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Trebs

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  1. Trebs

    HOME!

    By Trebs,

    Dan and I just got back to our home in Sacramento about 1/2 hour ago. Car is unpacked and it feels SOOOOOOO F*ING good to be home.
  2. Trebs
    Just a quick note to say everything went well, and the hospital discharged me this morning and I'm back at the apartment Dan and I are using near Stanford. Still have to stay here in the "safe zone" area until around July 16th (give or take a day) and have a follow-up appointment tomorrow at the clinic at 10AM, but just feel great not being actually IN the hospital. I gotta say though - usually I'm totally crawling up the walls toward the end of my stays - this one was very pleasant and relaxed. But still - heh - I'm much happier out.
  3. Trebs

    June 25th

    By Trebs,

    First - thank you to Dan for his updates while I've been .... um.... hehe - more "out" of it.
     
    Today has been a very full day. Physically, I'm feeling fantastic. Since I got re-admitted to the hospital last Saturday, I've gone up and down on the fever scale (my first big fever broke Monday morning, and had a 2nd spike yesterday). Today, every one of my temps has been in more of a normal range. Temps in the hospital are taken in Celsius - under 37C is totally normal, 37-38 is a low grade fever that is pretty much nothing, 38.0C+ is considered an actual fever. In Fahrenheit terms, 37.0C = 98.6F and 38.0C is 100.4F. This last temp I had was 37.3, so very happy with that.
     
    One reason I'm in here still (and will be for a bit) is since I'm getting the fevers, they want to keep me totally isolated and monitored - which is a good thing. I've been in private rooms this whole time - though I am currently in my third room. I was in a double-room originally with no roommate, but then they needed that room and had a single free so moved me. Then yesterday, since the single was one of their few rooms with a cardiac monitor, they moved me again and now I'm back in a different double room, again with no roommate. VERY roomy - lol.
     
    I'm constantly hooked up to IV drips - tons of hydration as well as tons of antibiotic and antiviral drips, and antibiotic pills during the day as well. Doctors come by twice a day, as well as I get my blood tested every night. The high dose chemo I got earlier (the BCNU, VP-16 and Cytoxan) basically did their job in killing all white blood cells in my body. Then I got the transfusion on the 16th, and for the past three days, I've additionally been getting neupogen shots which is a drug which helps the white cells multiply. So far - my white blood count (WBC) has been fixed at 0.3. To give perspective - normal WBC counts are 4.5 - 10.0 typically. When I got ready for the collection, I had to have at least a 3.0 to start collection.
     
    ***MAJOR news - my nurse JUST came in as I'm typing this - my WBC for tonight is 0.8!!! During collection, again, my WBC was just constant at a low number but once it started rising, it only took about 2 more days to get into the normal territory. Now, I'm only taking half as much neupogen a day as I got then, but still VERY encouraged by the numbers finally starting to rise.
     
    In other news - I gotta say today's news both saddened and stunned me. First Farrah's passing - esp after her very courageous battle against her cancer.... hits very close to home. I mean - I am VERY thankful that I've actually been able to be able to get to complete remission, so not even close to being in the same boat as her, but still - I can understand some of what she's gone through and had to face.
     
    Then the out-of-the blue news about Michael Jackson. I'm old enough that I REMEMBER the Jackson 5 - anyone else remember their cartoon? The song "One bad apple"? Then growing up and having his other major hits coming out during high school and college... I saw one interview with "people on the street" and some guy said that Michael Jackson's work was the soundtrack to this guy's life.
     
    Anyways - just wanted to give an update to everyone as well as express my sense of loss of these two people today. Now that I'm feeling a lot stronger, hopefully it won't be as long until the next update.
  4. Trebs
    I've been a little quiet recently, basically just recovering for the collection process which took longer than originally expected by almost a week. So, to make sure I had an adequate recovery time, the rest of my schedule got bumped so instead of having gone in June 3, I am now going in tomorrow, June 10 to start the week of heavy chemo and then a week from today, I'll get the transplant (ie, the cells that were collected from me will be reintroduced).
     
    It will take a while for them to settle back into my bones and start producing white cells in the proper mixture. The 28 days after the transplant, I'm basically stuck here as outpatient near Stanford, but having to go into the clinic daily for between 3 and 6 hours a day - for labs, trainings, learning recovery techniques, etc...
     
    But the key point is right here, right now - psyching myself up to check into that hospital tomorrow morning, knowing all the side effects and complications of the three different heavy chemo drugs they'll give me. First BCNU tomorrow, then a day off (how nice), the VP-16 and again, another nice rest day. The finally cytoxan - what kind of f**ked up world is it that I am looking FORWARD to high dose cytoxan. I mean in part - its a known quantity. I've been through it before. I know how I'll feel shitty five days after I get the drug. I know I'll lose what little hair I've regrown about 20 days after the drug. I know how it will make me tired and like all of the others, want to just control my life. But at least cytoxan - I know... These two other ones that I'm getting first - I've been warned of things to be careful of - but until you actually go through the drug, you never know what will or won't happen. Or when for that matter (since many effects are quite delayed).
     
    But together, they'll do their job to basically clear out my bone marrow and blood of any exisitng white cells... So the transplanted cells that were collected get to go into a tabula rasa and create without preconditions to get me a circulatory system that actually WORKS! WOOT!
     
    So - I'll be in the hospital for 8 days, and may have bursts of energy where I can expand on these blog entries... or just ignore it all and play mindless computer games... we'll see :-)
     
     
    AND once again - to EVERYONE who has expressed their thoughts, prayers, energies, comforts - Dan and I truly appreciate the friends we have and the support we've received.
     
    Thank you again
     
    Robert
  5. Trebs
    I just wanted to give everyone a bit of an update about what's going on with me. I told some people the details, but figure this would be easier and more comprehensive.
     
    Back in late February, I finished the main chemo treatment for the Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) that I have. After that, did a full round of testing and it showed that I was in complete remission (CR) - WOOT!
     
    What the MCL did to me, was basically cause my bone marrow to produce blood cells in the wrong mixture - way too many immature white cells and that left very little room in my blood for red cells (which explains why my face was grey when I was in Denver last year). So the chemo basically zapped my marrow to try to get it back on track.
     
    A lot of the studies they have for this are new - but one encouraging bit of information they've studied is for patients my age who go through and beat MCL, then do a bone marrow transplant - after 10 years, 95% of those patients are still in complete remission, where as patients who don't do the bone marrow transplant, only half are still in complete remission. So from the start with my treatment, my doctor has been planning on me doing a transplant as the finale to my treatment.
     
    I started with the prep work for that in the past couple of weeks - pre-testing, insurance authorization and a ton of teaching about what will happen and how I need to take care of myself. There are two different routes to go for the transplant - autologous which means using my own bone marrow or allogeneic which is a transplant from someone else. My sister was tested and is a perfect match - but due to a lot of other reasons (mainly recovery time and risk factors), we're going to go the autologous route (which since it's my own cells, also means no risk of host/graft rejection issues).
     
