it's friday again

I just threw away a bunch of hospital wrist bands, my pink face mask, and 2 breathing apparatuses (apparati?). So cathartic! It's grey and cloudy here today, but should be a sunny weekend. My dad will be here, then my mom is coming next week, then Alicia next weekend. And then back to work the following week yeah!

Some photos from last weekend with Teal...

walking at the SF Race for a Cure


hill, teal, geo, shelbie, matt, chris... closing down b'game

I thought this was entertaining. I made an animated gif of my hair growth over the past few months. Not sure if this works...


love,
h (& c)

happy arms

big day... I got my PICC line out! We had a doctor appointment this morning. My blood cell counts are all coming up to normal, so our doctor decided we should pull out the PICC line today and schedule my bone marrow biopsy (aspiration) for within the next few days. It's amazing how easy it is to pull out the PICC line -- almost totally painless. But it's creepy to see a really long tube coming out of your arm. (When they pulled out the first one a few months ago, Chris accidentally watched, and I saw his face go white. hee.)

For the biopsy, I said that I'll want all the pre-meds/painkillers available. Apparently, my doctor and the physician assistant think that's silly. They said one of the pre-meds only makes you groggy like you've had a few drinks... um, what's the problem??


big bandaid (strange camera angle)

side note: I'm looking for gym recommendations. I got a letter from my former gym that they had closed. So sad, because it was always empty and easy to get an Elliptical machine. I suppose that was the problem!

love,
h (& c)

fashion w/ compassion

hide your credit cards, these happy-animal shoes and bags are cye-ute!
Matt & Nat:

MooShoes:

{ok, hide my credit cards!}

go go goooo

Looks like my blood cell counts are hanging on! I had lab work today, and although my counts haven't gone up (maybe down a teensy bit), the nurse still thinks I'm generally trending upward.

I'll put up photos from our fun weekend soon. Teal came out to visit... we closed down Burlingame on Friday night, hit our neighbor's birthday party on Saturday, and walked in the SF Susan G Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday (the 1-Miler, no less!). ¡Olé!

trending upward

happy friday. I have been feeling really well for the past few days... probably attributed to my increasing blood cell counts. I had lab work on Wednesday that showed everything improving.

Blobfish!


So I don't have to go back into the hospital until Monday for more lab work. My nurse said she thinks I am trending upward, and she doesn't expect my blood cell counts to drop at this point.
I'm heading to the airport to pick up Teal in a bit. Woo hoo!

love,
h (& c)

new shows!

ho ho who is excited about the new season of shows? Or perhaps I'm just a big loser... I'm sure I should be reading up a book storm, but chemo makes it hard to read books. It seems to mess with your concentration and memory, so you read the same page over and over. I guess I also repeat myself a lot, because Chris often politely notes when I keep asking him the same thing. How long can I blame this on chemo?? Fortunately, not much longer... I imagine it steadily evaporating from my body.

Shout out to Gary Parker who is also on his final round of chemo!

I have had a couple blood transfusions over the past few days, which has been rejuvenating. We even got a little hike (stroll?) in with Bill & Michelle on Saturday. And a visit with Chris's friend, Brian yesterday.

Chris and Brian Gurr terrorize the streets.
(I am so tempted to post a matching photo of them in their speedos at about 8 years old.)

Speaking of too much TV (and cookies) and nothing else even remotely related... Daily Show video "C is for Chubby":


love,
h (& c)

"almost done"

hullo,
I had lab work and a doctor appointment yesterday, and my blood cell counts are still looking good. My doctor said there really is a possibility that I will avoid a hospital stay this time, since I only received 1/3 of the dose for the last/final chemo treatment. (hmmm... wonder if they will still charge full price??) But he also said "but who knows"... apparently no one! So we will see...

My doctor also confirmed that I am "almost done", which is so great to hear. My next steps are to [1] wait for my blood cell counts to get back up to normal. We're mainly watching the WBC (white), RBC (red), and platelet counts; [2] have my "final" (that is a quote... you bet I have that documented) bone marrow biopsy; [3] pull out my PICC line (aka bionic arm); [4] be done.

