Hello! We arrived safely in Alabama last night!! We are visiting Ryan's family down here. We are enjoying some serious good ol down south homestyle cooking. I came to the library to do my biochem homework that was due today (my nerdiness continues to be a problem =) so I thought I would post real quick. It's great to be with family for the holidays, and to get away for a few days. And so far, it appears that I flew without incident yesterday - except for the minor complication where our bags were delayed and being the genius that I am had put all my prescription drugs in my checked luggage - but they arrived at midnight last night so we are ok, like my grandma always says, God takes care of drunks, fools, and MacCorkles (my mother's maiden name).
Anyway, we have to get back to the lakehouse. One of Ryan's best friends and his girlfriend are on the way up here to see us - we are excited to see them!! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Grade 3 Neutropenia....and other mysteries of life
So, I had chemo yesterday - we were only at Stanford for 6 hours this time, which is still enough to make valet parking cheaper than the garage - yea for the little things in life. Stanford has a completely different philosophy on chemo treatment than Travis, which we are still getting used to. At Travis, I was automatically given Neulasta to keep my white blood cells up and even during my nadir period (7-10 days after treatment, when the counts reach their lowest), my counts were always normal. At Stanford, they don't believe in giving Neulasta unless you REALLY need it. Yesterday, when I had labs before my chemo, my total white blood cell count was 1900 (the normal range starts at 4000) and my neutrophils (the major infection fighting cells) were 800 (normal starts at 1500). This is considered Grade 3 neutropenia, which means I am much more susceptible to infection than the normal population. The crazy thing is...my counts were probably even lower at some point last week (in the 7-10 day period) and I had no idea because Stanford does not do an off-week lab check like Travis did. So, they still gave me chemo, with no Neulasta, and added a antibiotic and anti-fungal medicine to my drug regimen as preventative measures. They handed us a study that showed that this method had a higher survival rate. The thing I am wondering about though, I mean, I realize I'm not the MD here, but the one study they seem to be going off only contained 84 patients. How do you get accurate statistical data with only 84 patients??? 61 on the treatment plan I am now, and the other 23 were the control group who received a growth factor. I'm having a hard time understanding how the results of such a study could be statistically significant, but then again I'm not the genius at Stanford getting paid the big bucks???
So, I am actully feeling relatively good today, but still pretty tired. Ryan is busy planning his big trip to climb Mt. Whitney with one of his best buds this weekend, so we have backpacking equipment all over the living room - it makes me excited for when I can go again!!!
I want to start working out more, even during my chemo weeks - I think it will help me feel better sooner. I am going to try to have Ryan take me to the pool tomorrow after I get up to do some aquajogging - movement and a resistance workout without the impact will be good.
Not much else to say - I have a biochem quiz this week that I need to study for and I am preparing to take the GRE on December 22. Did I mention we are moving the first week of December?? We will seriously take all the help we can get - pizza and beer on us!!We are really excited about our new place - we have a nice patio, backyard, and sunroom, and we wanna start a Thursday night cook-out tradition (if you are reading this and you live in the Bay Area, you are definitely invited).
Thank you for all the cards, meals, prayers, comments, and kind thoughts. It really makes all this so much more bearable. It has been so nice to get home from Stanford or feel exhausted on Tuesday and not have to worry about what's for dinner. We love all of you!!
So, I am actully feeling relatively good today, but still pretty tired. Ryan is busy planning his big trip to climb Mt. Whitney with one of his best buds this weekend, so we have backpacking equipment all over the living room - it makes me excited for when I can go again!!!
I want to start working out more, even during my chemo weeks - I think it will help me feel better sooner. I am going to try to have Ryan take me to the pool tomorrow after I get up to do some aquajogging - movement and a resistance workout without the impact will be good.
Not much else to say - I have a biochem quiz this week that I need to study for and I am preparing to take the GRE on December 22. Did I mention we are moving the first week of December?? We will seriously take all the help we can get - pizza and beer on us!!We are really excited about our new place - we have a nice patio, backyard, and sunroom, and we wanna start a Thursday night cook-out tradition (if you are reading this and you live in the Bay Area, you are definitely invited).
