hillary's blog

cousins!

2008-03-27T17:34:00.001-07:00

duke met his cousins charlie & tommy last week.
it was all kinds of adorable!

what duke has been up to

2008-03-04T20:36:00.001-08:00

duke is working hard on becoming a bad little dog. so far, he's chewed on the tv-stand, coffee table, and part of the hallway carpet. I told him "three strikes and you are out, mister!"
he just wagged his tail when i said "out".

ah, but the cuteness.

lounging on his bed:

lounging on the deck:

stalking his toys:

exercising his right to vote

(yo voté!)

waiting for someone to throw the ball:

-h

Duke!

2008-01-31T07:14:00.000-08:00

We're having a blast with our new puppeh, Duke! We adopted him last weekend from the humane society; formerly known as Puppetini, he's a 9 month old Labrador-Basset Hound mix. Hilarious! He looks like a labrador on top but with these short little basset legs. (Update: He's a Lab-Corgi mix!) When he's lying down, you think he's a normally sized dog, but then he gets up to walk, and it's like - where are your legs, sir??
But he is just as happy as can be, and will not be deterred by your short jokes.

wrapping it up

2007-12-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Chris and I have been huge slackers on our blogging, which I guess means we're getting on with our lives. Busy busy busy!
(really? what are you even doing?)

I have been feeling great, and I checked off another successful blood test last week. We're looking forward to a holiday break down in Newport Beach (with my sister - the housewife of orange county) for more entertainment by our little nephews.
Please enjoy this ridiculous video of Charlie - we put a ski mask on him, and he assumed a weird spooky-ninja persona:

So what I'm trying to say is, thank you.
We just cannot begin to say thank you enough for the unbelievable support we have received from our wonderful friends, neighbors, coworkers, doctors & nurses, and our dear family. I just want everyone to know how much strength your support gave us. I probably should have some amazing words of wisdom after this ordeal... but all I really know is that overall my life has been pretty full of good luck and wonderful people.
Alicia and I were talking about this crazy-sexy-cancer lady, and how she felt like we're all actually walking around with some percentage of survival hanging over our heads, but we usually don't know it. And those of us who know it just have more information. Well that has (strangely) been very comforting to me. My doctor can tell me one piece of data about my chances of staying in remission, but no one tells my my chances of falling down an elevator shaft, and I bravely step into the elevator every single day.
(not true, I've been taking the stairs mostly.)

My point is that I would like everyone who is reading this to know how wonderful you are. We are truly thankful for all of you, and we wish you health and peace.

much love,

h & c

We may in fact blog a bit more, but in case that doesn't happen, here is a fine substitute: www.dailypuppy.com.

Hola!

2007-11-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

hi all,
We are back from a wonderfully relaxing vacation in Mexico and a visit to Grandma's in Palm Desert. Nice and toasty! Bridget & Brian's wedding was so lovely:

enjoying cabo...

hullo puffer fish.

paddleboating in palm desert...

chris and dad:

happy 29th birthday to...

my adorable sister, Stevie,
my cousin, Brett,
and Kevin P Murphy!

I suppose I should mention that my last doctor's appointment was a huge success. Did I already mention that? My blood cells are just growing back like crazy. Apparently they are plump, since they are young.
Amy & Leigh - you were totally right about my nails; they are unbelievably strong!

Ok I really am wrapping this thing up soon... probably my next post.

many hugs,
h (& c)

good times here

2007-11-13T20:41:00.001-08:00

Hi all,
We've been whooping it up here with some special guests.
Stevie, Carey & the boys paid us a visit last weekend! Those boys are round the clock comedy... so much funniness in such short bodies.
Tommy & Charlie on their working vacation:

On the free local trolley (this was a hoot!):

(tommy, stevie, carey, charlie)

And Miss Pam came to visit the weekend before. Such a blast! We visited Sonoma and went to see a new brazilian singer called CéU. Their music is samba/reggae/hiphop/jazz-y... very awesome show, by the way.
Running 5k with team gilead:

so funny, pam & I thought our time was 31 minutes, not noticing that would be pretty impressive, since we stopped for a bathroom break and walked half of it. chris finally told us it was actually 37 minutes. Anyway, here we are at umami:

baby announcement! Angie & Derek had a new little Lu... Oliver was born last Thur, 11/8. Adorable little guy:

Ok, I'm off to my monthly hematology check-in (it's Wednesday morning, now). And I expect to have nothing newsworthy to share :)
love,
h (& c)

new little peanut!