    The thumbnail of the process is that I'll get a drug that causes my bone marrow to overproduce the right type of basic immature hematopietic blood cells (a type of stem cells) that will then be harvested from my blood. After a break, they'll give me heavy chemo for a week to kill off all my existing bone marrow and then put those harvested cells back into my blood (the actual "transplant" day). They'll naturally then move into the void of my bone marrow and start producing blood cells in the right way. The majority of this work will be at the Stanford Cancer Center.
     
    The actual day of transplant is scheduled for June 9. This week, I'm down here at Stanford, through Saturday morning to get a blood catheter put into my chest (to make it easier to harvest my cells, as well as give me any IV's or transfusions during the process) as well as a preliminary chemo treatment. Then starting Saturday, for about two weeks, I'll start giving myself injections of the drug to help the overproduction of the stem cells into my blood - but at least I'll be able to do this step here in Sacramento. Probably around May 12th or so, I'll head back to Stanford for the actual collection process which will take four hours a day and can take between one and five days (depends on how many cells they are able to collect each day).
     
    These cells will be frozen and I'll have a break until June 3 when I head back to Stanford for an intensive round of chemo over a week time - and then the day after will be the transplant - which is supposed to only take about half an hour. I'll be discharged but need to remain in the Stanford area for at least thirty days - and follow a very rigorous regime of taking care of myself - things like not drinking any water unless it's been boiled first. I can't touch raw foods - Dan will have to do all of the cooking and cook things well. After one month - hopefully my immune system will have recovered enough that we'll be able to come home to Sacramento - but still heading back to Stanford often for tests and meetings. Recovery is estimated to take about five months total after transplant (so - mid-November?). I have had very good recovery up to now with my regular chemo, so its very possible I'll be able to recover faster - but unfortunately, Dan and I are also trying to prepare for a worst-case scenario.
     
    Its still a long process ahead - but at least having a schedule and idea of the procedures makes it easier to deal with. As things happen, I'll try to keep everyone updated with how I'm doing.
     
    Robert
  6. Trebs
    Lol - well, plans and all that - don't ALWAYS work out - but sometimes it's for the best.
     
    To better explain - one of the other things I wanted to make sure to do while here is get same-day cancellations envelopes as gifts for each of the people in Dr Spear's office as well as my best nurses. 12 years ago at Clinton's 2nd Inauguration which I came to with my mom, the main post office sold a set of three envelopes - one of Clinton and Gore with a DC cancellation, one of Clinton alone with Little Rock cancellation and one of Gore with Nashville cancellation - all dated Jan 20. I bought these and had a local framing shop matte them as one piece and it is my main souvenir item of the 97 Inauguration. So this time - I wanted to just get the single envelope as gifts.
     
    So - saw something finally online that looked like the Postal Museum (which is next to Union Station and 3 blocks from my hotel) would open at 8AM and have stuff. So while Dan got ready to go over to the Purple Standing section, I first went to the Post office and Postal Museum (they're in the same building). The Post Office said the Postal Museum wasn't open yet - but they (the post office) did have a cheesy sealed item for $14.95 - but not what I was looking for (but I still got one for myself). But they said they should have items about 10 AM when the Postal Museum opened. Ok - so after the Inauguration ceremony, I figure I'd head back.
     
    8:15 or so I'm back the hotel - Dan's ready and we leave for the entrance to the Purple section. And.....
     
     
     
    CHAOS!!!
     
     
    The tickets said gates would open at 8AM (though some signage said 9AM) - and all around were just crowds, none of whom knew exactly what was going on. Where there should have been the entrance to the Purple section (according to the map), instead were crowds who all had Yellow tickets and were saying they were in line for the Yellow entrance. We kept moving back (further east from the Capitol) but still not sure where we were, when the gates would open, where EXACTLY the gate was. We'd see a large crowd movement, start towards it, and then everything stood still again. About 9:10AM, we did finally see people on the OTHER side of the barriers and moving towards the mags (large metal detectors, like at airports). Then we saw where those people were entering - DOH - BACK where we originally thought but which had been blocked by the yellow ticket people.
     
    We try to start moving that way - but was slow going and since everyone ELSE also saw the crowds moving, was getting VERY dense. It got actually scary and very claustrophic and panic-inducing - and after really not seeing much movement, Dan and I just decided to get out of there. (Later we heard that the mags for the purple section actually broke and they were hand-wanding people - which would be one more reason the lines were moving so slow). It still took about 5 minutes of going against the flow - telling people that we were LEAVING, "please can we get through" - before getting out of the crowd (still in a "crowd" - but one where we could move more freely). And a few minutes later, we were back at our hotel (about 10AM), figuring we would watch it at a watch party we knew was going on in our hotel.
     
    The main ceremony wouldn't start until noon - so after relaxing for a little bit, I figured - hey, it's after 10AM, I'll go back to the post office and try again.
     
    So - Post Office - nothing happening in there. No problem - down the hallway and I was in the Postal Museum. And after not seeing any lines, asked a security guard "Where are they selling the same-day cancellation Inauguration items?" Another museum employee was just coming up to brief the guard so both of us listened - supposedly the Postal Store WOULD have some items, but they were en-route and wouldn't be there for 20 minutes. Ok - that wasn't bad... I looked around a few of the exhibits for 20 minutes then went into the Postal Store.
     
    ACK - one clerk, who was cancelling items that the three people in line had brought in on their own. After 5 minutes she finally came back to the window and I asked if they were going to be offering anything OTHER than the cheesy $14.95 item - "Nope". DOH...
     
    On my way out - one more try, I went up to the counter at the Post Office and asked once more - is there anything they had Inauguration related other than the $14.95 item. The clerk said no - BUT - he then pulls out a very nice envelope with Obama's picture and a BIG Jan 20 cancellation - JUST what I was looking for. He says "This is my personal one - but they are selling them at a US Mail truck kiosk at the corner of "F" and New Jersey"...
     
     
    OMFG
     
     
    Um - that's one block north of my hotel - the one thing I've been looking for all this time was SO close to my hotel. So I left - headed to F and New Jersey and sure enough, they had the envelopes. I got a batch of them and made it back to the hotel JUST in time to join up with Dan at the watch party. YAY.
     
    The ceremony - was FANTASTIC. I teared up quite a few times... And the watch party was warm, had food - lol. Dan and I agree that it's pretty much a good thing that we couldn't get into the Purple section.
     
    OH - and one thing we almost regretted was not leaving before 8:15AM to try to get into the Purple section. Until we ran into another group at the watch party - that left at 6AM this morning, and ALSO didn't get into the Purple section.
     
