Memorial Day At the Shore!

Dear Fod's

When I arrived at HUP on Saturday, Debbie was tapping her fingers and running in place! She could not wait to get out of the hospital and get down to the shore. The boys went down on Friday night after the Phillies game. The boys, George and I had a boys night out before the big weekend. Unfortunately, the Phillies lost in 10 that night.

We had an easy ride down on Saturday afternoon and we arrived there at about 3:00. Debbie was on the beach by 3:02 and was happy to be with her boys for the weekend. Because of the chemo, Deb was mildly compliant about the sun and did try and stay under the umbrella for most of the time on Saturday. Later that afternoon, Mike went to AC to meet some friends and Joey, Deb and I ordered out from Puccini's which is Deb's favorite restaurant in OC. We had a wonderful feast, laid around like beached whales and went to bed early that night.

On Sunday morning, I went for a run and when I returned, breakfast was in full "beach" swing for Mike, Joey and Derek. The AC boys returned in time to eat and we all headed down to the beach again. The boys played horseshoes and Deb was less compliant about the sun, despite the protestations of the "beach Nazi" ( another role!). The boys had cheese steaks and fries on the beach and then left for their ride home to Lansdale.

Deb and I stayed on the beach for another hour or so and then went home for showers and a cookout on the deck. After dinner we started to make some of the beds and Debbie crawled into one of them and fell asleep for about 2 hours. The chemo is starting to kick in and she gets tired spells and simply must sleep for a time and then she is better. We made sure that she took her meds before bedtime and then, of course, she was up most of the night watching TV, reading and wandering the house. She slept late today and felt good in the morning.

We cleaned the house before we went to the beach today and were still down there by 10:30. As hot as it was in Lansdale +90 degrees, it was actually cool on the beach. The ocean is still pretty cold <50 degrees and the wind over the water makes for a very refreshing breeze. We split a cheese steak and fries for lunch and then dragged ourselves off the beach for the long ride home. It was not a good ride, +3 hours, and that was the back way (Debbie says by way of Alabama) but the traffic moved most of the time and we got home at around 5:00 PM.

We had another cookout with the boys and straightened up this house before bed. Debbie was thankful for every second at the shore and she enjoyed herself immensely. Next to the babies, the beach is the best medicine for her. Hopefully soon it will be the babies and the beach and Debbie may just explode!

At home was another pile of cards and well wishes. We thank you all for these and they mean the most to us. Hopefully, Debbie will do well this week and be strong for her stem cell retrieval next week.

Deb sends her love to all.

Emma's Christening Photos

Hi everyone,

I was holding out sharing these pictures because I wanted to take some close ups of Emma dressed in her gown. I'm not sure when I'll get to do that (I'd better hurry up since she's nearly grown out of it already!) so I decided to post what we have so far. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to ALL - enjoy the long weekend!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=vs5ik4a.8l4oivmi&x=0&y=-e0vs3n

<3
Jessie

Third Consolidation: Day Four

Dear Fod's,

Debbie is 2/3 of the way through this round of chemotherapy having received her 4th dose this morning. Michael came for a visit and she was well enough to go out for a nice lunch at a local pizza parlor. I arrived at about 4:30 and she was resting and feeling a little nauseous. Nurse Patty just gave Deb some medicine for that and hopefully she will be feeling better shortly. So far, Debbie is not having fevers or any rashes and hopefully, she will get through this round in fairly good order.

On Tuesday evening Sue Schneider came down for a visit and Debbie enjoyed her company. Yesterday, I had a meeting downtown that ended around 4:00 and then came over for a visit. Yesterday, Debbie had an urge for a salad and there are many such places around the Penn Campus. That will probably be the last salad for a while now. She also found a bio-pond near the medical school which is a very quiet secluded spot on the campus. The pond has very large carp, turtles and a new family of mallards. You certainly do not think that you are in the middle of Philadelphia when you are in this little piece of wooded tranquility.

As you can see, when Debbie is not hooked up, she is still allowed to leave the hospital and venture about. The weather has been nice since she arrived here and she has gotten out every day so far. However, I can see that the chemo is starting to wear her down and she is much more tired now than she was on Monday and she is getting short of breath. We are still on track to leave here on Saturday afternoon and head down to the shore for part of the long weekend. As next week goes on, we will see how Debbie handles this round of the treatment. This time she will be getting double doses of neupogin which should keep her counts from getting "too" low and from staying down "too" long.

Hopefully, Debbie will be able to rest tonight and she will be off tomorrow until 9:00 PM when they start the last cycle.

Deb sends her love to all.

May 22nd: Third Consolidation Chemotherapy Treatment Begins

Dear Fod's,

Thank you for continuing to post against our old news, your calls and cards are very much apprecitated. This post will up date you since our last posting.