2007-10-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Big news... Katie and Greg had their second little girl, Grace, on Sat, 10/27! Just look at this cuteness:

Let's see... what have we been up to here...
Chris & the boys played some Kubb:

Christy taught me how to knit a hat (yep, that's a hat... not a thong):

We celebrated Basak's pregger-ness:

hugs!
h & c

Stevie and the gang are all fine

2007-10-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

hi all,
A lot of people were concerned about Stevie & Carey and the boys, since they live so close to the fires in So. California. They are doing fine, although it sounds like a smoky, ashy mess. From Stevie:

"It smells like there are leaves burning right next door, but the fire is about 10 miles away... we have piles of ash in our carport and on our roof deck. We can’t open our windows, because ash comes blowing in. (that is a problem, because it has been about 90 degrees and we don’t have air conditioning!) The conditions are improving from what we can tell. The temperature is slowly dropping, and the winds are almost gone (they were about 50- 60 mph at the beginning of the week)."

Thank you for thinking of them.
~
We had a quick doctor appointment this morning, which was mostly social... since I am in such total remission!
I would like to send a special Shout Out to my doctors & medical staff at Stanford. They are brilliant and fashionable at the same time, and I am not just saying that because I know they're reading this now. They look like actors who play doctors on TV!

love,
h (& c)

walking the light fantastic

2007-10-20T13:39:00.002-07:00

Hello wonderful friends,
We participated in the San Francisco Light the Night walk on Thursday evening, and we're heading down to San Jose's Light the Night walk tonight. Both were arranged by my amazing colleagues at Adobe. Oh, did I mention they are fabulous???

san francisco walkers
(b) stephen, sarah, teal, simone, kevin, neil, jongan, judith, jose, alyssa
(f) melody, lisa, mimi + baby walker, kelly, hillary, jeniffer, fawn, chris, gordon
not pic'd: angie, kate

~happy birthday, daniel-san~
love,
h (& c)

san jose photo coming soon...
--------------------------
...SJ photo up!

san jose walkers
(b) hillary, jessica, chris, andy, & deirdre
(f) andy's adobe-nies: karl & emma

xx,
h

biopsy results all good

2007-10-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

happy news... my bone marrow biopsy was all clear, so I am officially in remission.
yippee!

sooo... I'm thinking about putting this blog to rest pretty soon. I got a recommendation for some blog-to-book software (thanks Dan G!) called BookSmart (at www.blurb.com). This looks better than Blogger's print s/w, because you can edit your content before you publish.
superfly!

love,
h (& c)

also this weekend...

2007-10-15T07:42:00.001-07:00

... happy bday to Pammy!
... and happy healing to my mom! (broke her arm yesterday)

geesh.

worky work, busy bee

2007-10-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I started back at work last Wednesday with no problems. Plenty of energy, and I highly recommend the 3-day work week. I was very busy... eating cake, cookies, chocolate, ice cream sandwiches, and French food.
But hopefully my schedule will slow down a bit.

I won't get any results from my bone marrow biopsy until Tuesday, but I got results back from my most recent blood work. It had a lovely stamp: "Within Normal Limits" right across it. Way to go little blood cells!

love,
h (& c)

chocolicious update...

2007-10-09T15:10:00.001-07:00

The bone marrow biopsy went perfectly. In fact, our physician assistant actually said "perfect!" as she was finishing, so that was relieving. I am feeling great... just a teensy bit sore on my hip, but my hot chocolate + whipped cream treat seems to have taken off the edge.
I should have some preliminary results next week, and she expects to have full results in 2 weeks. Our phys asst told me that I need not worry... so I shan't.
Thank you all for your thoughtful messages & wishes!
love,
h (& c)

chicago blues

2007-10-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend with Alicia here, and we didn't even make her do any house construction. Beautiful weather and no hospital/doctor trips.

Poor Chicago... the marathon was too hot and the cubbies are out of the playoffs. So we went to a Smuin Ballet performance; nothing like a good ballet to take your mind off bad baseball, I always say.

alicia and i patiently awaiting the mail... something I have come to anticipate with much excitement.

Nova and Winkie celebrate Stanford's big win.

Nova: "Go Cardinal!"

Winkie: "I knew they could do it."

Chris and I head to the hospital tomorrow morning for my bone marrow biopsy. The goal is to confirm that I am in remission.
And then I just have to stay there :)

love,

h (& c)

friday! 4 days and counting

2007-10-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

Good news... the hospital (unfortunately) remembered to schedule my bone marrow biopsy. It's scheduled have for Tuesday morning, so I'll just avoid thinking about it for the next 4 days. Easy for me; I have stellar denial skills.

Mi madre just left after a few days of visiting and cooking/working/chores. Wow, it's such a treat to visit me!

painting the deck w/ mom... done!

Just picked up Alicia at the airport, and we're off!

love,

h (& c)

weekend work

2007-10-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

hi all,
We had my dad here this weekend (free labor!), so we worked on the back deck. I think he and Chris are going to have some really sore muscles for a while.

replacing boards

sealed... ready for paint

I'm still waiting for the hospital to schedule my final biopsy. Maybe they will just forget :) :)
-h

it's friday again

2007-09-28T11:12:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-25T09:19:00.001-07:00

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

MooShoes:

{ok, hide my credit cards!}

go go goooo

2007-09-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-21T09:05:00.001-07:00

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!

