Special Guest Posting # 4

Happy New Years to all of my friends and family. I hope that you are all ringing in the New Year surrounded by loved ones and with just the right amount of good cheer. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart, which is getting bigger every minute because of your love, for all of the blogs, cards, socks, hats, pajamas, well wishes and phone calls. Some times things just appear and I do not know where they come from -- but everything is appreciated and I am overwhelmed by your generosity and good wishes.

Donna Teabags did my bathroom over and I am the envy of the entire floor.

It has been a rough few days with uncertaintly ahead. We are just taking one day at a time. We had a bit of a miracle today. Another new doctor showed up today, for weekend coverage, and he was commenting on how good I looked. I said, that is probably because you know that I am in such bad shape. He said, no you are not -- you are doing great! If this treatment doesn't work -- we have one more to go. You are going to be fine! That is exactly what I wanted to hear -- this man was just what the doctor ordered. We have asked him to come by once a day to uplift my spirits. I thought he was a "weekend coverage" doctor, but it turns out that he was Dr. Stadtmauer, a world renowned oncologist. That really gave me an uplift that lasted the entire day.

Mike is in Miami for the Orange Bowl and he called me four times today. He says that he misses me, but he is also having a great time with his friends. He is in a beach front hotel for 4 nights and 5 days -- with his PSU buddies. Some guys have all the luck! 78 degrees and sunny -- I wish I was there on the beach.

Joey and Alli visited today and they kept me in stitches the whole afternoon. There is a mutant pigeon on the roof that attacks Joey every time he visits. When Joey came through the stairwell, MP was waiting for him. MP probably just needs to be fed, but it upsets Joey none the less. I think it is funny.

As you know, Jessie is here visiting with Christian and my wonderful friends are taking turns watching C while Jessie visits. At this point, "C watching" is far beyond Grandpop Joe's ability. Jessie plans on bringing C tomorrow for a quick visit -- but my counts are way down. We will need to call this one tomorrow morning. Jessie has been a comfort to me. I marvel at the woman she has become.

As 2005 goes out the window (good riddens to it!) and we will see what 2006 has in store for us. I wish you health and happiness in the new year. I love you all and again thank you for your never ending support, love and help.

Happy New Year!!

Debbie

Day 26

Deb had a very wonderful visit today with her nursing school buddies Edie and Mike from Roanoke, VA. It is funny that 30 years ago we were all bouncing around the same pavements, a little thinner and with much more hair -- all around, not just Ms. Deborah -- and now we have a very different reason that joins us together again on familiar ground. Our hearts and our hopes are still the same. We hope for better times.

Donna Teabags did a bobsled run down to visit with her stolen Santas but without her brakeman, on her own and did not crash, as did one of our other friends. She fixed up Ms. Deborah's bathroom with another set of wonderful towels. Deb said that the last set was too nice to have down there and that I was to take them home, store them and not to use them until she came home. Now we have two towel sets that are too nice to have in a hospital, or home without Deb. Thanks for that. I hope to be able to use them some day.

Jessica surprised us with a visit yesterday evening and we have been enjoying Jess and Mr. Christian. The will likely be staying on for a few more days. We are modifying one of my suitcases with a snorkel so that we can smuggle "C" up to see his grandma before her counts fall too much. Although we all know that we are not supposed to, I think that the regulations will be broken within a fortnight.

Mike ships off to Miami tomorrow for his bowl game. His Mom felt sorry for him that he has not gone to a bowl game yet and she sprang for an early graduation present. Imagine, a 23 year old senior who has yet not gone to a bowl game -- the absolute deprivation could explain some things, but I am not quite sure what! And PSU against a 24th ranked team?? Mike is with Deb this evening and has taken down some special gifts from Easton.

Jess and I visited with Deb for about 4 hours today. Deb is getting tired again from the chemo and we are watching for fevers and rashes. She slept for half of the time that we were there and is working hard to cope with the fact that she has been in the hospital for 26 days. Has anyone else been inside anywhere for that period of time? I cannot imagine.

We raised with Deb the prospect of some of the suggested sleepovers (which we think is a great idea) but Deb will need some more coaxing. I will raise it again with her tomorrow and hopefully, we can make a schedule. Admittedly, there is much of this "accept / reject" reaction that is totally illogical to me, and any help with the code would be appreciated. Deb will need our help in the next few days. Jess will help to coordinate.

I will visit early tomorrow since Mike needs to be at the airport by 7:00 AM. Jess will take up some of the middle day tomorrow and I will come down later in the evening to spend the night with Deb for New Years. I will tell you all about her recliner tomorrow. I know that it is better than an economy air seat -- but not sure how much better!

Hoping for better days.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 25

Deb had her first rough night of round 2 last night -- she did not sleep -- and she spiked a fever. She was on the phone to Joey and I shortly after 6:00 am this morning and she was not feeling well. But she is a trooper and intends to see this second round through.

We got the call today that Dr. Porter would see us between 10:00 and 11:00 today to explain where we are and where we are likely to go. I was able to get there about 2 minutes before the meeting and Deb had a good talk with Dr. Porter. He explained to us that he expected a better response from round 1 of the chemo and he down played the long arm chromosome 6 abnormality. In his view, since we can now see the problem, because of the advances in science, that simply identifies the abnormality. They are still not sure what deleted 6q means in the overall scheme of things and he remained positive. The course of treatment would not change one bit. As I understood it, perhaps the absence of the 6q abnormality would have made the first round more successful, but it certainly does not determine the outcome.

Dr. Porer's advice was that we will continue the high dose course of treatment and have another bone marrow biopsy in 2 weeks. If Deb is clean, we will discuss next steps. If she is not clean, he said that we will have a different kind of discussion.

So, we need to hope for the best for Deb -- send maximum positive energy to the east and keep those prayers going. Nothing else has seemed to work.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 24

Deb had visitors for the entire day today and she certainly enjoyed the company. God knows I exhausted my word quotient at lunch yesterday and needed help with a few more million words today from her girl friends. Thanks for that.

We were informed today that Debbie will definitely need a stem cell transplant in order to beat this disease. The chemo alone will not fix her problem. This will require the help of her brothers and Pam. As you may know, Pam is the only Keevill that has contacted Deb since she has been admitted to the hospital and she has offered to help, but we will likely need more help than that. This would be difficult in a normal family -- so God help us now!

They started the chemo therapy last evening, but began a more aggressive approach using a "high-dose" chemotherapy treatment. Instead of 24 x 7, Deb gets mega doses of the chemo for 2 hours every 12 hours. She had her first 2 treatments today and seemed to be tolerating it fairly well. Because of the high dosages, I am not sure if the timing of the dark times we learned from the last round will have any relevance now, but will keep you posted.

