Dare I say it? I think the new drugs are working. I think I may have turned the corner today.
I can tell because I didn't break into a cold sweat when the doorbell rang this afternoon. I didn't panic at the thought of going down the stairs and then up the stairs. And I didn't ignore it. I went downstairs, answered the door and turned down a magazine subscription. And then I walked back upstairs. Without collapsing.
What's more, the overwhelming sense of exhaustion seems to be slipping away. I'm slowly getting better!
(PS What does a hematologist order at a bar? A Bloody Mary, of course.)
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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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- 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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2008
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August
(29)
- Returning to Normal
- The Healing Power of Pecan Sticky Buns
- Thank You, Friends
- Sicko
- To Walk or Not to Walk
- Ironic Death
- I need fat!
- One in a Million
- Ding Dong
- When Breathing is a Competitive Sport
- The Trio
- It's not my imagination
- Lazy Susan
- Happy Birthday Susan!
- The Michael Phelps Diet
- How low can you go?
- A BIG Date
- Make it and break it
- Then and Now
- Help! There's a Chihuahua in my kitchen.
- What's goin' on?
- Ready or not, here I come!
- Incremental
- Dee Dee Who?
- The Good, the Bad and the Lumpy
- Feel that tingle?
- The City of Blooderly Love
- Pickup Andropoff (The Russian Chauffer)
- Eeyore or Tigger?
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August
(29)
Cancer Banter
I can't die. I still have to find the perfect purse.
5 comments:
Yay! We're thrilled! You're more heroic than the US and Chinese Olympics teams combined! Go Smookie!
Love, the Ducks
Great news!
I'm so happy to hear that you feel better!
Fantastic! All my love to you!
Oh my gosh. I'm so relieved to hear that you feel better. Keep taking it easy so you can fully recover from whatever the heck was ailing you. I'm still worried about you, so keep blogging! : ) I'm addicted to your blogs!!
love, nancy
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