obama one off to vote (it is a rule, you know!) but wear the Kennedy one all day! Story time? When I was in the 4th grade we had to check out 2 books from the school library every week; one had to be a biography or educational one. One week I checked out a book on JFK and fell in love with the Kennedy family. Each week after that I would check out one of the 4 books in the library about Kennedy and read them again and again. I was obsessed. I think this went on until I left Elementary school. A few years ago I went to Chicago for work schooling and there was an exhibit on clothing that was worn by Jacqueline Kennedy during her White House years and after. It was amazing to see (and also my company paid for me to go!) On Sunday a cute girl in our ward got up to bear her testimony and she was wearing a very Jackie O top and after the meeting I told Lexie I thought she was very Jackie O; she said her mom tells her that often. I think I lost her when I told her that like To Wong Foo she is very statuesque.

As I babble, anyway, Happy Election Day! Vote!

Halloween pics and a semi-weekly update

Friday, being Halloween and all, Mom had lots of visitors so she dressed up for the day... I asked her to smile and this was the best she could do until the babies came up. Her Mission President and his wife came up for a few minutes to visit. I had never met them.Ainsleigh slept through the first part of the non-party. She is dressed as a pink poodle.

Colleen made Lottie's costume, a pumpkin, and seeing her brought out a big smile from Mom.

I was leaving the hospital the other day and it was dusk, this is what I saw when I turned right out of the hospital parking garage.
And then I turned down A Street to get out of the Avenues and this is what I saw. It was really pretty and my cell phone pictures do not do it justice.
So for an update on Mom's progress: Last week was a little harder on Mom than she would have liked. She is really tired all of the time. Her blood counts are in the toilet and she has had to have many blood transfusions to get her back up where they would like them to be. She, so far, has had 5 units of red blood and 7 (I believe) units of platelets. They expected her to need that many red but that is more platelets than we were told she would need. Her white cell count is up to 0.3 (from where she was 0.1 last week); I read one article that said a normal count is between 1500-8000. Mom's neutrophil count is 0. Our neutrophils are our immune system. So right now especially she cannot fight any infection.

Mom has started getting sores in her mouth and especially her throat. She has been asking for pain meds because it hurts to swallow. She has not been getting a large amount of calories because it hurts to eat, so she is trying to drink boost shakes, etc, because they have the calories and vitamins she needs to live. She gets really discouraged because she hates just laying there doing nothing; that was until Dr. Asch told her to cut herself some slack because she feels like crap! I like Dr. Asch, she is from Jersey. We gave Mom her "Gloria's Big Book of Cancer" and she loved it. She cried a little when she turned to the L & M pages because there were pictures of her brother Lee and her Mom who are both dead. I guess even at 63 you miss your Mommy when she is not there.

Someone asked me the other day how the rest of the family is doing and I just said, "Fine." You know I can not speak for everyone else, but over all I think I am alright. I have moments where I can not remember what I did yesterday and honestly I do not know how I am getting my homework done each week but I have an A in the class so far, so I guess I am doing alright. One thing the hospital encourages the care givers to do is to take time away from the hospital to focus on THEM. The first week mom was in I had a sleepover with Candice, last week I went and got a pedi. This week I have a facial scheduled and will be spending Election Night watching the returns with interest. I have not had to teach my class at church for 2 months because I have the best co-teacher(s) ever and the other teacher for Special Needs has just taken over the class. I do have to teach SN next week (not Thursday this week because it is the Talent Show) and I have to teach the Sunday following that in my ward. It has been great not to have that little extra stress in my life. I went to a viewing last night of our neighbor who died last week. His granddaughter was there and did not remember my name. Michelle and I spent every single day of each summer of our teen years together. She also did not remember my sister at all. It was such a silly thing to make me sad this week, but I was really sad about it.

On a non-related side note: I liked Wretchel's post about the many many goals in 1001 days... so I think I am going to do it. But not today.