Let it Snow!

Hello Friends & Family,
I hope you enjoyed your weekend, I did! I love snow (being from So. Calif we never saw snow unless we went to the mountains)....
So Larry and I went for a bit of a drive this morning around town to check out the snow. When we got home our neighbor Sierra was building a Snow Bear. Here are a couple of photos.





He has walnut eyes, courtesy of the Black Walnut tree in their backyard.

On our drive I took a photo of my brother Paul's house in downtown Albany. He bought this 1910 Bungalow and moved here from So. California in January of 2006. The house is so nice, all the original stained woodwork inside was never painted. I'm hoping he'll have his backyard on the Albany garden tour one summer because he's built a beautiful Japanese garden.


Then sitting in one of the window seats in our family room I shot some video of the snow falling. Near the end of the video you'll see why I like to sit there - the snow looks like it's falling right on you as you sit or lay there.....



(Sorry, that's the sound of the dishwasher running in the background! haha)
Enjoy!
Florence

Baby, It's Cold Outside!!

This morning I woke up at 4:30 am and checked the temperature and it was 19º. It's now warmed up to 37º. I was tempted to go outside to see what it felt like at 19º. Back in the early 1980's the reader board at the bank that I worked at said 21º and I think that was the lowest temp I've ever been out in....

Sorry to my Green Bay Packer fan friends! I was rooting for the green and yellow too but darn it. I heard on the news that only 12 people in attendance at that game had to seek out medical help after sitting there in 23º below zero weather! (That was with the wind chill).

Here are my numbers from yesterday:
White Cells 3200 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 1.53 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.69 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 71 (150 - 400)

Well that's all for right now!
Florence

Now, The Rest of the Story.......

So, Florence gave y'all the good news that her marrow shows no Leukemia and the genetic markers that had shown up in her cells before were also not present. So why are her cell counts so slow to return to normal???

The type of transplant that she has undergone in notorious for slow recovery. It is also notorious for not being able to completely restore the immune system (ie. Cell counts never recover). So what does this mean? It means time, time is needed to see if Florence's stem cells can return her cell counts to normal. How long do we wait? That is a question we will ask the OHSU staff when we see them on February 4th.

If time runs out, we understand that there is a possibility of a mini transplant from a matched unrelated donor, a mini-MUD. This type of transplant has risks typical of any transplant from an unrelated donor and requires more meds to keep everything in check. It will also mean another small round of chemo and a stay at OHSU. Florence isn't looking forward to this as a prospect and wants to avoid it if at all possible. I cannot blame her but the 5C staff says they would just have to convince the new MUD stem cells that they have a new home and have to learn to play nice.

They always make everything sound like such fun....... hummmmmmmmm

Larry

YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! (Guess What?)

Dr. Neville walked into the room and said, "I've got some good news, tests are in and there is no sign of a Leukemia relapse." So, Larry and I looked at each other and smiled with a twinkle in our eyes.

Here are my numbers from today:

White Cells 4800 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 2.74 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.51 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 59 (150 - 400)

If I could eat salad I'd eat spinach salad! Then maybe my Red Cell numbers would be better! haha

So luckily for me I don't have anymore videos to post, because I've made Larry promise that the 4 he took of me at the hospital when I was so drugged with pain killers will never be on the internet. Showings of them here at my house are fine, but never on the internet! Like he said, they show me bald, my hands making the motions that they are actually doing something but in the air, but they also show me jabbering on about the silliest things.

You know, on the day of my biopsy last week I felt so good physically and ever since that day I have felt strong. (Mentally I've been scared). But physically I've felt so good and I think it's from all the thoughts and prayers that were coming to me/us everyday, but it all started on the day of the biopsy. Blessings to you for all your help and thoughts and prayers!
Love,
Florence

REAL FUNNY....

..... So I can see where a little stupid mate video war could be started here.... mine have a female with little hair, on drugs, picking at the air....hummmmm.... Exactly how comfortable is our couch anyway?????

As you can see the counts dropped. Dr Neville also added that the early tests so far are unremarkable so now we wait for the more definitive test results from OHSU. Those will give us more of an answer. So in the mean time.... NO SALAD....

Larry

This and That

Hello!
Just a quick update on my numbers from yesterdays blood draw. Dr. Neville let me know that from what he saw of my Bone Marrow biopsy that nothing looked out of the ordinary. OHSU has my biopsy now and has a couple more tests to run and we'll know results in the next week or so. So my numbers dropped and Larry gave me a shot yesterday:

Monday, 1/14
White Cells 2500 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 0.77 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.54 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 63 (150 - 400)

So, I had so much fun posting the video last time that I have another one. Here's the set up.... Larry and I stopped at the bank last April and I stayed in the car. "It was a dark and stormy day" and the black clouds were really moving fast. So I decided to capture their speed on my little Canon digital camera video feature. So I open the door to my car and stood up and started shooting. Well, Larry comes out of the bank and thinks I'm just taking a photo so he tries to block my shot. The captured video makes me laugh every time I see it. He is so funny!!