Since we're at a university hospital, we've interacted with a variety of doctors, incl. Hematology fellows, residents, as well as students. So even with my standard treatment plan, there have been different opinions about the specifics. The best part has been having my doctor correct our mistaken understandings -- his plan always seems to be better than what we've been told.
First I was told that I would have a bone marrow biopsy every month for the next year. That would be the WORST, but hallelujah that is not the case for me.
Then I was told that I would come in for lab work twice a week for a few months. NOPE! My doctor said that after my biopsy, I will only need to come in once a month. Other than being totally paranoid for the other 29 days of the month, that will be so much easier.

Yeah it is almost Friday! This actually means nothing to me, but hopefully it brings joy to you :)
and happy rosh hashanah!
love,
h (& c)

on the upswing

Hi all,
I had a quick check-in today for lab work. I showed up wearing my fashionable pink mask, assuming I was at least almost neutropenic. But what a surprise to find out that all of my blood cell counts have gone up! I mean, really it is the least they can do after all their unruliness.

How wonderful that Fall is here and Summer is over! (not really a summer fan) It has been quite toasty here, which makes me grouchy. Here's some music to make you happy:

love,
h (& c)

quick weekend update

Hi all,
I don't have to go back into the hospital for lab work until Monday, so we can relax all weekend. We're about to go on our second walk of the day, and I've watched 2 episodes of the BBC's Jane Eyre (on Netflix's "Watch Now" online). Hmm... this is not as captivating as it sounded in my head.

Local news update: Tom the Tree got the axe. The 100-ft Eucalyptus tree is no more! I got a photo of Tom from his final days:

Kiss the sky goodbye, Tom

From last weekend up at Joseph Phelps winery:

with kathleen, sarah, & stephanie

love,
h (& c)

chemo dunzo

Hi all,
I got another fever yesterday, after my morning dose of chemo... so we decided to be done with chemo! Fortunately, I was already back at the hospital for my evening dose when I started to feel sick. My doctor came by and said he was leaning toward ending my chemo, and I said we thought that sounded lovely, and he said yes, I think you'll just keep having reactions and then we'll have to admit you into the hospital, and I said great, and please make this fever go away because I think my head is going to pop off again.

So Chris spent most of the evening trying to coerce me into adding more ice packs.

Well I am feeling much better today and am just resting at home. I have a quick check-in this afternoon, and then they're expecting my immune system to drop at some point like after the previous cycles. My goal now is to stay out of the hospital (that would be novel), by trying to avoid catching anything. So I'll probably be a bit hermit-like for a little while :)

love,
h (& c)

minor setback (+ welcome sienna!)

Yesterday was quite weird. After my morning dose of my chemo, we came home for our midday break. I laid down for a nap, and then woke up with a 103 (~39 C) temperature. So we drove back down to Stanford for blood tests. Fortunately, since my immune system is still fairly normal, they said we could go home, put ice packs in my armpits and between my legs, and try to bring the fever down. It finally came down by about 9pm, and after taking my Ambian & Tylenol (aka gin & tonic... just kidding) I managed to fall asleep. I woke up this morning feeling completely fine -- very strange.

We just got back from a quick check-in at the hospital. They're confident that my fever was caused by my chemo, not an infection as I had assumed. In fact, the medical assistant said she saw this with 90% of her patients, when she worked at UCSF. No one at Stanford had really seen this before, but I guess that's the point of multiple opinions. She even said she would have given me the 2nd dose of chemo last night, even with my fever. Chris said he would have liked to see her try to give me another dose of chemo last night! I was apparently not in my nicest form, but I thought my head was going to pop off my body.

So we're planning to continue with the rest of this chemo cycle, which means I'll have 4 more doses (2 on Wed, 2 on Fri) this week. We're really playing it by ear. If things go well, we'll keep going. If not, we will probably call it.

Now here's some fun news... Jeff & Darlene had their little girl, Sienna Elizabeth, on Friday! And it sounds like all are doing well. Here she is...


love,
h (& c)