Praise the Lord - Clean Scans!!!

We are back from New York with all things good! It has been 9 months since my stem cell transplant and my scans show NO ACTIVITY. The wonderful word they used a lot in the report was "unremarkable". Wow how I love to be unremarkable these days!

As Dr. Moskowitz pointed out, my remission this time is already longer than it was after my first treatments in 2005. This scan and the 15 month scan I will have in August are the most critical. If I can get past both of those, my odds for achieving a complete cure look really good. One down, one to go!

They also did a pulmonary function test to make sure my lungs were not damaged from the treatment. My lungs did great and I am still full of hot air! And my bloodwork looks ok, too. My white blood cell count is still a little low at 2.7 instead of somewhere between 4 and 11, but it may get up there again one day.

We seem to experience weather extremes when travelling to New York. My last visit brought subway-stopping thunderstorms and the first New York City tornado in several decades. This time we had temperatures in the teens with wind chills below zero. Not the greatest sight-seeing weather. But Brant and I made the most of our free day between the scans and dr. appointment. We went to the World Trade Center site, then spent an hour on the Staten Island Ferry (with heated, indoor space) which gave us some nice views of the Manhattan skyline, Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. We were even brave enough to do the top of the Empire State Building in the frigid temps. The view was awesome and there wasn't any wait on this type of day!! Do we look cold?



The trip home was a little scary since it had snowed most of the afternoon and switched over to freezing rain as we were waiting for our flight that was delayed about three hours. They de-iced the plane and coated it just before pushing off from the gate. Then as we sat on the runway, the pilot (yes, the guy with the little wings) appears in the exit row where we were seated with a little mag lite flashlight. He leans across us saying "excuse me, I just need to look out your window and check the wings to see if there is any new ice." He looks a long time, checks the other wing, then comes back to our side to check again. Boy, were we praying as we took off down the runway!

Ok, I will try not to wait so long before my next post. Thank you for all of the prayers and good thoughts as we were preparing for this big trip to New York. I was very nervous and felt every ache and pain in my body and would ask myself "is this cancer? is that cancer?".....it was just a tad nervewracking. Brant is always much more confident than me and I love to have his strength to support me.

It is nice to have a few more months now of knowing things are going well. I wish I was stronger and could keep this disease from mentally controlling me so much.....but I am who I am and I just try my best to stay thankful for each new day. Here's to a lot more new days!

Happy New Year!!!

The holidays are now only memories and a few extra pounds on the hips. But the New Year is here! I have always liked New Years and when I was younger I also liked the start of a new school year. It seems like there are so many opportunities and you haven't yet fallen short of any grand plans. Ahhh.....the bliss of optimism.....check back in August for reality.....

So my big goal this year is to spend 12 straight months without getting cancer treatments!! Unfortunately, other than healthy living and positive thinking I don't have total control over this goal. But I do want to get involved with at least one cancer group and I think I want to focus on improving access to clinical trials and/or being a support person for other cancer patients. I'd love to find a way to convert my blog info into an article or something. Or maybe just help Internet surfers more easily find first person accounts (like blogs) of Hodgkin's survivors. We'll see where things lead.

Our big news from Christmas is a new cat. We have never owned a cat before but thought we would try since we liked the "lower maintenance" of a cat versus a new puppy right now. Max is a 7 month old adopted from a local rescue group. The kids had a cute note from Santa under the tree and he showed up after a few minutes of shy hiding. Katie is covered in scratches as she learns that cats visit you when they want to, and don't always appreciate being picked up! Chris is a little more gentle and as a result Max will sleep on his bed when he isn't curled up with me and Brant. He is affectionate and playful and already acts like he owns the place. Here is Max Christmas morning watching Chris with his new DS....

And here he is tolerating Katie's unending affection:

And just 'cause I think our kids are incredibly cute (no bias at all!!) here they are this morning heading off to school for literary character day as Harry Potter and Hermoine. I know, I know, her robe should be black and a turtleneck isn't exactly the best shirt for a tie, but you get the idea....

Have a great 2008!

Is It December???

Wow, the month of November just flew by. We certainly had a lot to be thankful for as we celebrated Thanksgiving last month. My parents had us over for dinner along with Brant's mom and some of their friends who were down from Maine. It was a really nice time in their newly renovated house on the creek. It was a gorgeous day with weather in the 70's and the kids playing outside on the swing.

After the meal Brant surprised me by saying we were headed to the Beach....really! He had arranged for my parents to keep the kids and for us to spend a night in Nags Head to celebrate our 14th anniversary. Everyone knew the plan except me - it was very funny. He had the bag packed in the van and everything! We arrived just after sunset and enjoyed a nice walk down to the ocean (to walk off that turkey) where I enjoyed getting my toes wet and listening to the surf. It was quite a nice present.