Nevertheless, Deb was in good spirits today and was thankful for her visitors. We are hoping to schedule some time with the head physician tomorrow to get a better understanding on her prognosis.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 23

This was a good day for Deb. Her new doctor met with her this morning and confirmed that the chemo will start tonight for another 7 day cycle. Unfortunately, they did not give us the chromisonal breakdown. The doctor confirmed that Deb's treatment will be the same for the next 30 days regardless.

We left the hospital shortly before noon for our "date" and we went to a nice tavern a few blocks away. Deb had her cheeseburger, fries and an apple crisp ala mode! Ate it up like uncle Atilla from my side of the family. Of course, she paid dearly later but enjoyed every bite of it while she had it. Imagine all of the laxatives the poor girl is taking when all she needs is a walk in the park and a little bit of pie!

We had a nice slow lunch for about 1.5 hours, even though we ate everything in about 12 minutes -- but we had a window seat, the sun was shining and it was nice. Of course, my word quotient for the month of January was exhausted today and I will need a big assist from everyone going into this next round. This will be the last day that Deb is not hooked up for a while and we tried to make the best of it.

We went back to Deb's room and a new rookie, Rich and his wife Norma stopped by for a visit. Rich is having some of the same throat problems as Deb did, but much less extreme, so we gave him some of the diced peaches and some pointers on the parking passes. Rich and Norma are both big time bike riders. Of course, I noticed them looking at Deb's dust covered stationary bike and expect a big time bartering session soon. Deb may get her new car way before she thought she would!

As I was leaving, Mike was coming into the hospital and he has just left for the evening. Deb had a good day and we can expect a few more. As Deb explained to me, the chemo on this round will be much stronger than the last round. We are not sure what the exact consequences of the increased potency will mean, but we will keep everyone posted, as best we can.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 22

Deb had quite a busy day today with some visitors in the morning and she had a excursion out of the hospital for about 4 hours.

Today was our home cleaning day so we were busy in the AM with the normal weekly chores. We left to visit with Deb around 10:30. Her nurse buddies told us about a number of very nice restaurants and bistros a few blocks from the hospital. With the students on break, we expected a nice break from the hospital food which is awful, as we have often commented.

Deb was in "street" clothes for the first time since her arrival and the four of us headed up the street to find the eateries. There are a number of wonderful looking pubs, "Bubble House," etc. which, of course, were all closed for Christmas. The only choice open was "Mad Mex's Mexican" restaurant and we all decided to take a pass on this since we were all recovering from the Christmas chili. Those hospital laxitives have nothing on this concoction! We walked back to the car and headed for Deb's favorite deli -- the "Famous 4th Street" deli which was open and crowded.

After about a 20 minute wait, we were seated and a short time later, Deb was sipping some split pea soup and munching into a corned beef on rye sandwich. The portions in this place are huge and she more than held up her end of the bargain. The boys also enjoyed their sandwiches and french fries. We ordered a chocolate eclair to go, which was about the size of a small loaf of bread.

We arrived back at Deb's room a little after 4:00 PM and she and the boys laid down for a nap. However, her nurse buddies started showing up to find out what Deb had done and where she had gone for such a long time. Mike and Deb then ate some of the eclair, the remainder of which is in her fridge. We all had a very nice visit and Deb was happy when I left at about 6:00. I expect that she will be sleeping early tonight.

Deb still seems weak and has difficulty with steps. She was short of breath a few times today and had to use her inhaler. Her leg muscles need some tuning up and she will be walking her laps again. We will meet with Dr. Porter tomorrow and he will outline the second phase of the chemo treatment. Currently, we believe that Deb will start the chemo treatment tomorrow night, for another 7 days. We should have a bit of a window now before Deb's counts come down again, she becomes neutropenic, and we will just hope for the best. Hopefully, what we learned during the last treatment will be put to good use now so that we can avoid some of the extreme allergic reactions she experienced the last time.

Deb sends her love to all.

Special Guest Posting # 3

Merry, Merry Christmas to all my wonderful friends and family. Again, a million "thank yous" for all of the cards, blogs, cookies, presents, incredible socks, hats, delicious food, prayers and good wishes. During my dark time last week, thoughts of you and your support and love got me through that awful time. I am much improved today and actually walked outside through the Penn campus which is quite beautiful. You wouldn't know that you are in the middle of a major city. The fresh air was fantastic. These past two days with Joe, Jess and the boys here was the best medicine of all. It overcame me and I was "seeping" a lot over the past few days.

Jessie looks great as you can see from the pictures and Emma is thriving. Thanks to Jess for getting those pictures on the blog. It is amazing how much the small things mean in life and how important it is to just have us all together. I wish Walid and Christian could have joined us -- maybe on the next visit. There was little girl around Christian's age running up and down the halls visiting her grandmother today.

My numbers are looking good and I am being weaned off the steroids -- "YIKES!" -- I hope all of those bad germs, allergic reactions, etc. do not come flying back. My doctor says that I should be able to fight things off on my own now because my immune system is so much stronger.

Gearing up for round two -- still can't quite believe it -- that we will be going through this all over again. At least I know what to expect this time and so do my caregivers. We have lots of doctors watching out for the allergic reactions -- because that was the problem the last time -- not the chemo. I seem to be allergic to just about everything.

I had a wonderful Christmas today and we exchanged some gifts in the room, we took a walk outside and then had some Christmas chili. Jess passed along her black bean chili recipe that Joe gave a little extra "BAM" and we had a nice crock pot lunch with some home made bread. I have two slices of bread left over in my frige -- with some nice, real butter for a snack later tonight! The doctors have told me to eat whatever I want -- good fatty foods, cheeseburgers, etc. Can you believe it, they want to bulk me up. All my hard work to lose weight and they want me to pound the burgers. Really now!

I want to thank you all again, really from the bottom of my heart. I love you all and can't wait to see everybody again. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families and friends and know that I will be thinking of you tonight when I read the blogs, as I do every night to bring on peaceful dreams.

Love to all !!

Debbie

Updated Photos of Debbie and Family

Merry Christmas to All!

Here are a few pictures from our visit together on Christmas Eve along with a few others from Week 1. We all think mom looks GI Jane-esque. Definitely a cute look for her!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=vs5ik4a.3q7fz8zm&x=0&y=-xg29r

Love,

Jessie

Day 20

The family had a nice visit with Debbie today and we hope that Jester can get some pictures published to share with everyone. Jess and I arrived at about 10:30 and she was able to stay with Deb until 1:30 when we left to catch a cab for her train. It was a nice visit for all of us.