So I'll talk to you soon!
Love, Florence

Funny How Things Happen

Hello,
I had my blood drawn Thursday morning and a copy of the results were sent over to Dr. Neville's office before my appointment with him at 11:00 am. The results showing that all my counts had gone up! All by themselves, no help from Larry and his Neupogen shot ;-), only a few points each but with no help!!!
I made it through the bone marrow biopsy fine. I held Larry's hand during the procedure for the first time and squeezed it so tight I was afraid I was going to hurt him. But I didn't see his eyes water so all is well, hahaha
We won't know the results for maybe a week or so, so I'll let you know as soon as we hear.
Here are my numbers from Monday and then Thursday:

White Cells 2700 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 1.16 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.42 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 64 (150 - 400)

White Cells 3100 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 1.30 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.55 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 68 (150 - 400)

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers, undoubtedly you can see where it helped!
Love, Florence

PS: Thought I'd try something new and download a video!!! Hope it doesn't cause problems on anyone's computer.... This is at Casey's park at Fire Station 12, I had just bought the wind chime and hung it up and wanted to capture its sound in the breeze on my camera.

Good Morning

I'm sending a couple of photos this morning and thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I love taking photos (especially of clouds) so here are a few for you to check out.....


This photo was taken on July 4th, 2006 and I didn't know I had actually caught a bolt of lightning in the shot. If you double click on the photo you'll see it right above the lightbar on Larry's truck, just above the powerlines near the tree...






This photo I took because I liked how bright that cloud was in the back of the gray ones. Then when I downloaded it I noticed the heart shaped cloud right in the middle front! I like to think it was Casey that sent it to me.... :-)



Flat bottom cloud (Cumulus mediocris) during an Oregon Ducks game!!

Ok, got to head out now!
Blog you later,
Florence

Another Pin-Hole

Looks like Florence is in for a biopsy on Thursday and results usually take 2 to 4 days as I recall. Biopsy will be done in Corvallis and then a trip to OHSU shortly after to get results and a check-up. I’ll have to see if she will be up to visiting 5C while we are there.

As for the results, we are looking for lazy stem cells that are just taking their time to fill in. None of the other options sound so great. They could find that the stem cells are unable to hold there own or there may be a smoldering relapse (as Dr K put it). So keep your fingers crossed…

Dr K said Autologous transplants, like Florence had, are notoriously slow and unpredictable for count recovery (also possibly due to the chemo effects).

In any case, the test will allow them to check her WBC’s and see what’s happening in Marrowland.

Keep her in your thoughts,
Larry

Glossary included :-)

Whoa, Friday almost got away from me after saying I would post a message today! Wow, it was so windy and stormy today. One gust hit the house early this morning and the rafters creaked starting at one end of the house and ending at the other! Then with subsequent gusts all day it never happened again - good thing! We have a big Magnolia tree in the backyard and when the wind hits it, it's like all the leaves turn brown. That's because the underneath of each brilliant deep green leaf is a soft suede brown that you normally don't see.

Here are my numbers from yesterday:

White Cells 3600 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 1.27 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.65 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 67 (150 - 400)

We saw Dr. Neville yesterday and he's going to contact my Doctor at OHSU to see if he feels I should have a Bone Marrow Biopsy sooner than 2/4/08. So I'll let you know. I'm fine with it and will have it done in Corvallis if it's a go.

Glossary (because I have a hard time remembering what these mean?!?!)

White Blood Cells: (Or Leukocytes) There are several different kinds of leukocytes, and each has a special skill that help protect you. Some leukocytes also try to track down any cancer cells that your body itself produces and attempts to maintain cellular order to keep you healthy. In the case of leukemia, where the leukocytes themselves have gone bad, Chemotherapy and other treatments are usually called upon to help.

Neutrophil: A type of white blood cell that is the body's primary defense against harmful bacteria.

Red Blood Cells: Cells that pick up oxygen from the lungs and transport it to tissues throughout the body.

Platelets: The smallest cell elements in the blood, needed to control bleeding.

I gleaned this information from sources I received while undergoing treatment, I hope it helps you too!

Well it's way past my bedtime! Have a great weekend.
Love, Florence

Happy New Year!

Yeah!!!! The Ducks won their bowl game! It was a really good game played against S. Florida. It started at 11:00am yesterday and lasted until about 3:30pm. So my day was pretty much taken up with football! But darn it, I fell asleep with 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter. I wanted to see them celebrate at the end.
Monday we awoke to a white blanket of frost, soooo pretty. I had my blood drawn in the morning and here are my counts:

White Cells 4300 (4500 - 11000)
Neutrophil 1.69 (1.8 – 7.7)
Red Cells 2.56 (4 - 5.2)
Platelets 66 (150 - 400)

I didn't need any transfusions or platelets and I didn't hear from my Doctor so all is good.

So, more college football today. We watched the Rose Bowl with USC against Illinois and my brother Paul came over and watched the 4th quarter with us. He's a USC fan and I guess I should have been wanting them to win because they are a PAC 10 team, but I really kind of wanted to see Illinois win the Rose Bowl. But alas, they didn't.

Here's a favorite photo of mine taken back in August when Larry came home for lunch and Ryan Bond came over to have sandwiches with us.



Ok, I'm going to sign off for now! Have a nice rest of the week and I'll check back in on Friday.
Love, Florence