November 27, 2007 Update

Dear Fods,

Thank you for your continued posts -- even though Debbie does not always write back -- she does read them when she can and is hearten by them. We can see that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday and we wish our very best to everyone for a Happy Holiday Season.

Our Thanksgiving was the best in a long time. The high dose steroids kept "everything" at bay for Debbie and she was able to cook and play with the grandbabies and enjoy the holiday. Starting a week ago today, Debbie started preparing the side dishes for the dinner and by Thursday, the only thing left to do was the turkey which was a piece of cake.

Jess and the kids came up early in the week and were able to play with Mom Mom for days and days. Walid came up on Thursday morning in record time and with Aunt Pammie and Lorie we were almost all together at the table this year. Unfortunately, Izzie got a urinary infection and had to be hospitalized. Joey was able to be with Allie and Izzie and to help them over the Holiday. Joey was only able to come home this past Sunday.

Today, we went to Penn for platelets as Debbie was @ 8K. While there we were able to meet with Dr. Porter and Heather. We will be beginning a new outpatient chemo regime on Monday that will last for 5 consecutive days during each month. This new drug should be less debilitating than the last round with the vidaza and the experimental drug. The new drug is FDA approved and is in stage 3 of the clinical trials. It is called "dacogen". There has been some success with this new drug and we can only hope for the best for Debbie.

Thank you to all for your continued posts, cards, calls and visits. They do help Debbie alot.

Debbie sends her love to all.

November 12, 2007 Update

Dear Fods,

Thank you so much for keeping up with Debbie, even though we are posting less frequently. I will try to keep the posts updated again on at least a weekly basis. Before we start:

Congratulations to OC Donna and the pending adoption! That is great news and we know how excited you, Chuck, Wyatt and the puppy must be. We will have the "beach bubble" ready for you this season!

Also, sorry to hear about Beach Betty and the "header" she took for the team! Hope all the parts heal quickly and soundly.

Finally, good luck to Colin in his game -- but we will refrain from commenting on the descriptive Missouri adjectives for now.

The last week has been difficult for Debbie. As they are weaning her down from the steroids, she has been getting more congested and short of breath. Recently there have been times in the day when she cannot catch her breath -- as was the case today.

When the visiting nurse arrived today, Debbie was having one of her breathing spells and the visiting nurse called 911. While Debbie normally catches her breath, they called the ambulance this morning to put the O2 on and to take her to Grand View. Joey rode up with Debbie in the ambulance and Mike beat them all to the hospital.

Grand View did a chest X-ray (negative) and an EKG (fine). The blood work was OK for Debbie, i.e., WBC 2.1, platelets 17, hbg. 11. They are a bit confused with her symptoms vis a vis her counts (so what is new?).

They were concerned that Debbie had a PE (pulmonary embolism) -- but her symptomatology did not support it. Since she typically had difficulty breathing in the morning, every morning, they think that her problem is a bronchial spasam caused by acid reflux and the steroid weaning. They prescribed some new medications that we will start tonight and hopefully Debbie will be more comfortable tomorrow.

Remarkably, throughout this difficult day, Debbie still has an appetite! She had a cheesesteak and fries when she got home and is very glad to be sitting on her own couch watching ET with her buddy Joey (who ate a chicken cheese steak).

We are continuing to consult with HUP and I suspect that we will visit with them later in the week.

Thank you again for all of your cards, blogs and calls.

Debbie sends her love to all.