Jester gave Deb a peticure and rubbed her feet with lotions and potions and you may see a picture or two of this endeavor. It took way longer than any of my foot rubbing techniques. The boys arrived about 1 hour after we did and we had a nice visit with lots of laughing -- so much so that we thought Jester was going to choke on her sandwich! The boys found a McDonalds nearby and Deb had some Eileen Cota soup and french fries. We had a little home away from home today, all together and having fun. It was nice.

The boys left after we ran out of food to do their Christmas shopping. Not sure what they got accomplished because Joey was sleeping in his room when I got home and Michael was playing video games at Derek's house.

Jester and I caught a cab to 30th street and her train was on time! She was home by 4:30 and I am sure that she was tired from her ordeal, but we were glad to have her come up. Deb was over-joyed with the visit and was very sad to see Jess go home, and so was I. It was nice to have a disciplined, organized person around for a few days. The boys are great company but they fly by the seat of their pants! Organization and planning is very helpful in this kind of situation and her logistical help was very welcome.

When I came back from the train station, Deb was with her nurse Patty and she was ready for a nap. Deb slept soundly for about 1 hour while I caught up on some paperwork. We changed Deb into her sleeping gear and were on the road by 5:00 to begin preparing her Christmas feast. The boys and I will be taking down many of the accumulated presents, an entree, and some treats for Debbie's first Christmas away from our home.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped us along our way so far with prayers, food, cookies, and all of the other support you have given to us. Deb loves the blog and reads it every night. Best wishes to everyone for a very Merry Christmas and we hope that everyone's Christmas wish is for a better time for Debbie. She surely deserves one.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 19

Deb continued to improve today and has moved back to her "home" on Ravdin 9. Her room number is 933 and we were able to tidy it up for her througout the course of the day.

Deb spend the night in the intermediate ICU unit. She called around 7:30 AM and was hoping to move to her room shortly. The process took until around 5:00 PM when she was finally moved into her new private room, with a bath tub, more drawer space and with an exercise bike! We will complete the rest of the move in process tomorrow and will spend Christmas there with Deb.

Jester came up on the train today -- 1.45 hours late of course, but saw her mom for the first time. Jess and Emma weathered the trip and after the long visit, they will be sleeping soundly shortly. I met her at the station and we took a cab back to the hospital. Jess had a nice visit with Deb while we waited to be moved back to Ravdin.

The boys were able to join us late in the afternoon, so that Deb had all of "her babies" with her for the afternoon and I had two good "mules" to help me move all of the stuff from "here to there" throughout the afternoon. Actuallly, the nurses on Ravdin 9 now know us so well that they let us set up Deb's bedding and room even before the orders were cut to move her into 933. We have gotten to the point that we can install the air mattess, with the right settings, fix the base sheet, add one folded blanket, then add another fitted sheet, then the top sleeping sheet, plus the hospital blanket, then add the Donna Teabags quilt. This is the protocol that Deb likes best, and we have gotten this down to a science. Plus this room has its own refrigerator!

The boys and Deb had dinner together, while Jess and I held out for a proper dinner from our household stores. Jess and I left around 6:30 and the boys were about 1 hour behind us. Deb is glad to be back on Ravdin 9 and her room is looking like home again.

This was a good day for Deb and all of her babies -- she was happy to be with everyone and to watch Mr. C on the DVD and to feel Emma kicking up on poor Jester.

Jess will go home tomorrow on a 2:30 train.

Thanks to all for your kindness, cookies and food. I am beginning to think that the boys are now gaining weight!

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 18

What a difference a day can make! Debbie was moved out of the ICU unit this morning into an intermediate ICU unit and was able to speak on the phone to tell us her new room number. Yesterday, her voice was not audible and when they first scoped her, her voice box was not visible that is how swollen her throat was. When we left last evening, she was counting "Riders in the Sky" with Jim Morrison and when we returned today, she was sitting up in bed, yapping up a storm with whomever was in earshot and was hungry! What an improvement. Whether it was the steroids or the TPN nourishment or both, she was 1000% better today.

Deb has been visited by all sorts of specialists throughout the day because they suspect that the throat problem was partially caused by an allergic reaction to something. That would make her third allergic reaction so far. This extra attention is welcome because it should make the next induction easier for her -- if nothing else, we will know what to expect and what not to use.

The boys got down to see her around 5:00 and they were pleased to be with their Mom -- when she knew who they were. That was a big relief for them. Jessica has determined to visit tomorrow and she will see Deb for the first time during this ordeal. She will take a train up from DC tomorrow morning and return early in the afternoon on Saturday.

Deb will be moved back into Ravdin tomorrow and we are still hoping to get back to 941 because it has a bath tub. Maryellen is pulling strings for us again, so we are hopeful to be back "home" in Deb's room and to get some -- but not all -- of the stuff back into the room. We did way too many trips to the tower last night.

Thanks to everyone for the gifts and the food. The boys are keeping good pace with the intake and it is very much appreciated.

Hoping for some more good days.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 17

Well, if things could go from bad to worse, they did that today. Mike spent the night last night and helped Debbie on numerous occasions. Although her temperatures seemed to improve, her swollen throat only got worse. Mike helped Debbie eat some diced peaches for breakfast, however, she has not eaten enough in the last week to keep a bird alive.

The throat continued to deterioate over the course of the day to the point where they scheduled Deb for an emergency tracheotomy and prepared to move her to the ICU unit. Cathy and Mary were with her today and that was very helpful to us and comforting to Debbie. The ENT guys delivered some steroidal treatment -- which luckily began to take good effect. However, Cathy and Mary called me at about 3:00 to come down, "on the double," because at the time Deb was scheduled to be trached and moved to ICU. The thought of a trach with no WBC or platlates is very bad all around. Luckily, by the time I got there, Deb's condition had improved somewhat and they had cancelled the surgery. But because of the precarious nature of her throat, they moved her to ICU for observation. They will continue to administer the steroids and hopefully, she will be moved to a step down ICU unit tomorrow, and "double hopefully" she will be back to Ravdin 9 in a further day or two.

Despite everyone's efforts to make Deb's room comfortable, with her own bathroom and bathtub, when we went to ICU, we were evicted from that room and everything had to be moved out and taken home! She is now in a glass walled room, hooked up to monitors without her own bathroom at all! Just a commode in the middle of the room. Can you imagine?