Thank you for all the cards, meals, prayers, comments, and kind thoughts. It really makes all this so much more bearable. It has been so nice to get home from Stanford or feel exhausted on Tuesday and not have to worry about what's for dinner. We love all of you!!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Another Chemo Week Down...
As a friend so kindly pointed out to us that we've been "chillin" for over a week, I decided to write today =)
So, I made it through another week of chemo. Monday was kind of frustrating - we were at Stanford for seven hours!!! My appointment with the doctor was supposed to be at noon, and we got my labs done beforehand and checked in at 11:45 and they didn't call us back until 2:00. Then, my chemo was scheduled for 2:30, but of course now we were late for that and then we waited over an hour for the drugs to come....I guess when you are the best in your field, you have the luxury of making people wait!!!!
Other than that, everything went fine and I survived another week. Now I am enjoying starting to feel good again. Ryan is on duty, so I am going to spend my day scrapbooking and hanging out with my friend Christie (not as in myself, there's actually another one who spells her name the same way!! )
This just in...we are moving!! The first week of December. To a one-story house about ten minutes south of where we live now with a really pretty view of the hills, a nice backyard, and a sunroom!! We have been wanting to move out of this area for awhile, and we are so excited that God has provided the opportunity! I know we must seem crazy to take on moving at a time like this, but we've done crazier things than this and I think it will be very worth it in the end.
I feel truly blessed. Even though I am still going through one of the greatest trials of my life, and I am getting weary of it sometimes - lately I've been saying to Ryan, "I'm just getting so tired of all of this", I can't consider myself anything less than blessed. Blessed by the wonderful people we have in our life, blessed to live in such a beautiful place, blessed to have stable jobs, blessed to have an awesome husband, blessed to be able to enjoy life and laughter together everyday, and ultimately, no matter what happens, blessed to have assurance of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Prayer Requests:
- This chemo cycle is the first time I have not been given a growth factor to boost my white blood cell count. Pray that my counts would maintain a good level on their own, that I would have energy and be protected from infection.
- for our upcoming move
- Thanksgiving travel: we purchased tickets to travel to Ryan's home for Thanksgiving - pray that my counts will be good and we will be able to make the trip
So, I made it through another week of chemo. Monday was kind of frustrating - we were at Stanford for seven hours!!! My appointment with the doctor was supposed to be at noon, and we got my labs done beforehand and checked in at 11:45 and they didn't call us back until 2:00. Then, my chemo was scheduled for 2:30, but of course now we were late for that and then we waited over an hour for the drugs to come....I guess when you are the best in your field, you have the luxury of making people wait!!!!
Other than that, everything went fine and I survived another week. Now I am enjoying starting to feel good again. Ryan is on duty, so I am going to spend my day scrapbooking and hanging out with my friend Christie (not as in myself, there's actually another one who spells her name the same way!! )
This just in...we are moving!! The first week of December. To a one-story house about ten minutes south of where we live now with a really pretty view of the hills, a nice backyard, and a sunroom!! We have been wanting to move out of this area for awhile, and we are so excited that God has provided the opportunity! I know we must seem crazy to take on moving at a time like this, but we've done crazier things than this and I think it will be very worth it in the end.
I feel truly blessed. Even though I am still going through one of the greatest trials of my life, and I am getting weary of it sometimes - lately I've been saying to Ryan, "I'm just getting so tired of all of this", I can't consider myself anything less than blessed. Blessed by the wonderful people we have in our life, blessed to live in such a beautiful place, blessed to have stable jobs, blessed to have an awesome husband, blessed to be able to enjoy life and laughter together everyday, and ultimately, no matter what happens, blessed to have assurance of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Prayer Requests:
- This chemo cycle is the first time I have not been given a growth factor to boost my white blood cell count. Pray that my counts would maintain a good level on their own, that I would have energy and be protected from infection.
- for our upcoming move
- Thanksgiving travel: we purchased tickets to travel to Ryan's home for Thanksgiving - pray that my counts will be good and we will be able to make the trip
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