    Long day is done (though it's not even 6PM here) - Dan and I are in the hotel room, still coasting off a major endorphin high from today. We're both feeling great, and just happy for this new era that has dawned. We're still here in DC until late afternoon on Thursday - not sure exactly what we're doing tomorrow, but likely to hit up a few more of the Smithsonians. At some point, we're gonna try to get out to the new Air and Space annex Museum that is out near Dulles airport (which is where we are flying out of - so we might go early, check in all the luggage, take a cab to the museum then back and fly home.
  7. Trebs
    The feeling here in Washington, DC is .... electric just doesn't give it justice. Dan and I are on SUCH a euphoric high right now - especially with some wonderful recent developments.
     
    But to catch up first - a few people mentioned how much healthier I look in recent pictures (Rigel/MarkA) and I want to thank them. And a big part is that I do FEEL great these past two days. One week ago - um, not so much. See, I got out of the hospital last on Jan 2 and for a week, did fairly well. I mean, the first two days were a little tiring, but then from Tues through Sat (the 10th), I had great energy, was doing housework and getting all of the preparation done for the Inauguration trip. Then Sunday, I was a little tired, but also had some mouthsores (unusual little sore at tip of tongue, and two other sores near where I have rough tooth areas). I had my regularly scheduled doctor visit for the week on Wed as I was flying the next morning. On monday, didn't things were that big - and "I'm seeing the doctor in 2 days". But Tuesday morning, was feeling a lot more tired and the mouth sores were getting worse. So called first thing and the receptionist said "sure - come in at 2PM".
     
    As soon as Doctor Spears saw my mouth, "Oh - looks like you have low platelets" and got my blood tested. Sure thing - platelets should be in a range of 140-440. Mine were 14 - and red blood numbers weren't good either. He gets on the phone and tells the hospital "I have a stat admit for platelet transfusion." Well..... um - this was about 3. I finally got admitted at 5PM - and finally go the platelets at 11PM (lol - wonder how long non-stat would have been). He also ordered after the platelets to give me two units of red blood cells.
     
    Immediately I started feeling better (getting Dan to start calling me his "little vampire - a little blood and he perks right up"). Wed morning, Dr Spears looks at my new blood tests - says that I look really good and the numbers are now healthy, BUT - just cause I'm flying the next morning, he ordered one more unit of platelets ("stat" again of course - but this time I got the platelets around 10:30 AM).
     
    So we got on the plane in the morning, and about 4:30PM eastern, landed in Baltimore. After a VERY long bus ride to the metro stop, we then took the metro to Union Station and walked over to our hotel (just a few blocks north of the Capitol building).
     
    Friday - FRIGID with BLASTS of cold wind. But we went out in the morning to see the Smithsonian Castle and have breakfast there, then over to the Air and Space Museum. We had arranged through our Congresswoman a tour of the Capitol at 12:30. So after a quick lunch, we checked in and (as usual this weekend), TOTALLY lucked out. The tour of 16 of us - turned into just 6 as a group of 10 got their days mixed up and thought their tour was on Saturday. Made it a much more intimate group and we were all able to talk to Hillary, an intern in Congresswoman Matsui's office who was fantastic in showing us first around the brand new Capitol visitors center, then through the rotunda, up to the House Gallery (unfortunately they were not in session), and then through a few other rooms (Statuary Hall and the old Supreme Court Chambers). Got back to the hotel after that and IMMEDIATELY got into a tub of nice hot water and just soaked for half an hour. The wind - when it blows, its like it gets the cold deep into my hip and leg bones. Pretty much just relaxed for the rest of the evening, though helped out my work with a few small organizing items (crossmatching lists, etc).
     
    Saturday, we met up with Sonoluminus and her husband, the "Other Joe". I have known Marie for 6 years and 3 months (or so) - since we met in The Sims Online and we've stayed friends since, mainly through AIM but this was the FIRST time we finally met. The four of us chatted for a bit before heading to the American History Museum for a while. Spent - oh, 4 hours there and still only saw about 1/3 of the place - fantastic gallerys and exhibits. Headed back to the hotel to rest up for a bit before dinner - we ended up going to Ruth Chris Steak House in Arlington. Didn't take too long to get to Crystal City (the area the restaurant is in and the name of the Metro stop for the area) - lol - but then we wandered through the complex trying to find the EXACT place of the steakhouse. We got there just 10 minutes late - so no big. I'd never been to a Ruth Chris before (though have been to Morton's which is similar) - we all had GREAT meals and just a lot of fun finally really getting to know each other. Dan and "Other Joe" both totally snapped together as two peas in a pod - they love to discuss politics as well as a wide variety of other item. Dan and I have also gotten Joe and Marie to start playing LOTRO recently, so we talked about the game quite a bit as well.
     
    We slept in a bit Sunday morning and headed over to Union Station for the GetTogether, getting there about 10 minutes to noon. Immediately saw David (Lit'lBuddha) and quickly got to greet Sharon, Anna, Rigel, Marie and "Other Joe". The restaurant has an inside section as well as a few tables in the more main station portion. They gave us one of those station tables and at first, it was ideal as we could keep an eye out for Robbie who was running a little late (actually, he was there, he just didn't find a map or anyone he could ask where the Thunder Grill was at). Started with two plates of sampler appetizers for the table. Robbie was there soon enough and we ordered - VERY good food but... um.... service was a little... lacking. And then, after some initial great conversation (some that Dan monopolized at the beginning but then soon spread the wealth) - well, about midway through the meal, we get LOUD drumming and other.... wonderful music. It did die down a few times, but the music in the main station did distract from being able to speak across the table. After the meal was over, with Marie and Joe having to go (to drive back to North Carolina), and Robbie, Sharon and Anna also heading off - Dan, David, Rigel and myself ended up looking around Union Station shops a bit more, first the bookstore and then, as Rigel puts it, the amethyst started pulling me invisibilly toward their store. I fell in LOVE with the two pieces I posted pics on - and like I said, I have been looking for a nice amethyst dangler for my necklace for a while.
     
    Sunday night, my work had a party at the Air and Space Museum - "Fly me to the Moon" California Gala from 8PM to Midnight. Dan and I went over and had a great time - especially seeing many friends that I hadn't seen in a few years. And amazingly for a political event, the food was GOOD and plenty. We didn't want to overtire me, so we took off about 10:30 and took a cap back to the hotel (only a $10 fare, inc the tip - not bad at all).
     
    Today (Monday), we slept in. Our day's plan was to take the Metro to the Arlington station, go see the cemetery, then head over to the bridge to the Lincoln Memorial, catching as well the Vietnam and WW2 Memorials. At that point, thought we'd take a cab back to the hotel. So - beginning of the plan worked out good - we had bagels in the hotel room, relaxed and then took the metro to Arlington. After a quick stop at the visitor's center, we went up to JFK's eternal flame and looked around for a while. Walked from there out of the cemetary just taking in all of the views - as we got closer to the Potomac, you can see the Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson Memorials all across the way (and took a few pics of all three in one pic). We also saw a TON of ice floes in the river which is not something we see in Sacramento.
     
