In my case, the prize is the batch of 2 million+, self-produced stem cells. My next time at bat is coming up on Monday, September 17. I'm ready to hit the ball out of the park this time.
Went to the Colorado River for the last four days ('cause it wasn't hot enough for me here in Pasadena) and I've been without internet access until this morning!! Just got myself up to date on your BLOG. LOVE the photo of you and your brother :-) Will certainly visit Hoggs Doggs should I ever find myself nearby -- great review (a second career?).
Sorry I've been out of commission for a couple of weeks -- I missed so much!! I've spent the last half hour catching up. I wasn't in town during the photo caption contest and just now read about the contest and the results -- congratulations to the Other Karen and Samo! Great captions! And I love Paula's continuing wit, sprinkled through this blog like ... salt ... pepper ... laughing gas? And the photo of your bagpiping clan is stupendous!!!!
I thought the picture of blood cells was of flowers at first. How beautiful! You go girl! It's the harvest season, so I think your time has come!!! Good luck!
My team at the City of Hope decided to bring out the big guns - six rounds of Hyper CVAD followed by an autologous stem cell transplant. I bounced back after each round of chemo, but my blood counts didn't.
After four rounds we called chemo quits and started collecting stem cells for the auto stem cell transplant. The harvesting took three tries, two drugs and eight weeks, but I finally eked out the minimum two million stem cells.
After megadoses of chemo, I received my stem cells on November 14 and 15, 2007. I bounced back almost immediately. Best of all, I achieved complete remission from the Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
In January 2008, I was hospitalized for 11 days for chemo-induced pneumonia. I bounced back.
In the summer of 2008, my eosinophils (a component of the white blood cells) rose to dangerous levels and infiltrated my lungs and GI tract. My weight dropped to 105 pounds, and I was incapacitated for nearly three months. Once again, I bounced back.
I continue to make monthly visits to the City of Hope for blood tests and check ups, quarterly visits for maintenance Rituxan and semi-annual visits for scans.
I'm still in remission and have more energy than ever. And about that perfect purse? I keep looking.
3 comments:
They are pretty! Who knew?
BTW, we missed you at the Hillsides volunteer open house. The Guildies I spoke to asked about you.
Went to the Colorado River for the last four days ('cause it wasn't hot enough for me here in Pasadena) and I've been without internet access until this morning!! Just got myself up to date on your BLOG. LOVE the photo of you and your brother :-) Will certainly visit Hoggs Doggs should I ever find myself nearby -- great review (a second career?).
Sorry I've been out of commission for a couple of weeks -- I missed so much!! I've spent the last half hour catching up. I wasn't in town during the photo caption contest and just now read about the contest and the results -- congratulations to the Other Karen and Samo! Great captions! And I love Paula's continuing wit, sprinkled through this blog like ... salt ... pepper ... laughing gas? And the photo of your bagpiping clan is stupendous!!!!
I thought the picture of blood cells was of flowers at first. How beautiful! You go girl! It's the harvest season, so I think your time has come!!! Good luck!
Love,
Mrs. Duck
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