2007-09-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-09-13T11:08:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-08T16:43:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-06T11:30:00.001-07:00

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!)

2007-09-04T14:21:00.004-07:00

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)

happy birthday, chris

2007-08-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

my love

-h

Ding ding ding... Round 4!

2007-08-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Clearly we are nuts, because we were so excited to hear that I'm on for my 4th cycle of chemo shmeemo next week. Following the same schedule as before, I'll go in on Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings and evenings. Luckily for Chris, this will give him something to do on his labor day holiday. How embarrassing to not have plans. You will be doing upside down margaritas, while we will be watching high-dose Ara-C (aka Cytarabine) drip into my veins.
My doctor really surprised us this morning. He suggested that we might decide to stop my chemo now after only 3 rounds of outpatient treatment. Since I received this same drug when I was first admitted, I have technically already been through 4 cycles. Plus I have had one or more infections after each treatment, due to my low/non-existent immune system. But we all decided that it would be worth it to go ahead with a final treatment. For me it is mostly psychological; if I don't do it, I'll be wondering if I have a higher chance of relapse. We were told that, based on my type of leukemia, I have about a 30% chance of relapse. I said "oh good, that's low!"... then I realized, it's not that low. (I mean, technically, it's an F, but it could be a D with a serious curve.) But then my doctor pointed out that I do NOT have the KIT mutation, and therefore have a slightly lower chance of relapse... maybe 20-30%.
By the way, I would love for someone to actually read that article that I just linked to. I sure didn't!

Good news... I continue to not lose my hair, so it's like a short bob now. That is, if 1/2 inch counts as short! Some famous people with possible hairstyles:

love,
h (& c)

Charlie's piece parts

2007-08-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

Quick udate that all went well with my nephew, Charlie's, little surgery. Everything is healing well, and he's resting at home. He was nicely doped up, so I don't think he even remembers what happened. Isn't that the way all hospital visits should be??

-h

TGIM

2007-08-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Happy new work week. I just got back from the dog park with Jake, my friend Jen's dog. He was at camp Hillary while Jen was out of town over the weekend. Also out of town last weekend, Chris just back from a Colorado mancation with some pals. He has slightly less skin on his elbow after they went biking down the mtn in Brekenridge. (note: that never happens to me on vacations.) I read an article recently about how caregivers often forget to take care of themselves; this is Chris's first fun trip out of town since my diagnosis, so well deserved is an understatement!

My mom came out to "babysit" me, and we had such a fun weekend. It ended up being a bit of a vacation for me as well, since I have had 3 days off from the hospital. My lab results last Friday looked quite good, so they decided I won't need to go back until tomorrow. So we did lots of walking, shopping, and eating... and we are now stocked with homemade food. Let the eating continue! We also met up with some of my friends for a girls' wedding shower... Bridget & Brian are planning a November wedding in Cabo, so I have some serious motivation to kick this thing before then.

Charlie, my little 3-yr old nephew, is having minor surgery today on his little hernia, so I'm all nervous to hear how he's doing. Fortunately, it's routine, but I know how scary hospitals are for kids. Poor little guy! I've had some friends tell me they think I've stayed really positive through this whole thing. It's true, I am a pretty positive person naturally, but Stanford also has a huge children's hospital right next to its cancer center. I think I would feel like a bit of a jackass complaining about my time in the hospital, while sitting next to a building full of little kids going through the same thing or worse. But I also have a very positive prognosis and a doctor who has been extremely positive... although perhaps a bit too honest. We bumped into him when I was at the infusion center last weekend, and he said he has a newly admitted patient who is similar to me -- young with Leukemia. I asked if she had a "good" kind like me (meaning a good prognosis), and he said "Nope, her's is better." Ha... nice! :)

delanie, mom, tricia, moi, sarah, bridget, kathleen (@ pres a vi)

with Jake dog

love,

h (& c)

happy moonday

2007-08-20T15:42:00.002-07:00

We had a pretty relaxing weekend mostly at home. I'm on daily trips to the hospital's infusion center to get my antibiotic, but I think the sinus infection I picked up is almost gone. One side of my face had puffed up and looked a bit like domestic abuse. I seem to be accumulating drugs with each hospital trip. After this last one, I had to sit down and make a daily pill schedule, because it is so ridiculous. I have about 9 medications/day, and the amounts change every few days. Plus some of these pills should not be for human consumption (e.g. Cipro pill is sized for horses).
We got into the city on Saturday for a birthday bbq & bocce ball at Golden Gate Park for Chris's friend Doug. And Sunday, Chris's dad, John, Camille, and Marcus came by to see us during their California tour. Burlingame is quite the hotspot! And there are always such exciting and important issues being discussed here.

making my drug schedule... Chris thought this was sooo funny

love,
h (& c)

who's got 2 thumbs and is out of the hospital?...