    Got to the Lincoln Memorial but the crown was a bit much, so just wandered down the mall, looking at the WW2 memorial, Washington Memorial and at the point we were originally going to take off - both of us felt good just a little hungry. So we kept on walking, looking at the buildings and people - grabbing hot dogs at a streetside vendor and just totally enjoying the day. The nice thing - where as Friday was bad with the winds, Saturday, Sunday and today were very mild as far as winds and the temps have been going up a little each day as well. Well - to cut to the chase - we ended up walking all the length of the Mall, all the way back to our hotel. And TOTALLY felt good - a little footsore but nothing that was chemo and/or lymphoma related. The hotel restaurant was a 30 minute wait for seating, so we headed up and ordered room service and just kicked back.
     
    THEN I get a phone call. It's my boss - they have two standing tickets for the Inauguration that were not being claimed -- my boss asked "Did Dan and you want them"....
     
    um...
     
    ummmmm....
     
    HELL YES!!!
     
    Especially when we saw the seats - here is the seating chart and we are in the Purple Standing area. The other fantastic thing - the entry to Purple Standing is 2 blocks from the hotel. If we had gotten Blue Seating - comparable as to view - it would probably take us an extra 40 minutes just to get around to the entry area.
     
    Yesterday - I would have said no. But considering what I could do today (without pushing it) - I think I can easily handle standing for 4 hours (from about 9AM until 1PM).
     
    So - Dan and I are totally stoked, all ready and prepared and going to be RIGHT there to see the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama II. This is something that Dan and I have worked for - have hoped for - and now are going to see this ceremony that starts the next best stage of what we hope will be a long start of prosperity and peace.
     
    But for now - lol - after writing all of this - BEDTIME. As soon as I can tomorrow, if I can put anything in words (or pictures), I'll update.
  8. Trebs

    I'm going to DISNEYLAND!

    By Trebs,

    In a little under 2 hours, Dan and I will get on the road and drive to Anaheim. This trip is his Christmas gift to me - and it is a PERFECT one. I've been feeling SO housebound. We're driving down today, and coming back on Friday - so just 4 days trip but the main thing is being together and out of the house!
     
    Health numbers all looked good when I visited the doctor yesterday (standard weekly appointment) and we're all set for my next chemo in-patient round which will start next Monday.
     
    Lastly, to all - especially all of my friends who have been sending us support in so many ways - I wish you all the best of this holiday season and a fantastic new years!
  9. Trebs

    DC (and boredom)...

    By Trebs,

    First things first - Dan and I are going to the Inauguration and if anyone wants to meet up for lunch on Saturday, Jan 17th in DC, I started a thread.
     
    Overall, my health has been going pretty well. I'm in the hospital right now - got here last Thursday for my "A2" round and I should get out tomorrow night. My next "stay" won't be until Dec 29th (so I will be here for New Years for the "B2" round). But the nice thing is I should be fully functional during Christmas time - and Dan and I are looking at going to Disneyland for the holiday.
     
    This last month has been a bit tough - the "A" round of drugs has been good - not a lot of side-effects and the minors ones I have I know how to deal with now. But the "B" round, ugh - afterwards everyday was a bit different with most of it filled with huge fatigue and just getting up to eat and immediately going back to bed. And part of it, made me feel so useless and bleh - Dan helped A TON with my mood and I know, it's part of going through chemo and on the good side, also shows that the drugs ARE actually doing what they need to (my blood numbers keep coming back really well). So - ya, have to get through it, and totally horrible but CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS ALL TO END! Heh ;-)
  10. Trebs

    My next year

    By Trebs,

    Dan and I went to Stanford on Friday and came out of it with a TON of information and things that we now have to consider and start planning for.
     
    The thumbnail sketch of my next year is basically:
     
    Finish chemo. I actually start my next round in the hospital tomorrow and it should last 4 days, 5 at the most so will be home on Friday. Then continuing on a schedule of two weeks home, one week in. Dr Spears thinks that I'll only need to do 3 cycles in total, so that would end sometime in late February. At this point, the lymphoma should be in complete remission.
     
    During this time, we're also going to take a trip to Washington DC for the Inauguration - at this point planning on being in DC from Jan 15 thru Jan 22 (so if anyone else is in the area, we could meet up for lunch maybe, say on Saturday Jan 17).
     
    Probably a month after the chemo ends, but no later than two months (so late March through late April), they would start the process for the bone marrow transplant. The purpose of the transplant is conceptually to "seal" me into remission - make it very unlikely for me to have a relapse. We're hoping to be able to do it via donor - my brother and sister are going to be tested to see if they match, but if not, there is an international bone marrow donor registry they will start checking me against. There is a program to use my own bone marrow cells but by using a donor's cells, I gain their immune system basically and it makes it even more likely for me to be able to stay in remission a very long time.
     
    So whichever sibling matches, would come out for about a week while they prepare them then get the cells they need. At that point, I would then be checked into Stanford for a week to receive the transplant but the key planning item is after that week, Dan and I need to live near Stanford (within their "safe zone") for 90 days. During the 90 days, I'll be in and out of their clinics a lot, plus if I have any type of rejection issues from the donation, they need me to immediately come in and be treated. My caregiver (Dan) needs to be with me 24/7 (except when I'm in the clinic - that gives him time to go grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, or just relax and decompress for a bit). And we can have a backup caregiver - Dan's ex Manuel and Manuel's boyfriend Randy live in San Jose and we've already talked about times where Randy stays with me, while Dan and Manuel go to a movie or something.
     
    Thankfully, Dan can pretty much continue his business from Stanford - a lot of it is on the computer and he's been hiring his sister since last March to help him - she knows a lot about the process now. So Dan could do the technical part, create the walk lists or flyers in PDF form, then send them to April here in Sacramento who prints them (or produces any other materials) and sends them to the client. There may be times where Dan needs to get back to Sacramento for a day or two - during crunch time of the campaigns, but again, Manuel and/or Randy (or someone else) could cover for Dan while he does this. So with Dan's normal income and my disability checks, financially we should do ok - even with the higher expenses (the one-bedroom apartments next to Stanford that they have available are $75/day so $2250/month - but my insurance may help cover part of that since it is necessary for my transplant). Oh, and then once the 90 days are over, we can go home, but I need to focus on health and maintenance for a while, so they advise me to NOT go back to work for 5 more months once I get home. Plus - during those 5 months, I'll occasionally be going back to Stanford (at first, once a week), as well as seeing my local doctors.
     
    One BIG factor we haven't figured out is our current home, and especially our two dogs, especially for the 90 days when we're not here at all, but also possibly in the lead up to it. We have some ideas of how to handle this, but not positive yet - though then again, we JUST found out about what the transplant entails two days ago...
     
    Fun, eh?
  11. Trebs

    Front yard pic and update

    By Trebs,

    Here is a picture I just took of Dan in the front yard - we put up the Obama/Biden sign up last Wed and just got the "No on 8" sign this morning and put it up.
     