Debbie went to Jester's on Wednesday by train and she absolutely enjoyed herself with her baby and grandbabies. (Walid did pretty good too!) Debbie took the train to Alexandria and Walid picked her up at a station just a few minutes from their home. She had a wonderful few days before we arrived for the weekend.

Mike travelled down on Friday afternoon. Joey and I came down on Saturday afternoon and we had a nice dinner together on Saturday evening. Jester made a pulled beef in the crock pot that was absolutely delicious. We ate that for the rest of the weekend.

The Christening was very nice and two baby girls were baptised that day. Emma Grace (our baby) and Emma Hope (other baby). I took that as a good sign and both Emmas did very well for themselves. Emma wore the gown that Debbie found in Venice and it looked very nice. I am not sure that Emma liked all of the frills, but she sure did look nice.

The guests had a feast back at the house with smoked turkey, ham, Debbie's potatoes and broccli rice casserole, and very nice red wines. After the dinner, we (Walid, Louie, Lea) went to the field and played baseball and soccer while Christian dug in the dirt. It was a nice evening.

On Monday, Debbie was not too anxious to leave ( and understandably so!!). We got onto the road a little after 12:00 and arrived at Penn a little after 3:00. Lucky for us, our special friend had the skids greased again and by 4:15, we were in Room 6020 on Deb's favorite floor and her nurse buddies Lauren and Charlotte were there to greet us and get Debbie checked in.

Once checked in, we were able to leave the hospital and go to one of our Penn spots for a quick dinner. Deb enjoyed a cheeseburger, with fries and a fried cheese cake dessert. When I left at around 7:00, she felt well and was tired.

They started the chemo last night and Deb had a second round in the morning. Mike went to visit today and they had a nice lunch. Susan Schneider went down to visit this evening and Deb is glad for the company.

I will have some business downtown tomorrow and will be able to visit Debbie around 3:30. She is doing well and appreciates all of your attention. Her land line is 215.615.8131.

Deb sends her love to all.

Special Guest Posting: Mike's Graduation -- One of my Special Miracles

Dear Fod's,

Just a quick post to wish all of my Mom Fod's a really wonderful Mother's Day. I will be thinking of all of you and hoping you are relaxing or puttering in your gardens tomorrow. Thank you for all the cards and Mothers day greetings and for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers.
Another miracle happened today. Joe and I headed to Happy Valley yesterday for Mikes graduation and it was a wonderful experience. That PSU really knows how to handle crowds. Although 12,000 students graduated over the weekend, they spread the commencements over the three days and the times of the day to make it effortless. There were no waits, no lines, no traffic jams, and we parked in front of the auditorium! What a job.

We had dinner at our favorite Penn State hangout -- Damon's. That was our special eating place with Mike at Penn State, just like Pargo's was for Jester, and we had a train station at ESU for Joey. It seems that once we ate at the place for freshman movein, we never went anywhere else. We capped off Mike's 4 years where we started them -- at Damon's. Anyhow, I ate a whole rack of ribs -- yikkes! And then I finished it off with a Tuxedo Cheese Cake, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Yum -- I am out of control and loving it!

Mike was slated to graduate @ 9:00 AM so we ordered our breakfast via room service on Firday night. So, this morning we had an early room service breakfast and Mike joined us after he called and said, "hey -- do you guys have anything to eat over there?" Luckily, we ordered extra and by 7:00 we were all having eggs, bacon, sausage, coffee and tea for Mike's big day. Joe and I went over early to get seats, which was really not necessary. But since we were in a stadium, once we got the seats, we called Joey and told him that we were at Portal 24, row F seat 16. Is that efficient or what!

Graduation went beautifully, it was very touching and my eyes moistened often -- Mike graduated with degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology, with a minor in chemistry -- and we only thought that he was "blue and white man" on the TV cameras! The speaker was Dr. Horvitz, from MIT and a recent Noble Prize winner in Medicine and Biology for his work on cancer research and neuroscience. How appropriate! I was seeping during his speach as well -- he studied the death cell rates of microscopic worms! Holy Moley -- this then lead to discoveries in neuroscience and ALS -- and his papers are referred to as the "Universality of genes." Smart guy -- but down to earth -- and he gave good advice to the graduates.

We had a lovely dinner @ 2:30 at an Inn in Boalsburg, an historic town a few miles outside of town. Many thanks to our HUP Nurse friend Lauren for the tip --- what a really great place, thanks Lauren! Mike said that the place was "bangin" -- although we are not sure what this means, we think it is a good thing.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a huge book sale at the Agricultural building on campus. We bought 12 books (hard cover) for $19.00. I love a bargain.

