Well, this whole bone marrow transplant thingie was bound to hit a sort of snag somewhere along the line. Interestingly, our snag was more of a muscle-pull rather than a full on medical problem. Last week Mom was complaining of middle-upper back pain. It wasn't horrible but by the weekend it was starting to really hurt, especially when she moved. So the staff at The James took a chest x-ray, which turned out to be negative for anything nasty, and kindly gave us some muscle relaxants and sent us on our merry way. As the week progressed, Gloria's pain wasn't subsiding at all and she began to wheeze a bit, due to the fact that she couldn't quite get full breaths because it would rock her back and kick up some serious pain. On Thursday, January 10, at our regular clinic visit, all hell broke loose. Because of her shallow breathing and severe back pain, the doctors were worried that something might be happening in her lungs or heart. So, Gloria was re-admitted to The James and put through a battery of tests to make sure nothing terrible was happening. The good thing is, all of the tests showed us that her heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, etc., are in great shape. The bad thing is, she was put through the ringer. But here we sit, back in The Apartment on the other side. Her back pain has lessened a bit, due to the strong opiates that forced her to rest under sedation (several times she would be mid-bite and sort of drift off for a minute or so, which caused a lot of teasing from her loving daughters), and we are just glad to know that nothing serious is going on with her, besides the normal things that go on during recovery after a stem cell transplant.
Rest assured that Gloria is back in business (and her back is also getting there). We are enjoying the new episodes of Downton Abbey and getting lots of rest. Thanks to everyone for all of the letters that have been arriving at The Apartment and at Mom's!
Lots of love,
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney, and Gloria
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
Happy 2013 to all! As I write this, Sidney and Gloria are napping on the couch in front of the gas fireplace at our new temporary abode. That's right...Gloria has been discharged from The James and is now comfortably ensconced at The Apartment. Rebecca, Sidney and Gloria had a quiet evening at The Apartment, ringing in the New Year in relative peace, mostly trying to avoid the terrible din coming from Times Square on the TV. We enjoyed the quietude of no nurses stopping by to interrupt our conversation, and Sidney kept us entertained with youtube parodies of Nazi Germany out to get Justin Bieber.
The whole situation is rather surreal but we are adjusting. Mom's counts have increased, which is what allowed her to leave the hospital, but either the medication or the simple fact of the donor cells beginning to engraft is contributing to great fatigue. But she is eating and sleeping well and is quite happy to be free of her hospital room. We all are glad to be able to cook good food for ourselves and to have some time living together in general comfort.
Thanks to all of you for your love and prayers. We continue to enjoy hearing from you...it helps lift our spirits! For those of you that want to send cards or mail, the address of the apartment is:
2585 Marblevista Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43204
Lots of love and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year!
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney, and Gloria
The whole situation is rather surreal but we are adjusting. Mom's counts have increased, which is what allowed her to leave the hospital, but either the medication or the simple fact of the donor cells beginning to engraft is contributing to great fatigue. But she is eating and sleeping well and is quite happy to be free of her hospital room. We all are glad to be able to cook good food for ourselves and to have some time living together in general comfort.
Thanks to all of you for your love and prayers. We continue to enjoy hearing from you...it helps lift our spirits! For those of you that want to send cards or mail, the address of the apartment is:
2585 Marblevista Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43204
Lots of love and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year!
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney, and Gloria
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Merry Xmas from The James!
Picture this...
Xmas morning, a cold, empty apartment. Two young women, both sleeping on airmattresses, wake up to the dulcet tones of Mannheim Steamroller. They turn on the gas fireplace and enter the kitchen to make a holiday favorite from Louisiana - treasure ring, which is a combination of biscuits with creamcheese rolled in butter, sugar, orange zest and pecans - with only a knife, a kitchen towel, and a bundt pan. While it bakes, they gather the gifts and zoom it all over to the hospital into the eager arms of a patient patient.
Karen, Rebecca and Gloria are enjoying a quiet morning together, missing our extended family at Christmas. Thank goodness for the internet and technology! We were able to Skype with our family in Louisiana and watched as Cousin Cora (2 yrs old) opened her very own tea set at holiday tea. Mom is doing well. Her hair is coming out in droves...Rebecca spent yesterday fashioning her a sort of mohawk, since the back and sides are the first to go. She looks pretty punk! Otherwise, things seem to be rolling right along. Her platelets and hemoglobin are pretty much normal and her white count is beginning to increase. Once her white count increases enough to keep her mostly out of danger, and her pesky throat sore disappears, she will be released to the new apartment, which hopefully, by the time she leaves, will have furniture.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! We are thinking of you and sending our love.
