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.
posted by Joe @ 7:38 PM
12 Comments:
oh deb I can only imagine all you are going through..I am so happy for you that you are going to see the greatest things in the next few weeks that we can dream about! you amaze me with how you are handling everything-i wish i was that strong in the everyday bullshit :)please know that i think about you every single day and hope everything is going the best that it could be...love you brenda
Debbie & Joe,
It seems like your "iron will" won out in your meeting with "Dr Bad news' & we're immensely pleased that you'll be seeing Mike graduate & being at Emma's christening. The Dr, for all of his "action plans" does heve your best interest at heart. We hope that your attending Mike's graduation & Emma's baptism will be all that you've hoped they would be. We'll be sitting in Folsom Field with Larry & family for Bob's graduation from U of CO in Boulder this Friday AM. Mom & I will stay in touch via the blog in CO. We congratulate Mike on his achievement, & wish him the best in the world. It sure is nice to graduate with a "job in hand", as he has, & we're sure that he'll do well. We catch an 8:50 AM flight tomorrow, & we're "hitting the sack" now so that I'll be able to get up at 5:00 AM. Just the thought makes me tired!!. Love Mom & Dad.
Good Morning Deb,
I am so happy for you. I cannot believe Mike is graduating from college...last time I saw him, I think he was in elementary school!
Happy Happy Mother's Day!!
Best wishes for Emma's Christening next weekend. Try to rest between these two wonderful events...if you can.
Sorry you had to have that BMB yesterday, but at least it is behind you(no pun intended) now!
Love you, Kim
Mrs T,
Good Morning!!!! Im glad your appt went smooth-- sorry you had a surprise BMB..... hope your feeling ok today though.
Enjoy your garden , and trip to PSU.
I am sure I will see you while you are up there!!!
Love
ALLI <3
Deb,,, as awful as it was for the bone marrow sneak trick.. i think it's better that way.. it gives you less time to worry and ponder about it(easy for me to say).. So, so happy that you are making the graduation.(good job mike) and the chritianing!!Two huge events for you and the ones involved!! Have a great time at both of them.. don't wear yourself out..and have a great mothers day... i am going to the Giants game on mothers day!!! Not sure whose idea it was.. but patrick and i will go there, while mark and tim make dinner.. should be fun!! well, i;ll ttyl.. love,, mdf
Hello Debbie,
I want you to know that I read your blog faithfully. (What a wonderful way to communicate with so many people.) My computer at home quit working on me, so first thing every morning at work I look for a note from you or Joe. I can't respond because they "Surf Control" me here. Today, I got it to open for me. Yureeka! I better type fast before they catch me. I just wanted to say how proud I am of you for being so brave throughout this whole ordeal. You are truly a remarkable person! I'm still sending prayer above for you and thanking God for the miracle He has given you. Enjoy your time with your family. There's nothing better. Family is a good thing! (as Martha Stewart would say) Sending love from Ohio ...
Hi Deb!
What a sneaky trick to pull on you! A surprise that was not fun!
Praying for you in SC!
Cindy
Hi Deb and Joe, :)
Artie here! Long time since I wrote to the two of you. We always continue to monitor your blogs. Thank the Lord for your continued progress. We want to wish Mike a hearty congrats, on a job well done. We wish him continued success in the future. Savor this weekend!! :) Whew!! You guys did it. The end of era.
God Bless that little chubster and have a great time at the Christening. Love to all the family. Love :) Artie and Cathy
Dear Deb and Joe;
Great News I am so happy for you,Enjoy Graduation Day you all earned it.
Enjoy Emmas' Baptism I know that you will. Give those Grandchildren a great Big Hug from Aunt Angie.
Just love you guys. BIG HUGS
Your Aunt Angie
Debbie:
I must be slipping. How did I not see this yesterday. I can't remember when I check in or not. I have to say the sneak attack on the bone marrow test has to be the way to go. I can't imagine the anxiety build up that must come with such an invasive test.
Today I was away from the house working on our parish scrip program trying to get the year end tuition stuff lined up and as luck would have it I would once again miss a birth at our house. Brendan and I arrived home around 3:30 and lo and behold Tequila had had the baby moments before. I won't get to graphic but all the signs were there. The most fascinating being that the cow takes care of the after birth so that predator's stay clear. Oh! the cycle of life. Right now we are debating on it's name...Bee and Colin are going back and forth between...Jose, Cuervo, Sunshine...maybe we can have suggestions from the FOD's. Colin is now saying Matador...This may go on forever.
Exam studies are in full swing as well as those additional tests and speeches thrown in at the last minute. I will try and send Joe a photo so you can see how darn cute these calves are when they are born.
The news about donating your own stem cells is great. Such a much better option than near matches.
Today was Luekemia Hat Day at Brendan's school. He wore the Marquette bball cap that we got on our college search with Mere. He couldn't find the Penn State ~ Fed Ex Orange Bowl hat that we thought would be more appropro...given the weekend to come.
I can't believe you were gardening after a bone marrow test. You are one tough cookie.
Gotta get dinner on!
Lots of luv....COD Eileen
Debbie enjoy the next couple of weeks with your family. I am sorry I havn't written, life at my house is chaos. Mom is not doing so great. She saw a wellnes doctor that follows the holistic approach to cancer treatment through diet and herbs. Needless to say she is taking alot of vitamens and reading books on what not to eat for cancer. I think and pray for you often. Lots of love, Jenny
Hi, Aunt Debbie. I'm happy to hear that you are home and feeling better. Congrats to Mikey (sorry, but you'll always be Mikey to me) on graduating. Best of luck with your new job! Between graduation and Emma's Baptism it sounds like you'll be busy! I'm glad the doctor knew better than to deny you a slight delay in the next round. Please give Emma a kiss for me!
Love,
Lisa
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