It's official. God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be going home on Thursday.
I'm still in an excited state of disbelief.
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March 2008 - Sometimes I feel like a wig.
Sometimes I don't.
Up a tree and feeling on top of the world
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Be the Match!
Links
- About Stem Cell Transplants
- Asians for Miracle Marrow Match (A3M)
- City of Hope
- City of Hope: Donating Blood or Platelets
- Daily Survival Guide for Serious Illness (Gilda's Club and the Tom McDermitt Fund)
- Histopathology of MCL
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Lymphoma Information Network
- Lymphoma Research Foundation
- Mantle Cell Lymphoma Consortium
- National Cancer Institute
- Your Brain After Chemo
What does a writer do when she finds out she has stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma? She blogs. Because, as everyone knows, cancer sucks, but blogging rocks.
On January 26, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (blastic variety), a rare, aggressive and treatment-resistant form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
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.
Here are a few other things keeping me busy:
My food blog, Open Mouth, Insert Fork
My consulting business, A New Leaf Communications
The Orange Cat, a site for family fun in the San Gabriel Valley
A3M - Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley
IWOSC - Independent Writers of Southern California
On January 26, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (blastic variety), a rare, aggressive and treatment-resistant form of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
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.
Here are a few other things keeping me busy:
My food blog, Open Mouth, Insert Fork
My consulting business, A New Leaf Communications
The Orange Cat, a site for family fun in the San Gabriel Valley
A3M - Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
YWCA Pasadena-Foothill Valley
IWOSC - Independent Writers of Southern California
March 2008 - Sometimes I feel like a wig.
Sometimes I don't.
January 2009
Up a tree and feeling on top of the world
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2007
(286)
-
▼
November
(40)
- Miracles DO happen
- Home Sleep Home
- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
- Got Platelets?
- Elf Yourself
- Special Die(t)
- Nap time WILL be enforced!
- A Day in the Life
- Homecoming Queen
- The Best News Yet
- The Yellow Mask
- Hair, we go again
- Thanksgiving Wrapup
- Mac to Mac
- Remain calm! Do not be alarmed!
- A Day Without Blood
- That was then, this is now
- A Patient's Life
- Bantering or Babbling?
- Hairspray, bell bottoms, the Twist, go-go boots, T...
- Baby, it's cold inside!
- A Deep Dream Life
- Day Zero
- I feel lousy, but I made it!
- Did I write too soon yesterday? (or day bebore)
- The Velvet Hammer
- Beware of Patient
- Everything Grows
- Day Zero
- Countdown
- Housekeeping
- Comment(ary)
- And she's off . . .
- Let's be boring
- Mayo Musings
- My Favorite Slide
- Be an Angel, Save a Life
- Put up your dukes!
- Meeting of the Medical Minds
- Go Ahead and Ask Me!
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▼
November
(40)
Cancer Banter
I can't die. I still have to find the perfect purse.
5 comments:
congratulations susan best to george and cynthia howard
Yay! What a wonderful surprise.
Now, do us worrywarts all a favor and please stick close to home, stay away from germs and Take It Easy for at least a few weeks. Okay? :-)
I plan on being a very good girl because I don't want a return visit to Hotel Hope.
During my visit with Dave yesterday, he encouraged me to "give in" to feelings of tiredness. I needed to hear that because my natural instinct is to fight the feelings. It's good to have permission.
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