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney and Gloria
Xmas morning, a cold, empty apartment. Two young women, both sleeping on airmattresses, wake up to the dulcet tones of Mannheim Steamroller. They turn on the gas fireplace and enter the kitchen to make a holiday favorite from Louisiana - treasure ring, which is a combination of biscuits with creamcheese rolled in butter, sugar, orange zest and pecans - with only a knife, a kitchen towel, and a bundt pan. While it bakes, they gather the gifts and zoom it all over to the hospital into the eager arms of a patient patient.
Karen, Rebecca and Gloria are enjoying a quiet morning together, missing our extended family at Christmas. Thank goodness for the internet and technology! We were able to Skype with our family in Louisiana and watched as Cousin Cora (2 yrs old) opened her very own tea set at holiday tea. Mom is doing well. Her hair is coming out in droves...Rebecca spent yesterday fashioning her a sort of mohawk, since the back and sides are the first to go. She looks pretty punk! Otherwise, things seem to be rolling right along. Her platelets and hemoglobin are pretty much normal and her white count is beginning to increase. Once her white count increases enough to keep her mostly out of danger, and her pesky throat sore disappears, she will be released to the new apartment, which hopefully, by the time she leaves, will have furniture.
Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! We are thinking of you and sending our love.
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney and Gloria
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Waiting Continues
Today, Sunday, December 16 marks the 12th day of 100 days of Gloria's treatment. So far things seem to be going as expected. Mom is faring well...eating, sleeping, drinking, and walking on the treadmill a few times per day. Rebecca has been entertaining Mom, cussing at her first knitting project this past week (see photo), and they've watched White Christmas at least once, possibly twice. Time drags along in here. News from the outside world is welcome!
Mom's white counts are still falling. They haven't quite hit bottom yet but we expect the nadir to occur sometime in the next few days. The donor's stem cells are still finding their way. Engraftment should occur sometime next week. We are cheering her new cowboy-surfer cells on, encouraging them to find their new homes and get to work. Gloria has promised them holiday bonuses if they do a stellar job.
Happy holidays and much joy to all,
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney and Gloria
 |
| Rebecca's knitting in progress |
Mom's white counts are still falling. They haven't quite hit bottom yet but we expect the nadir to occur sometime in the next few days. The donor's stem cells are still finding their way. Engraftment should occur sometime next week. We are cheering her new cowboy-surfer cells on, encouraging them to find their new homes and get to work. Gloria has promised them holiday bonuses if they do a stellar job.
Happy holidays and much joy to all,
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney and Gloria
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Happy birthday, Gloria!!!!
Hello everyone!
Today marks Day 0 of Gloria's new beginning. As I type this, she is getting her brand new stem cells.
We are sending thanks to her donor, who we know is from the west coast of the US. Karen decided that he is probably a cowboy who owns a winery and who sometimes likes to go surfing. Sidney thinks that Karen is the one on drugs here...and Gloria is nodding off from the Benadryl she was given earlier. We Skyped with Becca, who will be back in Ohio tomorrow to join the festivities.
We're talking with her nurse about Graft vs. Host disease, something that Gloria needs a little of in order to stay in remission. We're hoping she gets the least offensive symptoms, like looking tan all of the time.
We'll be in the hospital for the next 21 days or so, and then we'll be living in Columbus until Day 100. We are looking forward to all of the togetherness that we'll have during that time.
Much hopeful love,
Karen, Rebecca, Sidney, and Gloria
Today marks Day 0 of Gloria's new beginning. As I type this, she is getting her brand new stem cells.
 |
| Peace and Stem Cells |
We are sending thanks to her donor, who we know is from the west coast of the US. Karen decided that he is probably a cowboy who owns a winery and who sometimes likes to go surfing. Sidney thinks that Karen is the one on drugs here...and Gloria is nodding off from the Benadryl she was given earlier. We Skyped with Becca, who will be back in Ohio tomorrow to join the festivities.
We're talking with her nurse about Graft vs. Host disease, something that Gloria needs a little of in order to stay in remission. We're hoping she gets the least offensive symptoms, like looking tan all of the time.
We'll be in the hospital for the next 21 days or so, and then we'll be living in Columbus until Day 100. We are looking forward to all of the togetherness that we'll have during that time.
Much hopeful love,
Karen, Rebecca, Sidney, and Gloria
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Happy (Almost) Hannukah
Greetings from The James,
Yesterday was Gloria's first dose of a nasty chemo drug called AGT. While we had been told what to expect as far as a reaction, it was still kind of tough to watch as her body struggled to fight the ugliness. Thank goodness for excellent care by her nurse, Adam (who was also easy on the eyes, lending more credence to Karen's idea that everyone here is an extra on Grey's Anatomy). Gloria was given some great meds to ease her symptoms, and Karen was thoroughly entertained by some of their conversations that ensued.