2007-08-17T21:11:00.001-07:00

... this girl! They let me out this afternoon, and Chris and I had dinner & a movie at home tonight. So wonderful. My white blood cell count is high enough, so I'm no longer neutropenic... feeling almost normal.
On another exciting note, my friends took some great photos from last Sunday's big run in Chicago. Here's the team!
{clicky-click for larger version}

(back) Julie Boczkowski (w/ Jack), Ted Skodol (w/ Dylan, & Lexi in stroller), Catherine & Gary Parker, Ed & Joan Skodol, Sherry & Bill Bowne, Bud & Sandy Leister, Brian Boczkowski, Tim & Cathy McHugh, Tom "DAD" Thompson, Leigh's dad, runner, Tammy (+ bambino), Katie Ojala (t-shirt designer), Viviane Krause, Tony & Leigh Hinkle (w/ Emily). (middle) Mike & Heather Shaffer (w/ Murphy dog), Denise & David Price, Kelly Murphy, Erin Hiltebrand, Margie "MOM" Thompson, Katie Jermak (+ bambino), Justine Singh. (front) Alicia Skodol, Pam Leister, Chris Willich, Amy LaRue, Kristie Provost, Shannon McHugh (& Riley dog), Teal Walker. (unpictured: Amy Storm, Betsy Pringle, Betsy Owen, Caren Chessick)

More photos!

I have been so humbled by this and all the outpouring of support... thank you everyone!
love,
h (& c)

Fri Aug 17th

2007-08-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lapse in updates - Hillary is doing great - She's just waiting for her discharge papers and I'm off to pick her off. It took a few days for the Dr's to figure out which antibiotic would help her sinus/swelling, but she's as good as new and ready to get out of the hospital.
I'm sure Hillary will update the blog this afternoon.

Chris

Sun Aug 12th

2007-08-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

Guess what time it is again..... another round of chemo and another stop in the hospital.....we went in last night about 9pm with a little fever and some tightness around the sinuses. Luckily the fever never got too high and Hillary has felt pretty good most of today.
We wanted to thank everyone in Chicago for the efforts at the half marathon today. It sounds like it was pretty toasty in Chicago today. We'll post pictures when we get them, but from what we've heard it was a great success with so many runners and a large cheering section supporting the runners. We were there in spirit.
We're assuming the stay in the hospital will be similar to others - maybe until Wed/Thur, and similar to previous stays, we'll have to wait for Hillary's white blood cells to bounce back up some.

chris (& hill)

Sat, Aug 11

2007-08-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

We had a quick check-in at the hospital this morning. My hemoglobin is low, so I will need to go in for another blood transfusion tomorrow. But they are pleased that my liver functions are improving. Honestly, I really don't know what that means, but it sounds good. The big excitement for today was a walk around town with Chris. We saw a purple poodle.

Yesterday, I had the day off from the hospital, so I pretty much laid around like a bum. The big excitement of the day was having Sarah B. over for pizza & movie night (Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill - i lurve this movie!).
And the big excitement for tomorrow is the half marathon in Chicago! I will post photos as soon as I get them. It should be really hot & humid, so drink lots of water.

I want to say Thank You so much to all the red blood & platelet donors. I have been really enjoying your cells. By the way, what a great gift idea... a red blood cell plush doll:

(comes in white too!)

love,
hill (& chris)

Thur, Aug 9

2007-08-09T08:54:00.001-07:00

I'm getting ready to head over to the hospital for a quick check-up. Everything appears to be going properly, although my doctor is monitoring my liver. Apparently my liver functions have been really high, but that could just be due to the chemo... or the martinis =)
I kid!
My chemo does appear to be working though, since I'm definitely feeling more pooped.

There's a memorial scheduled for today for Bill Walsh, the former 49ers and Stanford football coach who died of leukemia last week. He was actually in the room next to me during my first stint in the hospital. My mom had offered his sister some of my birthday cake, and he thanked my dad when he was leaving. I'm pretty sure he was back in the hospital during my second stay, since "Gatsby" was listed on the patient name board -- his pseudonym for privacy.

start getting excited for Sunday... Chicago Distance Classic!
ok, I'm off to the hoppytail!
love,
h (& c)

2007-08-07T14:06:00.001-07:00

Just got home from the hospital after a quick blood transfusion. Apparently my red blood cell count was low. I actually could tell this time -- when I went for a walk with Amy LaRue (in town for work - love that!) yesterday morning, I felt pretty tired when we got home and I was pooped the rest of the day. This may also be due to our weekend trip down to Newport Beach, but that was really pure relaxation + free entertainment by my cuuuuuuute nephews.

nephews Tommy & Charlie observe balloon making @ friend's party

loitering by the ocean (stevie, me w/ tommy, chris, carey w/ charlie)

Lunch with Steph & Maggie last week...