We then headed home and drove through 4 rains squalls before we hit Lansdale. Thank God Joe was driving since I don't see well at night, especially in the rain.

Anyway, thank you for all of your prayers that helped me stay strong and make the miracle of Mike's graduation possible. We are posting late tonight, but wanted all of you to know that we were thinking of you today, and thanking you for all of your help this far along the journey.

I love you all.

Debbie

Dr. Proter Visit: 05/10/06

Dear Fod's,

We visited with Dr. Poter today with an 8:00 AM appontment. Being first in the line for the morning, everything went fine, i.e., blood drawn , BP taken, weight, etc. then they put us in our infamous room, Procedure Room #1. Not a good sign and we smelled an ambush.

Dr. Porter arrived on time, with Heater, and we went thr0ugh the normal protocols. We are planning to start Round #3 on May 22nd, after Emma's special day. Dr. Porter tells us that he is fine with this Admission Date, but then tells us that he remains concerned about Debbie's leukemia and wants to maintain a vigorous course of treatment. We later find out that this means that he wants to make sure that Debbie is still "clean" in anticipation of harvesting her own stem cells after round 3 of the consolidation chemo therapy. Drl Porter then announces that he would like to do another bone marrow biopsy -- in 6 minutes! Poor Debbie!

Luckily, the procedure went well and Dr. Porter retained his MVP bone marrow title. We should have some results next week.

Debbie will check into Penn on May 22nd for her third round of consolidation chemotherapy. As the plan now stands, they will havest her own stem cells thereafter, once her counts return to normal. Dr. Porter is not sure that Deb will have a stem cell transplant (her own) or wait until she falls out of remission at some later date (hopefully never!!). As usual, I suspect that he is hedging his bets.

Debbie did very well today. She has had next to no discomfort from the bone marrow and was actually digging (a little bit) in the gardern when we got home today and planted her herbs.

We are looking forward to Mike's graduation this weekend and Emma's Christening next weekend. These were two special milestones for Debbie that she will achieve.

Deb sends her love to all.

Special Guest Posting: What a great weekend at the Shore!

Dear Fod's

Thank you for all of your wonderful cards and blogs, even though we have not posted for over a week. Still you have been very kind to continue to stay in touch and to blog against the last posting. Please know that I read all of the blogs, over and over again, and they help me and inspire me greatly. Hopefully, all of them will help me to become a better writer.

Each day I am getting my strength back more and more and I am really starting to feel somewhat normal again. Just in time for more chemo! No, not really, Dr. Porter has to wait until after Emma's Christening, which is May 21st. I see Dr. Porter on Wednesday and I will share my plan of action with him -- whether he agrees or not, I am sticking to my guns this time. This was a difficult recovery, with six days in the hospital after the initial discharge and still slow to recover my counts. My bone marrow is getting tired. Two weeks off can only help me get stronger for the next round starting on May 22nd.

We had a wonderful weekend at the shore and Joey and Allie joined us. It was cool but there was beautiful, bright sunshine and not a drop of rain. We had a few hours at the beach yesterday for a game of bocci, but I was completely covered with my knit hat, thanks Rosemarie, sweatshirt and hood! Joey, Allie and Joe played their game by the seaside and three little girls were actually in the water with their boogie boards. The water was probably 56 degrees! Oh, to be young again.

We ordered out to Puccini's on Friday and had a great Italian feast. Saturday we went to Obie's and had a seafood feast. Yes, my appetite is back and I even had a piece of Mac and Manko pizza after dinner on Saturday night! Today, I went back and actually bought a whole pizza pie for lunch and a snack tonight! Actually, I shared it with Joey.

We arrived home this afternoon to find all my flower beds weeded and beautiful flowers planted. The planters on the deck were also filled with fresh flowers. I called my sister in law Kim, who had offered to help, and she admitted to the back deck -- thank you Kim they are beautiful -- thanks Bob for helping. Now who did the front beds and the beautiful hangning baskets? Thank you, Thank you, Thank you -- whoever you are! Please tell me who you are. You saved us a lot of work and it is greatly appreciated.

You all have been such wonderful friends. I will never be able to repay your kindness, but know that my heart is overflowing with love and joy, because of you. I wish you all a happy Spring and a Happy Mother's Day.

We will be up at Penn State next weekend for Mike's graduation. See, the miracle is still working because a few months ago, I was not sure that I would be able to see Mike graduate.

Thank you for your prayers, I am sure that is what is keeping me healthy. And also, thank you for blogging and praying for our dear friends, Bob and Mo. He hopes to come home on Tuesday after 6 weeks in the hospital. Both he and Mo need a rest and as we all know, there is no place like home.

We will post again after we see Dr. Porter.

Love to all.

Debbie