     
    Also - just got back from my weekly check-up with Dr. Spears - again, very happy with my blood numbers and progress. My white blood count is actually LOW right now (this is the one that was originally close to 400 where normal is a range of 4.1-10.9). During last week's treatments, it went under 100 and was happy with last Monday's number of 11. Last Thursday, it was 7.1 which is PERFECT tho today it's down to 2.3. Not dangerous, but warning range - so they gave me a small face mask and advised me to use hand-sanitizer, avoid fresh fruits and vegatables - ie, just be careful about getting an infection. Not it's not so bad that he wants me to cancel going to LA tomorrow, just to be careful and aware.
  12. Trebs

    Feeling FANTASTIC!

    By Trebs,

    I got out of the hospital late Monday night (Oct 27) - as Dan puts it, my last chemo treatment ended about 10:25PM and at 10:28PM. I was on the phone calling Dan to pick me up (I had been packed for 3 hours at that point).
     
    Tuesday was ok (still recovering and tired), but from Wed morning til now, I have been feeling great. I still get tired and can't just go, go, go - but have been accomplishing things around the house and just overall... um... feel great (have I said that before)!
     
    Two days ago, had a follow-up with Dr Spears and he was thrilled with my progress. So far, I still haven't had any nausea, and everyone thinks I'm looking very well (though very thin - it's weird, I'm for the first time in 20 years wanting to GAIN weight). I asked him if it was ok with him if I volunteered in my office and went to the victory party next Tuesday and he was fully supportive of it - since I'm on disability leave, I needed a note from him that I could go in. So - where as I thought I would NOT be able to be in the thick of things, at this point - it's ON.
     
    Now, I've told a few people so I can catch up with them, but also said, if I wake up Tuesday morning and don't feel well (nausea can hit about 8-10 days after a round of chemo and of course, Tuesday is day 8) - well, if I have any doubts, I'll stay home. But I think its 90% likely that I'll be in the office! Woot!!!
     
    Been cleaning up the house, nothing stressful, just minor dishes, laundry, and the main task - lol - cleaning my desk. Dan and I went out shopping today - Mervyn's is closing and so all stores are doing liquidation sales. Got two pairs of normally $32 short pants for $8 each and a few other things. Then headed over to CostCo - well, that was almost too much, but made it through it (and immediately lay down once I got back home). Nice thing is, pretty much getting used to how to manage my energy - just every couple hours, lay down for a 10 minutes and rest - not even needing to nap, just shut down for a little bit, close eyes and relax.
     
    I have one more follow-up with Dr Spears on Monday morning, then this Friday, Dan and I go to Stanford on Friday to do the consultation meeting with their Bone Marrow transplant team. That should be over around 3PM, so we decided to get a hotel room in San Francisco that night and just relax. We'll meet up with Manuel (and his new boyfriend). Then Saturday, on the way back, we'll stop at my mom's and visit.
     
    Then the following Monday, Oct 10 - I head back into the hospital for the next chemo round but this should just be a 4-5 day stay.
     
    BTW - did I mention I feel great?
     
    WOOOOOOTTTTT!!!
  13. Trebs

    Surreal

    By Trebs,

    Hospital stay so far has been a mixed bag. Monday was pretty much a wasted day. I got here at 10AM, and other than small things like changing the dressing on my PICC line and drawing blood for testing, nothing happened until I started on Rituxan at 6PM. As with the last two time, a little over an hour in, I started getting chills/rigor. At least this time, it was much milder - still scary at the time, still chattered teeth a bit but was handled a lot faster and I had more control over my body, not jerking around uncontrollably as I did previous times, just trying to get warmer. After a bit, they restarted the Rituxan as I had normalized my temp, but then around 9PM, when they standardly checked my blood pressure, it was really low at 88/46 so they stopped the Rituxan. I got my ambien for the night and fell asleep at 10PM - kinda wimpering into my pillow as I still had body aches and light pains.
     
    I woke up about 1:30AM and felt FANTASTIC - no body ache, felt VERY rested and just - felt good. My mind was totally spinning around awake, so I sat up, turned on the news and just caught up on email and news. Heh - I tried to get a nap about 3:30AM, but after an hour of not falling asleep, just stayed up - I take enough cat naps during the day that I wasn't too concerned over the little (but good) sleep I got.
     
    Dr Spears came in around 9 and detailed out the day - they would restart the Rituxan, but just giving me the part I hadn't finished the night before - that started at noon and went until about 7PM. They then finally started on the second chemo drug, Cytoxan, which is another one that I had taken before. Cytoxan will be given to me every 12 hours for a total of 6 doses so three days total. So they started that at 10PM and finished at 1AM, and I'll get another Cytoxan this morning around 10. I had no reaction the first time I got Cytoxan back in early Sept, and again last night, no side effects - WOOT!
     
    Stanford also finally called yesterday and scheduled me - the first visit is just a consultation visit. I'll go at 11:30 on Friday, Nov 7 and first meet with a social worker for an hour who goes over the whole transplant concepts and stuff, then 1/2 hour break then meet my doctor and case manager at 1PM for between 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Dan and I are thinking we'll drive down in the morning, get a hotel room for that night after and visit with Manuel while we're down there. Plus - we will avoid San Jose traffic by coming back on Saturday morning (and probably stop by and visit with my mom for a bit on the trip back). The nice thing is, my next round of chemo starts the following Monday, Nov 10, so I should be totally over any effects of this round and up for travelling on the 7th - I was really happy when they had that date available for this consult. Now, I don't know when they'll actually pull my bone marrow, but I can wait until the 7th to find out.
     
    So - overall, things are good - but getting back to the blog title, also a bit surreal. With less than two weeks left, it feels SO weird watching tons of political news and commercials and not being in my office WORKING on it. I mean, I have helped in little ways here and there, answering emails and phone calls from my office. One thing that will be VERY weird - normally Chris who is also in our Sacramento office and I go down to the Los Angeles office for the last 4 days (Sat through Tues) to set up and do a legal watch program. We give out a toll-free number to volunteers and voters and have 10 phones with volunteers taking calls all day - a lot of them are just "where do I vote" so the volunteers look up polling places. But we also get the calls of "They have 6 machines but only one is working" which we pass to our team of lawyers who call it in to the County Registrars to try to quickly solve (and in many cases, the county does - with roving trucks with extra machines that dispatch to these troubled precincts). Bottom line - it is a very enriching experience for us - being able to help voters exercise their rights. But this year - I won't be there. Chris, the volunteers, the legal team will be there, but I'll be at home in Sacramento. Just... one more little sign that my life has changed. But overall, I'm getting through it - I know this is just a short-term distraction and all of the signs of the chemo putting the MCL into remission for a long time - the signs are all VERY good.
  14. Trebs
    Tomorrow morn, I'll hear from the hospital on when they want me to come in. So - heh - one last day of freedom before four days of confinement
     
    I've been getting ready - since this chemo treatment will be more intense, hair loss is pretty much guaranteed. Everyone's been telling me to get my hair cut short in advance so when clumps go missing, it doesn't look as bad - so I did. Here is the new shorter haircut.
     