Plus, I got to have lunch with my work friends last week. Note: I am always happy to be an excuse for a long lunch!

I'm extremely bummed I can't go to Chicago this weekend for the 1/2 marathon. Pam, LaRue, Shannon, Kristie, and Teal will be running. But I know Alicia has been arranging an entire cheering section - including mi madre & mi padre, so I'll be sure get some good photos! I know they have all been training their little butts off, an I am SO impressed. This time I plan to show my support by eating 13 It's Its (1 per mile, ya know).

love,
h (& c)

Fri, Aug 3

2007-08-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

I am thoroughly enjoying my last day of round 3 at the Stanford Chemo Spa. Here are some photos from last weekend around town...

movie night! going to see "Sicko" w/ Jen A, Basak, & Jen H

hiking @ El Corte de Madera - w/ Chris, Kevin, Natalie, & Danny

grad school reunion - sandy, lori, peter, kihyun, eric, me, cassidy

Darlene & Jeff's baby shower - w/ darlene, kathleen, & delanie

jeff, chris, john, & tony (nicely integrated coed baby shower)

Tomorrow morning we're going to pack it up and drive down to Newport Beach to visit those crazy Ransoms. (yes, I have ok'd this with my doctor!)
love,
h (& c)

24 Hours of Booty - more photos...

2007-08-02T17:55:00.001-07:00

pre-game: mom, brett, lee, and char

lee and brett - at the start line

lee and brett - quick break (smile through the pain)

hey brett, i'm getting a little muddy back here!

24 Hours of Booty (pain)

2007-07-31T09:01:00.000-07:00

My cousin Brett and his friend Lee are recovering from their hugely successful "24 hours of Booty" ride last weekend. So far the event has raised over $700k! Brett and Lee rode over 400 miles between the two of them. That is just crazy, people. Somehow Brett managed to find humor through the pain, because he had a lot of hilarious stories. At one point, they were passed by a guy in a Darth Vader costume waving his light saber: "We could hear his muffled voice through the mask/helmet yelling to his two friends that he coudn't see anything - they were helping him steer by yelling 'left! right!". We caught up to them about 1/2 mile later where a policeman had pulled them over. As we rode by we heard the cop saying 'absolutely not, that light saber does not count as a headlight!' "
There's a fuller description of the ridonculousness that ensued on Brett's blog.
In addition, my mom and my aunt, Char, took on the impressive challenge of cheering for most of the race (which was stopped briefly due to a massive storm). My mom was even interviewed by a local TV News Station. Here's the video:

I am so humbled by this huge gesture, which has been extremely motivating to me. I mean, if these guys can ride their bikes for almost 24 hours, through a massive storm, overnight, away from their families, after taking a red-eye... then I can suck it up and get through the next 2 months of treatment! I am actually hooked up to my chemo (shmeemo) right now, so we are underway. Enjoy some "Before" photos:

Brett... still able to walk

My aunt Char - modeling her Chemo Shmeemo T

Some "After" photos are coming soon!
love,
h (& c)

bone marrow registry

2007-07-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Chris and I wanted to share some information about bone marrow donation. Most of the other leukemia patients I've spoken with are having bone marrow transplants. I've been really lucky, since my doctor decided we won't need to do a transplant. But this is what we've learned about the BMT (bone marrow transplant) process for the Donor..

Registry: Becoming a donor (through the National Marrow Donor Program) is much, much easier than we thought -- often with a just quick swab inside the cheek. You can actually sign up online, and they will send you the tissue-typing kit to do this at home.
Donation: Although traditionally, bone marrow donation required surgery, a newer, less complicated procedure can obtain stem cells from your bloodstream. So they only need to draw some blood.
The need: For the transplant to work, there needs to be a tissue type match. Surprisingly, 70% of patients do not have a match in their family. According to the NMDP, the most pressing need is for donors who are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, African American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or multiple-race.

On a lighter note, it is day 2 of my "vacation" from the hospital, so I'm just laying here by the pool sipping my mojito. (that second part is actually a lie)
I did though wake up this morning with a bit of bedhead, which was so exciting. My hair is starting to grow back, and it's hilarious. So far, it is really sparse and fuzzy, and it's about 2 cm long. We assumed it would keep falling out, but it seems to be hanging on through these rounds of chemo. Hmmm... I guess we will see.

love,
h (& c)