Today has been much more peaceful. We are listening to ocean sounds and dozing off and on. Tonight is the first night of Hannukah, and although we can't light candles here in the hospital, we will be celebrating as best we can.
Much love,
Karen, Rebecca, Sidney, and Gloria
Yesterday was Gloria's first dose of a nasty chemo drug called AGT. While we had been told what to expect as far as a reaction, it was still kind of tough to watch as her body struggled to fight the ugliness. Thank goodness for excellent care by her nurse, Adam (who was also easy on the eyes, lending more credence to Karen's idea that everyone here is an extra on Grey's Anatomy). Gloria was given some great meds to ease her symptoms, and Karen was thoroughly entertained by some of their conversations that ensued.
Today has been much more peaceful. We are listening to ocean sounds and dozing off and on. Tonight is the first night of Hannukah, and although we can't light candles here in the hospital, we will be celebrating as best we can.
Much love,
Karen, Rebecca, Sidney, and Gloria
Monday, December 3, 2012
Giving Thanks
Ok, so we are a bit late for a holiday post, but truly, we are full of thanksgiving these days. Thankful for our family and friends, thankful for the help and care of the staff at the James, and now so grateful to a stranger for making it possible for Gloria to get a new chance at healing by donating his stem cells. This past week we received the go ahead for the bone marrow transplant. Mom underwent some testing to check on her systems, all of which are looking good, and the donor also had some tests done to make sure that he wouldn't be passing on any communicable diseases. Fortunately, it turns out that the donor passed the tests, except that he is allergic to bees, which means that after the transplant, weirdly enough, Gloria will be allergic to bees. Given that Rebecca is also allergic, Gloria has had plenty of experience with Epipens, so we are going ahead with the transplant, despite the transfer of this "hypersensitivity disorder".
The logistics go something like this: Mom will check into the James Cancer Center again, this time on the bone marrow transplant unit, tomorrow, Tuesday, December 4th. She will go through intense chemotherapy for 6 days and then will get the stem cell transplant, much like a blood transfusion. After that, Mom will stay in the hospital in relative isolation for 2-3 weeks and then we will transfer to an apartment in Columbus for a month or two, while she continues to receive weekly treatment and check-ups at the James.
While we are anxious about starting this process, we are also acutely aware of our good fortune. Lucky that this wonderful man (yes, we know the donor is a man) has agreed to donate his stem cells. Lucky that his stem cells are a great match with Mom's (10 out of 10 HLAs). Lucky that the James Cancer Center is one of the top institutions in the world for this type of procedure. And most of all, so fortunate that we have such wonderful family and friends to help get us through these next few months.
And, in the spirit of giving, we want to encourage all of you to consider registering with the National Marrow Donor Program. This organization is how Mom was able to find such a great match and helps save many lives every year.
It is simple to register, just go to
http://marrow.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Steps_of_Donation.aspx
Thank you for considering being a donor or encouraging others to do so.
In the meantime, we will keep you posted as things progress.
Lots of love from all of us to all of you,
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney, and Gloria
The logistics go something like this: Mom will check into the James Cancer Center again, this time on the bone marrow transplant unit, tomorrow, Tuesday, December 4th. She will go through intense chemotherapy for 6 days and then will get the stem cell transplant, much like a blood transfusion. After that, Mom will stay in the hospital in relative isolation for 2-3 weeks and then we will transfer to an apartment in Columbus for a month or two, while she continues to receive weekly treatment and check-ups at the James.
While we are anxious about starting this process, we are also acutely aware of our good fortune. Lucky that this wonderful man (yes, we know the donor is a man) has agreed to donate his stem cells. Lucky that his stem cells are a great match with Mom's (10 out of 10 HLAs). Lucky that the James Cancer Center is one of the top institutions in the world for this type of procedure. And most of all, so fortunate that we have such wonderful family and friends to help get us through these next few months.
And, in the spirit of giving, we want to encourage all of you to consider registering with the National Marrow Donor Program. This organization is how Mom was able to find such a great match and helps save many lives every year.
It is simple to register, just go to
http://marrow.org/Registry_Members/Donation/Steps_of_Donation.aspx
Thank you for considering being a donor or encouraging others to do so.
In the meantime, we will keep you posted as things progress.
Lots of love from all of us to all of you,
Rebecca, Karen, Sidney, and Gloria
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