Finally, and most sadly, the biopsy was not clean. Deb will need another round of induction chemotherapy to get into remission, which will require another 3 weeks in the hospital. Although she came down from 27% to 6% -- they want it to be lower than 2% before the consolidation round of treatment. In spite of this all, and despite her exhausted, immaciated state, I could see her begin to rally tonight and to get ready for another fight. We need to understand a few things first, but Deb is determined to see Emma and she will come through this.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 16

Another day for the "BAD" column. Deb had an awful night, but Mike was able to stay with her and keep her company. I arrived at about 7:30 this morning and Mike left at about 9:00 AM. When I arrived, he was sacked out on a pull out sofa in one corner of the room. Deb said that he slept through an EKG and a few consults, but was there for her when she spiked her big temperatures during the night. I have been here all day today.

The principal problems now seem to be the sore throat -- very swollen glands that keep her from swallowing or eating, the new rash, and monster fevers. I put the cream on her again today and the new rash was hot, raised and red. Not as purple as the last one, but very bad nevertheless. Her temps have gotten up to 105 and they have an electronic cooling blanket on her to keep her body temperature down. Earlier in the afternoon, we got ice bags for behind her neck, under her armpits and her groin to bring down the temperature. Everyone is concerned about the throat and the fevers. She is being treated for both viral and fungal conditions. This is a heck of a team and they seem on top of everything. Deb just needs to get those counts up.

Deb will go down for a CAT scan of the throat tonight @ 8:00 and the infectious disease department will see her tomorrow during the day shift. They are concerned that the throat may some type of infection that her body cannot fight off because her counts are still so low.

Mike will stay the night again today and we will have some help tomorrow during the day. I will have office hours until around 2 and will then come down until Mike arrives. Depending on Deb's condition, Mike will stay on Wednesday night, as well.

Hope to have better news tomorrow.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 15

This was a very difficult day for Debbie. When I arrived she was sitting in her chair, pale and asleep with a terrible sore throat from the chemo. It is called mucusitis. She could not talk, drink or eat. Although she declined moraphine for it the evening before, the Doctor convinced her to start medicating the problem until it passes. She agreed.

Unfortunately, shortly after the moraphine started, she began to develop a new rash suggesting that she was having an allergic reaction to this medication. Because of last weeks rash, they quickly switched her to a new med. which she can regulate with her own pump.

The bone biopsy began at about 11:45 and it can only be described as gruesome. I will not even go into the step by step procedures. The biopsy was very long and painful for Deb. They had to take a break and administer more moraphine half way through the procedure because of the pain. We hope that she will get a clean scan and that she can go home. We should know the results by Thursday.

Deb cannot speak, is very weak and was running a fever for the rest of the day. Mike will stay with her tonight and I will spend the day with her tomorrow.

These are the hardest days.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 14

We have had good days and bad days. Unfortunately, today was a bad day for Deb. Our day started with a collect call from Debbie because she lost her cell phone. Her voice was so faint on the system that I thought it was a joke. But for the fact that the boys had been out partying last night, I would have hung up. It wasn't AAA or the police, it was Deb with a terrible sore throat. She needed honey and throat soothers.

We were told to expect sore throats and mouth sores, and today we got them in spades. When I arrived at the hospital, Deb was in the bath tub soaking it off. (Mom -- I didn't look!) She had a fever, a sore throat, the rash from hell and whatever else they could have thrown at her today. They gave Deb moraphine and offered her a pump, but she did not want to upset the progress she had made with the lower regions over the past few days. Just unbelievable choices.

Of course, Deb slipped coming out of the tub and I was able to catch her -- God knows what that will look like tomorrow. I put the steroidal potion on her rash today and that has definitely peaked and is on the mend. It did not have near the heat that it did yesterday and it is retreating. Her head is almost free of it, her ears are clear and the rest of her body should be clear in a week. She is still retaining water, but hopefully that will dissipate over time. Most likely, there will be scars.

Deb spiked a few temperatures during the course of our stay today. She had a tiny bit of lunch and a very little to drink while I was there. Mostly, she just slept. We did only one lap today -- but that was all that her strength could muster. That said, I do feel that the rash is now on the mend -- she snapped a couple of times today in "classic Debbie style" so I know that she is still in there and has plenty of fight left in her. Hope to send some of the boys in there to get some of that for themselves instead of me!

Tomorrow is a big day for Debbie -- day 14 bone marrow biopsy -- that will tell us what to expect going forward. We hope to get the results back by the end of the week and we hope that it will say that we can all go home for a while. The test will be performed at 10:00 -- so direct all of your positive energies in a easterly direction at that time. I will be there for the play by play on 94.1 FM. It is just a God awful procedure that was probably invented by the Vikings while pillaging the British Isles.

Thanks to everyone who brought stuff by this weekend. We appreciate all that you have done for us -- Zeke and Bob thanks for the guy stuff, it was great-- and we hope to have a big blow-out here once Deb is back in full swing.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 13

I did a double take on the day today "13" -- but it was a good day for Deb. Although her rash continues unabated ( which is consistent with no WBC) Deb's spirits were high today and she was glad to see both of her boys. The four of us watched Jess, Walid and Mr. C on the video so we could all be together, along with Emma! We even got to see Mr. C's kitchen scene today, which took us 4 hours and 5 tries, but it was worth it! (Calm down nurses -- this is Mr. C sitting inside of the kitchen cabinets flipping tuperware lids -- not the Postman scenes -- you buggars!)

Mike was with Deb for the first time since she was admitted and he handled it very well. He examined the rash -- which still makes me take a knee -- clinically and understood what was going on. He did much better than we had expected and that was a relief to both of us. It was an indication of his maturity. Well done Mike!

We delivered tons of gifts today, battery operated candles, greens, books, lotions, potions, (but no poltus) oatmeal bars, baths, creams, PJ's etc. Good thing we had three able bodied men to haul all of the loot up to Deb. She was excited for it all and was happy to receive the gifts. Deb sends her thanks to all.

Both of the boys took turns with Deb doing her laps and we tucked her into her bed (with the nice comforter) when it was time for us to leave. Deb still gets tired quickly, and if you could see her counts, it is no wonder. Although everything is now starting to rise, which is expected, Deb is still way below anything approaching normal human contact. For example, where her glasses touch her skin behind her ears, there are bruises. Where her catherter lays against her skin, there are bruises. She bumped her head against her IV pole, and she has a welt. This is all just very sad -- but her spirit is indominable and she makes us glad to be by her.

Before we left, I put some of the steroidal potion on her rash and it is still very hot to the touch and heavier than yesterday. There are quite a few pounds of fluid in that rash and hopefully it will not turn into cellulitis. But for the rash, Deb is doing excellently. The nurses and staff have been great to her and we are getting friendly with many of them.