    They've also been telling me I should get a hat. Now, I've NEVER been a hat person - it's actually more memorable the few times that I have worn a hat. And I definately didn't wanna get a baseball type hat (not that I really wanted to get a hat at all - I was fine with concept of going around bald). But then it was pointed out to me by my sister that I'm used to having a very thick head of hair - and I'll really notice the cold. So, went out and after going up and down the mall, found a very cool hat I liked at J Crew. Here are two pics of me wearing it - one front view and one side view.
     
    I like it - if I lived in a colder area normally, I might even use it regularly, not just when I've lost my hair. In fact - bringing it to DC when Dan and I go in late January sounds like a good idea.
     
    So - mainly been spending the last few days getting last minute chores done - all the bills are caught up, I wrote out a few thank you cards to people who sent flowers and stuff to me in the hospital (heh though have many more cards I need to do) and just generally got things set up so I don't have to worry about anything this next upcoming week other than dealing with the treatments. Also was nice to work on the wedding invite list a bit - hoping to send out "save the date" cards by the end of November.
     
    Mood has been pretty good - one thing that's REALLY helped along those lines is that my appetite has been totally normal recently - actually been hungry and eating good size meals again. Last night, this was especially good as Dan made his FANTASTIC meatloaf - YUM!
     
    Oh - don't think I posted this info yet - I finally found out the story with Stanford. My insurance has approved me for going - this will basically be JUST for the bone marrow treatment (ie, they take out my bone marrow, cull off the good part, grow it and after all the chemo and potential radiation kills my bone marrow, put back in the good grown bone marrow). I thought the appointment to go down there would be soon - but acutally my doctor wants me to go through one round of HyperCVAD-R first, so Stanford will be mid-November (which is why they haven't called yet to schedule - but they will as it gets closer). So that clears up the confusion of when I'm going down there and why they hadn't called yet.
  15. Trebs

    Mixed bag

    By Trebs,

    Today was a good day - first one since I got discharged last Wed. I've been really tired all of the time - it's been an effort to just get up and eat. Today I've done dishes, laundry and just generally been able to FUNCTION around the house - it feels great! Caught up on some bills and paperwork - including finally filling out my absentee ballot (Go Obama!)
     
    Yesterday I had back to back doctor appointments. First was Dr Swanson (the surgeon) - he took out the drain, staples and dressing over my incision. f**king scar is 13 inches long. But it is healing really well and Dr Swanson was very happy with my progress. He understands I'm going to be busy with all of my other medical needs so he said I didn't need any more followups - just drop him a line in a couple weeks to let him know how I'm doing.
     
    By the time I was done there, my appointment with Dr Spears (hematologist) was just 20 minutes away. Stopped for a jamba juice then up to Spears' office. All the running around, and I had left without taking a vicodin, by the time I got to the office I was hurting. Mentioned it to Dr Spears and he offers a pain shot of demerol - SWEET.
     
    So additional pathology has come back on the spleen and lymph node they took out. Turns out - I don't have CLL with a possible secondary of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). I JUST have MCL - which can disguise itself to look like CLL. Now the good news is they made the diagnosis this quickly - sometimes it takes a while for them to figure out its MCL. The bad news is whereas CLL has great prognosis and relatively easy treatment, MCL is worse. The previous visit, he had narrowed down what treatment I'd have down to two choices. Now with diagnosis of pure MCL (which he confirmed by checking with two other doctors), he said the best therapy for me would be what's called "HyperCVAD".
     
    Unlike CLL's treatment of RCF (which can be done as outpatient), HyperCVAD will be as inpatient. He wants me to start next monday (he would have started this week, but wants to give my splenectomy recovery one more week). So, next monday morning, the hospital will call me to tell me when to come in (ie, when they'll have a bed free). I'll be in for 4-5 days (likely 4 but if complications, 5). Then home for a bit over 2 weeks and then back to the hospital again for another 4 days of treatment. The drugs with HyperCVAD are more intense than what I had with RCF - hair loss is pretty much guaranteed. This will go on for a while - probably through mid-March if I am lucky, or later like mid-June if need be.
     
    News depressed me for a bit yesterday - I had talked myself into thinking that I was done with the hospital. It does help to focus on the positives - they diagnosed it early, they're starting treatment early and I'm 44 - most studies are of patients 65+... Of the studies with under-65, the response rates to the treatment are EXTREMELY good. And I REALLY lucked out to get a doctor that I like a lot, who totally involves me in all discussions of what is going on, and who just... CARES.
     
    There are only about 1500 new cases of MCL a year in the US - joked with Dan, why couldn't I have those kind of odds when playing the lottery or slots... And its frankly scary... but still getting a ton of support and just the fact of feeling SO much better today helps my outlook on this all. It felt GREAT doing the dishes, washing sheets, opening the front blinds and airing out the house - just was such a nice day out today.
     
    And looking forward to tomorrow... and the day after... etc.
  16. Trebs

    HOME! (v2)

    By Trebs,

    Just got home from the hospital - 15 days this time... But with my spleen successfully removed and clearer information on exactly what has been happening in my body and how we move forward to treat it, I feel both physically and mentally great.
     
    Still a bit exhausted tho - been a long day and it's not even 2PM yet... but as DK loves to say - afternoon just means naptime for Trebs...
  17. Trebs

    Breaking silence...

    By Trebs,

    A lot has happened in the last couple weeks, but mainly haven't felt up to updating the blog.
     
    Right now - I'm doing good. But two weeks ago, I started having slight fevers and my spleen was getting more and more uncomfortable. At night, the only way I could comfortably get sleep was frequently by going out to the couch and sleeping in a sitting position (which thankfully I can do all the time on planes so wasn't a weird experience). When I lay flat, the weight of the spleen and size just was uncomfortable and after laying for about 1/2 hour on my back, it would start hurting. As to the fevers, Dan called my doctor and he prescribed an antibiotic that Dan was able to pick up for me. That did help a little, but by the time of my next regular doctors appointment (last Tues, Sep 23), I was still very warm, weak, had body aches and just generally felt like shit.
     
    The appointment though went fantastic - the doctor immediately said, we need to get that spleen out soon. The surgeon he referred me to the previous week had called me back and had said that the surgeon was out of town until Oct 7, but I could get a consult appointment for the 7th. My doctor (Dr. Spears) hadn't known that the surgeon was going to be out and we all agreed Oct 7 was too far away. He got on the phone first with the hospital, to get started me being re-admitted then called another surgeon (Dr. Swanson) he equally recommended. While we're all sitting there, he got a hold of the Dr Swanson and they consulted, Spears describing my whole situation. Dr Swanson agreed with the need for the spleenectomy and they both thought that early the following week would be best. This would give time for the hospital to pre-treat me, giving me more antibiotics, blood and treatment so that I would be as strong as possible going into the surgury.
     