Tue, July 24

2007-07-24T07:31:00.001-07:00

Great news from my check-up yesterday. My lab results from my blood draw showed such good progress that I do not need to go back into the hospital for another check-up until Friday. That is 3 entire days off from the hospital -- my longest stint so far. Nice!
So I should still be on schedule for round 3 of consolidation chemo starting next Monday. Until then, I've been able to enjoy myself a bit more with my improved immune system. Stopped by my friend, Basak's "art show" for her new letterpress stationery company - small square design, and went to a little reunion with my ASK Learning friends up in the city.
Heard from my cousin, Brett, that he's ready for the 24 Hours of Booty bike ride this weekend in Charlotte, NC, and hey look, we're in the "Team Focus" spotlight! He and his friend Lee Ragsdale have raised about $15,000 so far for their team: Chemo Shmeemo... amazing!! As a sign of my support, I plan to eat 24 bowls of ice cream.

eating out with Chris and Carey (visiting us on biz trip)

pier in SF

Love,
h (& c)

Thur, July 19

2007-07-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I am at the hospital, mid-antibiotic infusion, and dramatically, we're having a blackout. Fascinating. I kind of thought hospitals would be like magical blackout-free places. I imagine this could be really problematic for some patients. (I must be pretty selfish, because my first thought was that this could make my IV drip take a lot longer.) So... hey lights are back on -- yeah, generator.

I have gotten a variety of blood products over the past 2 days, so my CBC (complete blood count) is improving. Most people can tell if their red blood cells are low, because you feel lethargic & fatigued, but I've really only noticed when walking uphill I get a bit winded. Actually, Chris and I went on a walk yesterday evening, and after getting blood transfusions for 2 days, I did feel more energetic.
But I also had a huge lunch yesterday, so that could not have hurt! It was certainly the highlight of my week to see my very favorite former clients, Lenny and Mary. Mary's sister is fighting breast cancer, so she had shaved her head a few months back as a sign of solidarity. (Stevie - do not get any ideas!!) But it was especially comforting to see that it does, in fact grow back... and apparently into an adorable style.
(restaurant rec: Zibibbo in Palo Alto).

Also exciting for me was a "work meeting" I had today, complete with a toll-free dial-in number. I'll admit there was no work actually discussed, but it was fun to chat with my colleagues. I believe our conversation was mostly about my friend Pam's new running skort as well as our future lunch plans.

love,
h (& c)

Mon, July 16

2007-07-16T10:48:00.000-07:00

Allo!

Another busy weekend here, and I fortunately felt really well. We made it over to our friends' bbq on Saturday, and we even did a bit of the the SF Aids Walk on Sunday. We played it safe (no hugging, no fresh foods), since we assumed my immune system was still out of whack, but I'll find out my status today. I have 5 more days of my daily antibiotic - takes a few hours a day at the hospital. But they only do lab work every few days, so it's always exciting to find out my progress.

allowing my parents a quick break from their yard work

aids walk - chris & john (who did not get the red t-shirt memo) w/ Team Gilead

aids walk - we probably walked about 2 of the 6 miles. then i came up with some lame excuse, like 'low hemoglobin' or something.

love,

h (& c)

Thur, July 12

2007-07-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Success! I managed to sneak out of the hospital this afternoon. I'll need to go in everyday for the next 9 days for an antibiotic, but that's still better than staying overnight. My immune system is slowly working its way back up, but I'll be immuno-compromised for another week or so. So no brie for me! (or fresh fruit/veggies, sushi, or apparently, egg nog.) My WBC is 0.4, so I was actually lucky to get out; my doctor threatened to keep me in until my WBC = 1.5.

Brie shmee :)

love,
h (& c)

Wed, June 11

2007-07-11T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I'm sitting in the hospital computer lab with my pink mask on.

reference image:

I have been feeling really well (no fevers for almost 3 days), but even better news -- my doctor is probably letting me go home tomorrow. I still have basically no immune system (WBC = 0.3), but he said that I am "reliable," "live nearby," and "have my mom here" :) We have no idea what he meant by "reliable", but it probably meant my prognosis has been predictable, rather than anything to do with my level of personal responsibility. They've also been pretty impressed with how quickly Chris and I have gotten here after my last 2 infections. Speed limit shmeed limit.
My mom and I are heading off for walk #2 (which may involve the hospital store, we will see), and my dad is getting into town this evening. Will be a full house in my hospital room tomorrow!

We'll keep you all posted on my status.
love,
h (& c)