We thank everyone who has respected our request for privacy during this difficult time and hope and pray that Deb will have another good day tomorrow. The big biopsy is on Monday and that will tell us much about what will be in store for us in the short term. Hopefully, we can have some visitors next week as her counts continue to improve.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 12

Thanks to all for their posts today -- everyone knows how hard yesterday was for Debbie and today was a better day.

Joey and I arrived at about 3:45 today and Deb was resting in her bed. She was in good spirits and ready to laugh. She was eating well today and the lower regions were cooperating for a change. She was doing her laps and Joey took her out for two workouts today. I counted at least 5 laps, which means we did 8-9 Debbie laps.

Deb's counts are way down, which is to be expected. .8 WBC, <8 HMG, <10 platlates. She is still very susceptible to any type of virus or infection, but within her very controlled environment she seems to be doing fine. Obviously, the comment "doing fine" must be put into context. In normal times, this woman would have been in hyper drive at this time of year, wondering if we should have a Christmas party, how many parties were we going to, how many trees we should have, what about the 85 Santas perched on all of their places, etc. She has not once complained about missing any of this (and could you blame her!!) and is determined to see this thing through. She is a real Trooper.

Speaking of Troopers, what we were calling a "rash" is a cross between third degree burns and leprosy! It is absolutely terrible ( so now we know that Deb really is allergic to penicillin!). She is accumulating a lot of fluid in the area of the "rash" and they will likely start some type of treatment for this bad development. This condition extends from her armpits to her hips and is fluid filled, raised purple blotches. I put some steroidal potion on these areas tonight and I could feel the heat from her skin even through the gloves. The boys and I will probably need to fashion a fine Missouri mustard root poltus to draw all of this fluid off in the next day or two.

Deb had an appetite for dinner and dug into a bowl of Mary's meat balls, of course while looking at her hospital tray. The state of the hospital food is simply incredulous to me. It is so bad that we are encouraged to bring our own food in from home. We even have refrigerators and microwaves to accommodate this shortcoming. It is as if HUP have resigned themselves to their inability to prepare food and they encourage a "work around" with home food to get by. While looking at their TV today, I noticed that they did not have the Food Channel -- perhaps a suggestion in the right direction?? They could do with a little "BAM!" Nevertheless, we have a nice supply of beef stew in the fridge in case Deb gets hungry tonight, and we are making pulled pork sandwiches for tomorrow.

Mike will be coming home tonight and he will visit Deb for the first time tomorrow. This will be difficult for him. Joey will speak to him tonight to help him along.

Deb has 20 pages of blogs to read her way through and she keeps all of the cards and emails handy to read over and over when she can't sleep at night. She feels you around her and we are all thankful for the support you have given us. The boys are particulary thankful for the food packages that have been arriving and are being devoured just as quickly. The chicken parm is gone already!

Deb sends her love to all and we hope for better days.

Day 11

This will be a very short post because I have had very little communication with Deb today. We spoke briefly this morning about 1.5 hours later than normal. As Jess noted, Deb had a bad night with both her lower regions and the rash. She expressed to me the extent of her discomfort as only a nurse ( and drunken sailor) could. Deb was not happy.

I checked in again around mid-day and it was clear that the hospital staff had given Deb some new potions to relieve her discomfort. I am sure she will not remember that conversation tomorrow. Today was scheduled as my "off" day because of the weather so I did not go down to see her. This was a wise choice.

We were told to expect some bad days and today will go into that column. We will hope for a better day tomorrow. Joey and I will head down tomorrow around mid-afternoon. Until you hear further from us, please respect the no visitor rule which remains in effect.

Deb sends her love to all.

Night #10

Hello to all,

I just got off the phone with mom. She called to tell me she's shutting her phones off for the day and laying low. The Montezuma potion worked as it should, but kept her up most of the night. She says her rash has continued to get worse even though she is no longer on the offending antibiotic. She sends her love.

J

Special Guest Posting #2:

"Dear FOD's:
The computer was free and JT was here early today and am taking this opportunity to speak directly with all of you.

First, thank you a million times from the bottom of my heart to everyone for the blogs, cards, calls and letters. I am feeling better today and do feel everyone's love and it strengthens me every day whcn times get rough. I feel like there are a hundred arms around me to help me and to support me.

The alien in my abdomen is quiet today and that always makes for a better day.
I am mostly eating food from home. You cannot imagine how bad the hospital food is here.
I am getting 2 more units of blood today and that should perk me up some more.
I attempted a shopping trip today in the lobby of the hospital where they were having a booksale. I was able to get some wonderful books for Christian, but Joe showed up at the nick of time because I was starting to wilt. I did walk over the front door and get some breaths of cold air and it was refreshing. If I could do that every day that would have to help.
My numbers are all way down. My WBT is 0 and platlates are 12, hmg. 8 (YIKKES!!!). I cannot believe that these numbers are mine. But this is all a good indicator that the treatment is working as it is supposed to.

I should be like this for about a week and then my counts should start climbing again.
Jessie's trip was cancelled because one of her tests suggested the possibility of pre-term labor. Her docs. thought she should stay home. I am both relieved and disappointed that she will not be coming to visit.

Thank you all for the visits, but this next week we should keep them to a minimum.
I look forward to cups of tea and liters of cosmopolitans with each and everyone of you when I get out of here.

I love you, I love you, I love you.
Debbie

Day 10

Hopefully, you have all seen the special post of the day today. Even a "blogmaster" could not navigate the HUP network and we had to post this as a comment. But once you have experienced their food, no wonder anything works!! Jester should be moving this comment over to a post shortly.

Today was our "vacation" day so I was able to arrive at about 10:45. Deb was not in her room and the nurse said that she went shopping! That meant that she was in the lobby at a HUP sponsored book / Christmas sale. I went back downstairs and found Deb strolling down the aisles with her gloves, mask, robe and new "outside" hat, i. e., oversized, pleated, cotton, khaki sailor cap, buying stuff for Christian just like we were in the local mall. Can you imagine!

We slowly made our way back up to her room, and I say slowly only because Deb found another store to check out, without telling me -- and I thought she had gone back to the room! On my third trip of back, forth, up, down, she finally waived from the store window, like the last 10 minutes of panic didn't need to happen. Some things never change.

Deb loved the beef stew today and this was the most that she has eaten since she entered HUP. We will not talk about the "tray food" today to avoid a defamamtion claim. It is astounding to me what they will serve to people.

As you may have seen from Deb's post, her counts are way down and she needed 2 units of blood today. He BP was also way down which cause some concern and a couple of scary calls. On our last call, the BP was rising and she was feeling better. NOTE: NO VISITOR RULE IS STILL IN EFFECT !! This is a double, triple, triple exclamation point with her counts being down. This is a very critical time.