    Well - surgury is scheduled - for tomorrow at noon. They'll start prepping me at 11AM. And me - well, physically, I'm feeling really good. The hydration, the blood and all of the other prep has made me stronger and my various blood stats a lot better than when I checked in last Tuesday. Today, I'm getting one last transfusion of platelets to help boost those numbers and make my recovery better.
     
    Mentally/emotionally - I'm all over the place. I can NOT wait for the surgury to happen - the spleen really is ... a HUGE irratation. For the long term, it being gone may make the rest of the chemo treatments easier or at least it won't be there to potentially interfere with the treatments. But other than my wisdom teeth, I've never had anything removed. And this won't be just a simple surgury considering the size of my spleen (34 cm long). The cut will be about 12 inches long - Dr Swanson showed me the cut he'd make - starting at my left love handle up diagonally to the base of my chestbone. So big scar but also big area that will be sore for a while. And then over the weekend, occasionally had morbid thoughts about what would happen if I didn't make it through surgury (my sister didn't help, pushing me on "Do you have a living will" and "Does Dan have medical power of attorney"). The morbid periods weren't very long but still didn't help my mood at all.
     
    So overall - Happy/scared/hopeful/cringing/etc... Roller coaster, anyone?
     
    Dan has been fantastic in his support as well as all of the other support that both of us have received has just been incredible.
     
    And now as I look at the clock, less than 24 hours to go...
     
    GACK!
     

  18. Trebs
    Ok - so NOT as wildly optimistic as I was during my post... I am still feeling well, feeling mainly bored with tons of energy - until I actually try to do something. First major time it hit me was Sunday night when I tried to go grocery shopping on my own. I had to pause twice in the store, and as SOON as I got back to the car and had the groceries loaded, I just sat in the drivers seat to rest. Described it to a friend at work and he's the one that coined the phrase that I'm using for this blog entry title.
     
    So - at least when I got home from shopping, I told Dan the truth (and let him have his "I told you so") - as well as calling my boss and telling her that I'll be out a bit more. I WANT to go in. I WANT to do things... until I get 5 minutes into something (oh, like washing dishes) when I hit a wall. So yesterday (Monday), I stayed home and paced myself (both cause I had to and cause Dan would have killed me if I didn't). Got up, had a good breakfast, read news, napped. Got up, had lunch, did a little dishes, napped. At least to make sure I'm not sleeping the whole day away, I'm setting the alarm so the naps are only 60-90 minutes.
     
    I did call my doctor yesterday and set up the first of my appointments - tomorrow at 11AM. I almost called first thing this morning as I was feeling like shit - slight headache and stomach pains. The stomach was mainly acid I think as eating plus taking my morning pills (which include previcid) helped a TON - and I think the headache was more caffeine based as a cup of coffee helped that. But it was scary waking up like that because I wasn't totally sure what the heck was going on. One other factor is that my spleen once again feels very large....
     
    Hmmm... not sure if I mentioned the spleen yet. It's one of the symptoms of the CLL Leukemia - an enlarged spleen. Before last week, I couldn't tell you where my spleen was, how big it should be, what the heck it is - nothing other than "Oh ya, I've heard of that part." But when I first got to the hospital, one of the things they noticed was my spleen was very enlarged. Normally, the spleen is on your left side and is smallish (fist-sized?) and barely going a little lower than your soft-ribs. Mine when I checked in was MUCH bigger, not only going down to the level of my belly-button. Also, when I lay flat on my back, instead of the left and right sides of my abdomen being level, my left side was about an INCH higher than my right. Now by the time I checked out, it was still down to my bellybutton, but it was only bulging like 1/4 inch.
     
    Last night, it's back to at least an inch thicker, but also now instead of flat, it's more... bulged. It's like if before you could simulate my belly by putting your left hand on your left part of your abdomen and that was the bulge - about the size and thickness. But now, instead of a flat hand, it's slightly rounded hand. It doesn't hurt, except when I've got a bit of gas (which with my pills, is frequently).
     
    I still feel good overall. My mood took a bit of hit this morning because I had THOUGHT I was getting better... but the "reality" of leukemia is starting to hit. Last week, I got ... lucky? by quick prognosis, quick start to treatment, and very mild reaction to the treatment (I still haven't gotten hit by nausea, but in part due to taking daily anti-nausea drugs). At this point, I don't know when I'll go back to the office - possibly tomorrow after the doctor's appointment but at this point, I'm not planning anything other than playing things by ear.
  19. Trebs

    <HAPPY DANCE>

    By Trebs,

    Oh F**K!!!
     
    Waking up, back at HOME, with Dan at my side after a week... I can't begin to express how happy I am. I really am feeling so well. It is so ironic, having leukemia and going through one chemo treatment, I right now feel BETTER than I have most of this past year. I have energy (due to the transfusions and now having a much better red blood/hemoglobin counts), I'm REALLY well rested (from sitting/laying bored in bed at the hospital for a week), and I have Dan and my dogs back around me full time!
     
    Yesterday was good - it started with talking with my doctor and going over not only what would happen yesterday, but also the long range plans. He scheduled my third and last dose of the Fludarabine for 3PM yesterday and went over a lot of stuff from the various prescriptions I would need to get, what each one did and when to take them. We talked about scheduling a blood test at his office once a week and that the future treatments would again be a four-day process, but done out-patient through his office. I'll do chemo treatments every three weeks, so the next set will be the week of Sept 29th.
     
    Now he did warn me that even though I have so far felt no ill effects of the chemo, it can kick in around the 10th day after treatment. One of the prescriptions is for anti-nausea so if out of the blue the chemo does start hitting me, I can immediately start to counter it.
     
    At this point, I am planning on going into work for the next two weeks, then probably take the week of my chemo off. Dan has been keeping a watchful eye on me, constantly warning me about not pushing myself too hard, and while I agree in part, I really do think it will be ok. And I know that NO ONE at my office will let me push myself too much either...
     
    We're going down to visit my mom - my brother did fly in (he had planned on visiting around now anyways) and should be at my mom's about an hour before Dan and I get there. That way they can have a good start of a visit, then he'll be able to help me when I tell my mom. On the good side, EVERYONE who's seen me tells me how great I look, with color in my cheeks, so even though the news may sound bad, seeing me feel so good in front of her should help her take the news.
     
    Catch ya all later...
  21. Trebs

    Just a quick note...

    By Trebs,

    FIRST - as usual, THANK YOU everyone that has sent Dan or I messages - or even just sending us your thoughts. We REALLY appreciate all of the support and encouragement.
     
    Now, this is a short entry just cause I'm a bit tired but just for normal reasons (ie, YES, I am still feeling fantastic).
     