Mon, July 9

2007-07-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, it's a message from me(Chris) this time, not Hillary......I guess the drop in Hillary's cell count knocked her out a little as she's back at Stanford for what should be brief stay...similar to last month. Luckily she feels well, even better than she did last month when we were there for 5 days. She woke up Sat at 3am with a little fever, so we packed up and went into Stanford. It was pretty efficient as we were in a room by 4:30 am as they did some blood tests and gave her some antibiotics. The fever was mostly gone Sat, and was even less on Sunday. Today she hasn't had any fever and we're hoping she'll be out Wed or so, but it really depends on when they are comfortable with the level of her white blood cells. We're back at the same wing that we spend the first 3 1/2 weeks in Stanford and we are seeing some of the same nurses....the first one she had came in and gave Hillary a big hug....I guess she missed Hillary or something. They really are so nice there. Her outpatient Dr, Dr Medeiros, is the one currently on rounds each morning with the team, which is nice, since he knows her well. Similar to last month, they don't seem too concerned at all as they've said it's just some bacteria that she couldn't fight off being so low in white blood cells, so she should be over it very soon. With being at the hospital so early on Sat and up again Sun am, we actually got to watch Wimbledon finals live (with the men's final being exceptional), which was a bonus....though next year we'll be happy to watch the taped delayed version instead of the live 6am broadcast.
I just got a text message from her - she's on walk number two, has a friend coming by this afternoon, and I'll get out of work early to be there late afternoon and stay over for another slumber party. Her mom already had a flight out here and gets in Tue evening and will be here until Sat am. (I guess she'll get to reacquaint herself with Stanford for a few days.)

love,
c (& h)

Fri, July 6

2007-07-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Hi,
I'm hanging out in the hospital's Infusion Treatment Area for a blood transfusion. It takes about 5 hours, but fortunately the Benadryl pre-med knocked me out for the first two. We were really surprised to find out yesterday that my blood cell counts have already dropped way down. I guess they gave me the real chemo - no placebo here. Today I am getting a few big bags of red blood cells (yummy), and yesterday I got platelets (looks like a bag of murky lemonade). It was actually a slight relief to hear that my platelets were so low, because my nose was bleeding a bit this weekend, and that explains why it wouldn't stop -- no clotting. Ah, but this is kind of gross, sorry.

We had a really nice 4th. Relaxed with a few friends at home, and then visited our friends, Steven and Melinda, on the other side of Burlingame. If I may say so, I've been quite the walker lately, although I have the endurance of an 80 year old. Though, I did manage an hour walk this morning, with my fresh, new blood.

hillary, chris, tony, kathleen, & ben

Love,
h (& c)

Tue, July 3

2007-07-03T08:28:00.001-07:00

Hi all,
We had a fun weekend with my sister, Stevie, here for a visit. Other than doing my chores (she's quite the pruner/weeder), we went for walks and did a little shopping... the highlight being the Wig Factory with Sarah and Chris. I highly recommend this place if you're looking for a differently colored coif.
Now we're waiting for my white blood cell counts to drop from last week's chemo. I should have a few more days before I'm neutropenic again. My hemoglobin was low, i.e., I was anemic, so I had a blood transfusion yesterday to replenish my red blood cells. (Thank you blood donor!)

Stevie, Hillary, Sarah - at the Wig Factory!

We were thinking pink, but purple was the clear winner

Dad, Stevie, Hill, Chris. Ok, people, back to work!

Happy almost 4th of July. It's going to be toasty here, but fortunately I have my own air conditioning on top. Actually, my head is starting to get fuzzy, so we'll see if my new hair lasts through my upcoming chemo. Chris keeps trying to buff shine my head with his sock, which is probably not helping.

love,
h & c

baby Skodol!

2007-06-30T10:19:00.001-07:00

Big news... Alicia and Ted welcomed their new little girl baby yesterday evening!
name update: Alexa "Lexi" McKenzie Skodol
more details: 9:05 pm Friday, June 29, 2007. 7 lbs 3oz and 19 inches. All are doing great!

here's big brother Dylan with his new little sister...

Fri, June 29

2007-06-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I'm heading to my final chemo infusion this afternoon. Went to my chemo appointment this morning with my dad - he's in town for a quick biz trip and to hang with me at the hospital. So far, I've been feeling really well; no nausea yet this week, but we'll try not to get our hopes up too much. We still have to get through the next few weeks, plus our main goal is to avoid picking up an infection while my immune system is down. I want to stay out of the hospital this time! My sissie Stevie is coming to visit this weekend, so she'll get to join me tomorrow for a nice shot of Neulasta, which should speed up my recovery.
My cousin, Brett Welborn, is kicking "booty" training for his upcoming 24 Hours of Booty bike ride. (I'm sure it was really fun to do a 4-hour ride at 2am at home on his stationary bike, after setting off his gym's alarm system at night ... oy vey!) Luckily he now has a friend to join him in the craziness, so now they're team Chemo Shmeemo.