Deb's rash has now matured into KuiKway proportions (Melville's whaling friend). She is scratching like Simmie in the summer. Hopefully, this will be gone in a day or two.

Finally, Deb's irregularity will likely be cured by the super-guaranteed not to stop / never fails Montezuma revenge potion they have prepared for her. Her X-ray showed no blockages which is very good, but means she gets the potion. Hopefully, it will do its job.


Deb sends her love to all.

Day 9

Deb did not have a good day today. She is having a lot of intestinal problems that are probably related to the chemotherapy and her irregularity. Her not getting enough rest is catching up with her -- and last but not least, she still has next to no appetite. We will be packing up some beef stew for her microwave. After some early morning meetings tomorrow, I will spend the rest of the day with Deb to help get this ship back on course. Next to no laps today --to be made up tomorrow!!

We will still the no visitor rule in effect until some of these issues come back into line. Deb over-extends herself when people visit and then pays for it. Yesterday, she slept for 2 hours solid in between visitors. Following Jester's friendly reminder of today -- please also limit the time of your stay. I realize that it is a pain to get to Penn, but Deb will stay engaged with you as long as you stay -- she sounds fine, but then sleeps in between visits. Hopefully, she will start sleeping more through the night, eat more and gain some strength back.

Deb thanks everyone for the head coverings, but still needed some things from a special shop in the Penn Tower. She now has a nice, beanie baby soft, pink sleeping cap to keep her head warm at night. When she was sleeping the other day, I could see her try to cover her head to get warm. All new stuff to learn.

Please keep the blogs coming as we deliver them every day to Deb. When I take the old file home at night, they are dog eared and wrinkled so she is reading them more than once a day.

Deb sends her love to all.

Gentle Reminder

As we all know, this is Debbie's rough week as far as chemotherapy side effects. The rash from the antibiotics has continued to get worse and my mom is just miserable. They've altered the medication some, but she has asked me to tell you all to check with one of us before heading down to Penn. She is not up for any visits today, Tuesday, December 13. Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers through this journey, they are guiding us through.

J

Day 8

Two major milestones happened today -- Deb's chemotherapy ended and she lost her hair! She is fine with accomplishing both objectives and is looking forward to the next milestone -- the day 14 bone marrow biopsy.

Deb's charge nurse (Patty) promised to help Deb shed her locks before she went for her skiing vacation in Utah. Tonight Deb's head would shine with any new boot camp recruit -- her head feels like a 3 day growth of beard! This way is much more hygenic and efficient than having it drop out over the next few weeks in her bed and food. I think what bothers Deb the most is that when scrubbed to the nub, her brown locks aren't so brown anymore. Sort of like my "blonde" hair. Now I am not sure who is more grey.

Deb has quite a rash growing. Now she knows what her penicillin allergy is!! It goes from her ears to her ankles and itches like crazy. They are giving her medicine for the itching, which also makes her sleepy.

When I arrived today at about 3, Sue Schneider was visiting with Debbie and they had a nice afternoon. While they were visiting, I went to my office (family center) and got some things done that are due tomorrow. When I returned, Sue was leaving and the benedryl was kicking in. Deb fell fast asleep for about 2 hours and rested well.

Just as I was leaving, Denny and Zeke stopped by on their way home from the shore. On my way home, Cathy Goodyear and Jim were on the way down before Jim leaves for China tomorrow. Deb had a full day and will sleep well tonight.

Thanks for all of the meals -- Mo, Mary, Cathy and Pat -- we are freezing some of them for when the eating machine comes home from Penn State on Friday night.

Deb sends her love to all and thanks for the support.

Day 8

Two major milestones happened today -- Deb's chemotherapy ended and she lost her hair! She is fine with accomplishing both objectives and is looking forward to the next milestone -- the day 14 bone marrow biopsy.

Deb's charge nurse (Patty) promised to help Deb shed her locks before she went for her skiing vacation in Utah. Tonight Deb's head would shine with any new boot camp recruit -- her head feels like a 3 day growth of beard! This way is much more hygenic and efficient than having it drop out over the next few weeks in her bed and food. I think what bothers Deb the most is that when scrubbed to the nub, her brown locks aren't so brown anymore. Sort of like my "blonde" hair. Now I am not sure who is more grey.

Deb has quite a rash growing. Now she knows what her penicillin allergy is!! It goes from her ears to her ankles and itches like crazy. They are giving her medicine for the itching, which also makes her sleepy.

When I arrived today at about 3, Sue Schneider was visiting with Debbie and they had a nice afternoon. While they were visiting, I went to my office (family center) and got some things done that are due tomorrow. When I returned, Sue was leaving and the benedryl was kicking in. Deb fell fast asleep for about 2 hours and rested well.

Just as I was leaving, Denny and Zeke stopped by on their way home from the shore. On my way home, Cathy Goodyear and Jim were on the way down before Jim leaves for China tomorrow. Deb had a full day and will sleep well tonight.

Thanks for all of the meals -- Mo, Mary, Cathy and Pat -- we are freezing some of them for when the eating machine comes home from Penn State on Friday night.

Deb sends her love to all and thanks for the support.

Debbie - Photos from Week 1

Ok - so this is no webcam. But for those of you who have not been able to visit yet, here's a few shots of my mom that Kathi M. took last week. I got my mom's permission to share them with you all, mainly because it did my heart good to see her face. Donna Teabags - the bedding makes the room look so inviting. Thank you to everyone for making my mom's room look less like a hospital room and more like home.

Cut and paste this link into your web browser:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=vs5ik4a.3q7fz8zm&x=0&y=-xg29r

J

Day 7

Deb has been in the hospital for one week now and we would have to say that the last two days have been her best two days since she has been at Penn. Maybe she is getting used to the food, but we doubt it. Although she has had her share of indisgestion, she has not gotten sick from the chemo. She has been able to continue with her laps -- as few as they may have been -- and has had a appetite over the past two days.

Deb's counts have fallen dramatically over the past few days -- which is expected and part of the chemo therapy. But please remember -- anyone who thinks they are sick -- with a cold, sniffle or whatever, Deb has no immunity now. If you are not 100% -- use the phone or the blog.

We must remember that this is week 1 of a probable 4 week stay -- so we need help to keep this interesting for Deb?? She has not turned her TV on yet, but we have three weeks to go. Jester can post photo albums, etc to help Deb past the time.

Now that Deb is neutropenic, please remember to wash your hands and glove up when you enter the room. I was thinking, should we have a neutropenic, latex enveloped Chippendale Santa Claus ?? Girls, we need help with this!!! Christmas will be a big day, outside of her home for the first time, and she will need our support. We need to have a plan -- Think about this.