    I did get the 2nd of the "F" drug today, so just one more dose tomorrow which they are trying to schedule for the morning so I can go home in early afternoon!!! I'll also talk to the doctor tomorrow as to exactly the schedule for the coming weeks.
     
    I'll probably give an update late tomorrow after I check out and rest at home (and TOTALLY spoil the dogs - not that I ever do that usually).
  22. Trebs
    Today ended up a LOT better than I thought it would. I had a little bit of... well... I think everyone that hears "chemo drug" thinks the same things... nausea, throwing up, massive hair loss. And the wikipedia entry on Cytoxan pretty much confirmed all three. I have a real problem with loss of control - so of the three, the thought of vomiting, especially before I could get to a basin, totally freaked me out.
     
    Talking to the doctor this morning REALLY helped. I know, everyone keeps on saying make sure to ask the doctor everything you need to understand what is going on - and it's so true. I started writing notes everyday of anything I'm still not sure of so the next day I can make sure to ask the doctor those new questions. Like yesterday, I thought I'd just get Cytoxan - so asked him the full exact schedule and what I was going to do was get both Cytoxan and the first (of three) dose of Fludarabine today - and both were about an hour drip each (IV). Then tomorrow and Friday I'll get a dose of Fludarabine and be able to go home on Friday when that's done! WOOT - one day sooner than I thought.
     
    Even better, I asked him about the side-effects and he told me that before they give me the doses, they give me anti-nausea medicines. And the usual level of hair loss is more extra hairs on my pillow and hair brush but as he then put it "You won't look like the kids on the St Jude commercials."
     
    So - breakfast and lunch were both great, and the nurse told me the chemo would start at 3PM. I had a great relaxing morning/early afternoon (and had a LOT of fun watching the typical mayhem my EQ2 friends brought to my last blog entry). And of course, the 3PM schedule started at 4:15 instead - heh. I made sure to have a basin near me - but of course, NO EFFECTS. Went through the Cytoxan with no problems at all. Then about 1/2 hour after that finished, they started up the Fludarabine and - NO EFFECTS!!!
     
    Now - the nurse did say sometimes a day or two after, I may get waves of nausea still (since the chemo is still in the body but the anti-nausea drugs have wore off) - but that's for down the line. And I will be careful but for now, things are good.
     
    So - overall - I've talked to a TON of people in the last few days... some multiple times. Good friends who either I need to call before they hear from someone else, or others who hear and call me... or in one case, someone who called to wish me a happy birthday and I have to do a "oh, um, by the way..." And of course tons of emails as well, which usually begin with "Hi Robert, I just heard from..."
     
    EVERYONE has been incredibly supportive. I'd been a little worried about my sick time and if I might have to file for disability - but Dan talked to my boss who told him to not worry about it, quite a few people in the office donated their sick time to me (it's something people in the office have done before when someone has been pregnant so it's happened before, but I NEVER even thought it was a possibility). When Dan told me - I got close to tearing up...
     
    I really miss getting in bed at night with Dan.... his visits are great, but sleeping alone is... a little restless. And of course, I miss our two wonderful dogs (who never disbehave despite what Dan might tease about)...
     
    BUT - I'll be home in two more nights and be able to spend the WHOLE weekend with them. We do have to make a trip to my mom's on Saturday. I haven't told her yet (my brother and sister both know) cause I need to tell and talk to her in person. She is ALWAYS hard to talk to on the phone about small things and this is no small thing. GREAT news is my brother is still coming to visit my mom this weekend as well so he'll be there on Saturday when Dan and I go down to tell her.
     
    So - one more night alone in the hospital, but otherwise feeling great and looking forward to completing the treatment.
  25. Trebs

    Weekly Wrap Up!

    By Trebs,


    Weekly Wrap Up
    Renee is off playing so I get to sneak in and give everyone a review of this, our last week of June. Can you believe after Monday that the year is half over? Wow! We had a great start to the week here, with a review by Renee of Promising Author Dark's short story The Matchmaker is Grounded. It a very sweet story and a quick read that will bring smiles to your face, and Renee does a great job of enticing you with her review.
     
    Continuing on with our Premium Tuesday feature was a look at Coin in the Fountain, written by comicfan for the 2013 Summer Premium Anthology. If you missed reading it then (or read it and need a refresher), now's the perfect time for another read of this magical story.
     
    We got a new Tech Blog 7 on Privacy Policy and Site Help. These site updates by Myr are always one of our most popular features, and this week's is no exception.
     
    Friday is more important that just the end of the working week for many of us - it's also the time to celebrate reading the new weekly Prompts from comicfan, along with a great response to a past prompt. This week we got to see Cole Matthew's response to Prompt 332 that was a first line starter: "Try it again, and I will kill you!" And oh my, you should go see where Cole took this.
     
    We ended the week with a wonderful two-fer from Mann Ramblings. The July Signature Author background is out and features Mann's story The Luxorian Fugitive. The "two-fer" aspect? The background graphic was done by Mann as well - damn, is there anything he can't do?
     
    So - how was YOUR week?
     
    Anthology Announcements:
    2015 Theme Suggestions - Visit the thread to offer your suggestions for the 2015 Anthology Themes! Thread will close at 11:59 PM (US Mountain Time) on July 20th)

    2014 Fall Anthology: Scars - Due Sept 3rd *Note: Deadline is for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*

    2014 Winter Anthology: Chain Reaction - Due December 3rd *Note: Deadline is for submission to the Anthology Proof Team*

    NEW READING
     
    In Premium this week:
     
    No More Hiding by Renee Stevens
     
    Do Over by dkstories, Book 1 of Do Over Series [reposting]
     
    By our Signature Authors this week:
     
    Belovéd by Don H
     
    Leopard Spots by Graeme, Book 2 of The Lilydale Leopards
     
    Space Pioneer by Dolores Esteban
     
    Flux by Mark Arbour; Book 14 of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator (CAP)
     
    GFD 12: Blood Ties by Comicality, book 12 of Gone From Daylight
     
    HMS Valiant by Mark Arbour; Book 7 of Bridgemont
     
    The Secret Life Of Billy Chase 8 by Comicality; Book 8 of Billy Chase Chronicles
     
    Lost Inside by Cia; Book 2 of Carthera Tales
     
    Noah's New Plan by Rob Colton
     
    Finding Alex by Nephylim
     
    Dream Lover - Extended by Comicality
     
    Veil of Shadow by Stellar, Book 2 of unnamed
     
    Geeks by CassieQ
     
    By our Promising Authors this week:
     
    The Gay Man of Her Dreams by carringtonrj
     
    A Wolf And His Man by Sasha Distan
     
    Direct Confusion by Sasha Distan
     
    The English Year by Jwolf
     
    Dinner is Prompt-ly at Eight by Cole Matthews
     
    Button by Cole Matthews
     
    Don't forget.... Read, Write, and REVIEW!!!!
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