We are now preparing for the holidays with lots of fun and excitement. The kids are pushing hard for a new pet but I don't think we are ready for that commitment just yet although a little one is tempting. Especially since my sister just rescued an awesome 4 month old cat and my dad is getting a puppy next week. I am really enjoying being at home and having time to enjoy life. I no longer feel like a constantly rushed person although I do stay busy!!

I am fighting the mental battle of cancer right now as it has been over 3 months since my last scans and I wonder what is going on in there. I have occasional pangs that worry me. And it doesn't help that it was in December of last year that we found out I had relapsed. I even tried to convince Dr. M up in NY that I should have some scans now but he said we should just wait for my scheduled ones in February. I did have a baseline chest x-ray done while getting set up with a new primary care doctor. I had my first real cold in November and realized with insurance changes and dealing with oncologists the last two years I no longer had a regular doctor to call when I **gasp** had a non-cancer illness!! The xray was normal so that was some consolation. But we are ready to get those scans done and have more concrete proof that I am still in remission.

Please enjoy your holiday season and remember the real reason we celebrate. We are so thankful for all God has blessed us with over the last year. We have received so much love and support from our family and friends. And we have grown and strengthened as a family over this period as well. It is very much like James said in James1:3-4: "For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything".

Merry Christmas and I look forward to setting and keeping some great new goals for 2008!

Some pics from a busy October

I can't believe it is November! We had a lot of fun in October. Brant and I went to Las Vegas with friends. It is a very fun city with lots to see. Here is the view from our balcony at the luxurious Imperial Palace (ha!).

Although the mountains were pretty, a stage (with a band that played until 3am) was right below us so we moved rooms after one night. The casinos are amazing - here is a view of Paris from across the street and one of the Conservatory inside the Bellagio which was just amazing.

We went with several other couples and one afternoon the ladies had a fun time at Magaritaville.

Later in the month we headed up to Virginia Tech to watch them play Boston College in a monsoon. It really seemed like it was going to be an awesome night for us despite the weather.....but then there were the last four minutes of the ball game and we wound up as a bunch of drenched losers.....

The month ended with some Halloween fun. We waited until late to get the costumes done because no one could make a decision on what to be. The kids finally made some good choices as Supergirl and R2D2 (yes, it is a trash can and yes, now we need a new one in the upstairs room!). Cousin Cyrus should be impressed with Katie's duds since he loves to live in super hero clothes. We are still coming down from the sugar high from way too much candy.

There is not much to report on the cancer side of things. I am very healthy and only occasionally have a pain in my chest area. I will stop taking my antibiotic and antiviral drugs later this month and I am curious to see if my own immune system can keep me as healthy....especially as we enter cold and flu season.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the fall (maybe we will get some cooler weather???) as we get ready for a fabulous holiday season.

SHE DID IT!!!!

Ruth completed the Nike Women's Marathon last Sunday in San Francisco. Her time was 7 hours and 15 minutes which is AWESOME!!!! That is a whole lot of fast walking without any stopping. And there were hills.......but awesome views......and blisters.....but many fun people.

CONGRATULATIONS RUTH on this fantastic accomplishment. And she raised over $5000 to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, too. Thank you for making a difference!

Here are two pictures from Ruth's send off party held by TNT. At the party a few days before leaving town she was given her race singlet along with lots of well wishes, advice, and encouragement.

This is Ruth with her coach Anita and another friend/supporter Esther:

Raffle Winners

Hi there! Almost a whole month has passed since my last post, but there is nothing much new to report. Isn't that just fabulous??!!! It is wonderful being healthy and having a "normal" life these days.

Ruth will be walking her marathon in less than three weeks - wow!! We had a fundraiser raffle for a scrapbooking basket and a Tupperware basket. Juanita from my mother's neighborhood won the scrapbooking basket and Louise from ACT won the Tupperware basket. We raised almost $300 from the raffle so thanks to all of you that helped by buying a ticket!!

Ruth did her 20 mile walk last week which is the highest she will go prior to the event. Please pray for nice weather out in San Francisco on Oct. 21st and that she will have lots of energy for the race day. I will be sure to post some pictures from her event. She may not hit her $6800 goal for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but she will probably get close to $5000 which is just awesome for one person to do.

Back to School

It is that wonderful time when the kids get back on the school bus for another year of learning!! Katie was a little more excited than Chris, but they were both ready to go, and they both had a fun first week.





















My first week of school was great, too!! The house was quiet and I had some time to get caught up. Another 20 -30 weeks of this and I might get a few things done on the "to-do" list. This week I will go to the school and volunteer in the library and check in with the kids' teachers. It is a whole new world being home during the day.

Last week I also had a check up with my local doctor and my blood work is all in the normal range. I am still on the low end of the scale, but overall I am very healthy and doing well. My hair is starting to curl and I am taking on the appearance of a Chia pet that needs a little grooming. But I am not complaining, it is so nice to have hair!!