Deb slept for about 4 hours last night and looked good when we arrived. She had fevers during the night and had some periods of discomfort. Joe, Ally and I had a nice visit with Debbie for a few hours this afternoon. We enjoyed watching the Christian video, over and over, and over and over and over again -- Jester, is there menu for this???? We have been fast forwarding to get to the kitchen scenes for two days and have never gotten there! Did you guys really do 20.000 laps around the track? If we hit the FF button once too often, we start the whole magilla all over again, and again, and again, and again. God Bless Gradmothers, tne kitchen scenes must be good because we spent two hours trying to get to them, but I have still never seen them. Long visitors should put the machine on when you arrive, keep Debbie away from the buttons and you may get to the kitchen scenes -- maybe in an hour or so.

We have now had enough independent taste tasting samples to definitively conclude that the hospital food SUCKS!!! Joey tasted the vegetable soup today and opined that it smelled like fertilizer, and he was right. All non-neutropenic contraband is welcome, in paper sacks, and please check it at Deb's sink before completely contaminating the room!

Thanks to all for your support and prayers. Please remember that Debbie is only 25% of the way home and wants to be with us.

Deb sends her love to all.

Day 6

This is mostly anti-climatic after our Guest posting today, but we like being able to speak to everyone. Deb had a very good day today. She looked well when I arrived today at about 1:00 pm and was bathed, in new PJ's and was talking to her charge nurse Patty.

On the weekends, the meals seem to be about 1 hour later than during the week. Deb's lunch came about 1:30 today and I brought a lunch from home. Deb was very hungry today -- which is good -- and she tore into her lunch and a snack later in the afternoon. She had some more of Gary's soup and loved every drop. There were no bad after-effects from these meals.

We blogged together today for the first time, and although I am certain that Deb has not a clue how any of this has happened, she will figure this out before she goes home. Today, she saw the blog, wanted to respond and dictacted with reckless abandon. [Yes, Kris, there was censorship going on today during the dictation, no thanks to you !!.]

Deb was happy today and that was nice and it made me feel good.

We then did a fraction of the laps that Deb thinks she did and probably faster than we should have have done them. Napping was the rule after the laps and Deb slept contentendly for about 1.5 hours. She was tired and she slept well.

Deb sends her love to all and looks forward to hearing from you tomorrow.

Special Guest Posting

We have discovered a internet connection on Deb's floor and she is posting this herself today.

"To all my friends and family. What would I do without you? Your emails and blogs are medicine for my soul. I laugh and cry tears of joy when I read them and realize that I have been so blessed to have you all in my life. And you are all such inspired writers. My friend Kris says, " that I should stop trying to write nurses notes and my writing could become more interesting too. "

Thank you for the flowers, cards, goodies, angels, blankets, disco balls, wind chimes, Santa, Christmas tree, pot pouri, and sweet smelling lotions. My room is the most festive on the floor, thanks to Martha Smith and it has kept me quite cozy on these recent nights with fevers.

I have been using the shawls around my neck and legs when I get lonely in the middle of the night and I am surrounded by all of your kindness and loving thoughts for my recovery. [Joe is typing this faster than I can compose it --- if left on my own, I would have shut down the Penn network by now. The girls at MSC will confirm.]

I love you all more than I can ever say. You will get me through this day by day and I can't wait to give you all a hug in person. Now the lap Nazi is telling me to get moving!

Love,

Debbie

Day 5

After a very interesting drive in this morning, we had a nice day today visiting with Debbie and seeing some of her friends. When I arrived at about 8:00 AM, Ms. Sociality was on the phone and had taken a bath, all by herself, and was ready to do her laps. Lucky for Deb, her breakfast arrived and she ate instead. So far she has been able to eat at least 1/2 of a portion -- which although not much -- is better than she had been eating.

After breakfast, we did about 5 laps around the nurses station and then I understood that "Debbie laps" are different than real laps. 5 real laps are 7 Debbie laps. But so long as she is moving, who cares how you count them?

After a short nap, 3 of her friends arrived and bearing gifts. Debbie now has 12 bandanas, a pink Eagles hat and a new quilt for her bed. With all of the cards, letters, Christmas angels, Santas and a little Christmas tree, her room is looking like "Debbie's place." Since she has no drawers to hide her clutter in, we have a little pink plastic bucket where she hides her extra stuff. Funny how whatever we can't find ends up in that bucket.

Mary Ellen's husband made a great batch of chicken soup and Debbie had that for lunch. They have microwave ovens, special frigerators, etc. for patient comfort and there are more than a few items in the fridge that now belong to Debbie. Denny brought a batch of wanton soup and Kim brought rice pudding that Deb has enjoyed as well. That kind of comfort food is what she seems to enjoy the best.

After lunch we did some more laps -- 2 less than "Debbie laps" -- and she took another nap. Then Kris McLay came, decked out in her fur hat, Cossack boots and disco ball. We had some ribbon left over from another gift and used that to affix the disco ball to the IV rack above the bed. When they added the love beads, the nurses got a little worried. We will pipe in the music tomorrow!

At about 3:30, Deb got a little uncomfortable and began to spike a temperature. We had to cut Kris' visit short -- something we all need to get used to and accept -- and Deb was having some problems going to the bathroom, i.e., too many times. After about 45 minutes of up and down she settled down and was able to sleep for a few hours. She ate half a sandwich for dinner and the temperature was coming down when I left to come home.

Deb has her blogs to read tonight and is so glad to hear from everyone. Having spent a full day there today, it could be a lonely place without this kind of connection with all of you. She does have internet connectivity in the family lounge and we can access the blog on her floor. Tomorrow we plan to show Deb how to do that and maybe she can post her own blog??

Deb sends her love to everyone and needs your support and prayers now. She will be going into a very difficult stage over the next week. Her white blood count is falling and her immune system will be shut down shortly. This will result in some inevitable infections, fevers and overwhelming fatigue. Please check with us before coming down to visit for the next week.

Deb sends her love to all.

Quick Guide to Posting

All,

I should have posted a 'cheat sheet' for creating comments earlier. For those of you who are still having trouble, please try following these instructions. You'll be blogging in no time!

1. Click on comments underneath the post you would like to leave a message on.
2. In the box under 'leave your comment,' type your message and be sure to sign your name.
3. Select the 'anonymous' radio button.
4. Hit the 'publish your comments' button.
Your post should appear on the right hand side with the other comments.

J

Day 4

Deb called this morning before six and said that she had a bad night. She had her first "hospital fever" and was very uncomfortable. These fevers/infections are to be expected with the chemo, but that does not make them any easier to endure. Let's hope for a better night tonight --- come on gang, let's get some more of those prayers going!

Deb's appetite was a little better today -- as of the last check, at least. She had some breakfast and some of her lunch, which is way better than the first two days. With everything that is going on, she does not have much of an appetite.

We had three families visit today -- Marian came down, but crashed along the way. She is fine, but her car is not. Careful on the South Street exit -- it is always backed up for the right hand turn, ask Marian. Bob and Kim stopped by and Deb's friend Denise (Denny) stopped late in the afternoon. So long as she is able, I know Deb likes the company and appreciates the difficulties in getting to and from HUP.

I am planning to spend the day with Deb tomorrow and am looking forward to the snowy drive into town. Hopefully, the snow should keep 75% of the people off the road and the rest will take the train.

Thanks to everyone for the blogs and letters. Deb looks forward to them every day, weekends included, and sends her love to all.

Day 3

Deb had her first guests today and she was glad to have the company. Her friends Mary and Ron Gerhart and Cathy Goodyear visited for about 1.5 hours. They were there when I arrived today with Joey. This was the first day I have been back in the office and I was there for the morning. Debbie was in good spirits, talking up a storm with her friends and handling phone calls in between. The nurses told her to enjoy this time because there will be some days when she will be too tired to keep up the pace.

Deb received her first 2 units of blood today. Earlier in the day she was walking her laps and she got a little short of breath and experienced some chest pain. Because of the chemo, her hemoglobin in very low so they gave her the blood. That seemed to perk her up a bit.

Joey, Deb and I had dinner together in her room. She actually ate a fair amount for dinner and seemed to be tolerating it when we left for home. In point of fact, Joey seemed to be having more trouble with his "hospital food" chicken cheese steak than Deb was having with her meal of fresh fish, carrots and bow tie pasta. There is a cafeteria in the adjoining building and we can bring food back to eat with Deb.

Deb got her first three movies from the netflick subscription that Jess ordered. With her new DVD player and head phones, now she can watch a movie whenever she wants. Last night, she also added a few pages to the journal that Chris bought for her. That will be an interesting read when she gets home.

I am glad for everyone that Jess got the blog sorted out. Deb looks forward to the postings and keeping in touch with everyone. Today we discovered that there is a desk top in the family room on the floor that has internet access. With some luck, we may be able to show Deb how to access the blog herself from her own floor!

Thanks to everyone for staying in touch and for your kind words and prayers. Deb sends her love to all.

Note from the Moderator

Thanks to everyone for your patience with the blog as we all try to learn together how this thing really works. For those of you who posted comments yesterday and wondered why they did not show up immediately - well, let's just say I've gotta be smarter than what I'm working with! I was able to retrieve everyone's comments and I think I've got this figured out now. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jessica.khouri@gmail.com. As I write this, Christian is vacuuming with his TWO vacuum cleaners and is hiding my measuring cups in the trash can. We send you all our love and hope that we can make it up there soon. We are so grateful for our wonderful extended family and your prayers and support have been great solace to us.

Love,

Jessie

Day 2

Deb had an almost great day today. She had the chemo all night and was in good spirits when I arrived at about 10:30. She asked for some of her favorites, Turkey Hill Diet iced green tea and rice pudding. When she tasted both of them this morning, she asked me to check the expiration dates because they did not taste right to her. That was the first indication that the chemo was taking hold and that her taste buds were being overpowered by the medicine.

The doctors and staff again seem very attentive. There is hardly an hour that goes by when someone does not stop by to see how she is doing and what they can do to comfort her. This is definitely a first class operation with patient care at the foremost.

Deb tried to get a mile walk in around the perimeter of the floor. Seventeen times around is a mile and she made 10 lapse. As small as the place is, there were 3 other guys walking they started chatting and striking up conversations. Hopefully, Deb will be able to go further tomorrow.

Deb's lunch was not appealing to and she forced herself to eat the spinach. One of the nurses mentioned how good the soup was at one of the cafeterias and we tried that today. Deb loved the cream of broccoli soup, but later in the day it did not love her back.

Deb was able to nap in the afternoon and if anyone tried to call, we had the cell phone on vibrate and the land line disconnected. If you use the cell and get no answer, please leave a voicemail with your message. Deb may be sleeping or being examined but she would love to know that you called her and were thinking of her.

At about 3:30 Deb got a bit of the "Cream of Montezuma" revenge. That lasted the better part of 2 hours and they are not sure if it is related to the chemo, the cream of broccoli soup or perhaps an infection. They are closely watching the later.

Deb tried a half of turkey sandwich for dinner and we are not sure how that is going to settle in but she was a trooper for trying.

Deb sends her love to all and looks forward to hearing from you on the blog. We print the updates every day and take them down for our visit.

Thanks to everyone.

JT

Day 1 PM

It was a long day for Debbie. We arrived at the Hospital at about 10:00 AM and began the long process of admissions and completion of the preparatory procedures. Deb had a mugascan and a Hickman catherter inserted. She arrived back in her room at 7:30. They began the chemo at about 10:00 PM last night.

Thanks to our friend, Deb has a nice private room 941A in the Ravdin Building. Her cell phone works 215.370.6052 and her land line number is 215.615.8353.
Deb was very happy when her Oncologist stopped by last evening. It turns out that he, Dr. Tsai was the same doctore that took care of her friend Caroline. She thinks that he is fantastic and is very glad to have him. He started a 3 week cycle at the hospital last night -- which will be great for Deb.

Deb thanks everyone for the kind words and cards. I am printing the updated blog for her every day and she likes to read them.

One final word about the blog. It is so popular that it is hard to log on in the evening. If you have done your posting, please sign off so others can log on.

Thanks again for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Deb sends her love to all. JT

Day 1

We are preparing to go to the hospital and Deb is packing her bags. We have received 4 different arrival times and we will pick the one that suits us best.

Deb will have a Hickman catheter inserted today at 1:00. She will also have a procedure called a mugascan to test the capacity of her heart.Thanks to everyone who called, stopped by, sent flowers, etc. Deb had a very nice day yesterday which is how it should be.

Kathy Goodyear will be coordinating all visitations during this ordeal. The purpose of this is to make sure everyone that wants to visit can visit and that the visits are scheduled to maximize Deb's available time. Kathy's cell phone number is 215.280.6505. I will be in daily contact with Kathy and let her know times and how Deb is feeling.Thanks again to all and keep Deb in your prayers.
JT

Saturday, two days until check-in

Today Debbie and I returned home after a quick visit to visit with our daughter and her family in Virginia.