Is sunny & warm here... come on out!
love,
h (& c)

Mon, June 25

2007-06-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I'm at the hospital getting my first dose of chemo for the week. I'll have to come in for a morning and evening dose, so there's a break in the middle of the day... and unfortunately Stanford Mall is dangerously close. My particular chemo drug is Cytarabine, which interestingly was FDA approved in the 60's... pretty sure that does not qualify as "cutting edge". Chris and I have been hearing about new targeted therapies being studied, which are preferred over chemotherapies. Good to know, since I am on a chemo drug that's older than me...
We had another good weekend at home and got to relax with some friends out here. And I tried to get some gardening done, since that's off-limits now. We also stopped by the ACS 'Relay for Life' 24-hour walk in memory of John Lemire, Chris's family friend. (wow - they raised over $27k.)
Thank you all for your notes & thoughts!
love,
hill (& chris)

lunch at Market Bar with Maggie & Colleen

with Bridget and little puppeh, Bogey

with Kevin & Alison Lemire - at John Lemire's relay

with Dad & Mom - out here in May

Wed, June 20

2007-06-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Good news - my doctor decided we can finally start Round 2 of my "consolidation" chemo on Monday. Apparently, my blood cell counts are high enough, and we're only a week behind the original plan. (But isn't that just like me to be running late.) So here's my new *ideal* plan for my consolidation chemo...
:: Round 1 - May 14 (DONE!)
:: Round 2 - June 25
:: Round 3 - July 30 (tbd)
:: Round 4 - Sept 3 (tbd)

So next week, I will get chemo (an IV drip) on Mon, Wed, Fri in the mornings and evenings. Then we'll just wait la la la. According to my doctor, the bacterial infection I picked up during Round 1 probably slowed me down, so cross fingers I won't get sick this time.

With Basak - enjoying Stanford's Infusion Treatment Area

my bionic arm (it's my PICC line - peripherally inserted central catheter)

voila! my first knit scarf. (note that both ends are off camera. they are of questionable style)

love,
hill (& chris)

Mon, June 18

2007-06-18T08:37:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,
We had another nice weekend here, and I'm continuing to feel really well. Still on daily trips to the hospital for my antibiotic, but at least it seems to be working. We enjoyed the weather a bit with a little hike up on Skyline (ok, "hike" may be a bit of a stretch!). After we got home, I passed out on the couch while Chris did the yard work. Nice division of labor, eh? :)

"hiking"

Chris, Hill, Amy - we decided I was healthy enough to eat out, and hey look - I'm sporting my new black wig. that is hot. (thanks LaRue!)

With Steffan & Jen (my talented pals from A.S.K. Learning)

love,
hill (& chris)

Thurs, June 14

2007-06-14T09:33:00.001-07:00

allo,
We had my doctor appointment yesterday, and fortunately there weren't any exciting updates. He confirmed that I am not ready for round 2 of consolidation chemo yet, since "we don't want to kick you while you're down." Very kind, I think.

I'm hoping we can start chemo round 2 in 2 weeks, but my doctor is in no hurry. Apparently, he has more patience than I do. (um, no pun intended) Basically we have to wait until my white blood cell count is higher, so I have more immune system. It has been bouncing around a bit. I've still been feeling really well, although I get a bit pooped, but I even got to have lunch up in the city with Sarah, Delanie, and Bridget. (happy bday, Bridget!) I realized that I hadn't even been in San Francisco for 2 months.

On an unrelated note, here are some high school kids playing 'Video Killed the Radio Star' with cello, mandolin (I think), and harp... enjoy!

-h

Mon, June 11

2007-06-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
We had a great weekend, mostly relaxing at home with some family in town. Chris's mom Kathy and freshly-graduated brother Kevin came out for a visit and a rafting trip up north - led by Danny, brother-in-law-extraordinaire, plus got to see Meredith and Natalie. thanks for coming out! My blood cell counts have been increasing, so although I had to miss out on rafting, I did get to do some normal things like hitting the fruit market and even our neighbor's BBQ.
Another special treat for me last week... I got to see Leigh (+ hubby and their very very cute baby - cute-photo proof below) after her 100-mile ride, and Amy LaRue took the day off work to hang out with me. Those are the kind of priorities I like!

I'm still on antibiotic infusions for that bacterial infection I got, so that means daily trips to the hospital. Once I'm back to normal, I should only need 2-3 hospital visits per week... but apparently I'm not quite there yet. Now we're just waiting for my blood cell counts to get back up, so we can start Round 2 of consolidation chemo. It sounds like it will still be a few weeks, though.

In the meantime, I've taken up knitting a scarf (thanks, Mimi). I think the technical term right now would be "pot holder", but hey, knitting is not a race!

With Amy (holding Leigh's baby, Emily) and Leigh.

love,
hillary (& chris)

back home!

2007-06-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

I am just beyond happy to be writing this post from home after my 5 day visit to the hospital. Although it was not quite the party one might imagine it to be, at least it was quick. (plus a good excuse to have my mom come help take care of me!) I'd say the highlight was the discharge process. This started today at 10am with the good news that we were just waiting on the paperwork... and only 8 short hours later, we were out of there!
The visit was slightly less pleasant than my last stay, since they had to remove my PICC line -- that's the permanent IV port in my arm, which is DREAMY, because they can draw blood and do everything through it. So every time my door opened, we quickly scanned the person to see if they were carrying blood draw equipment. I became a bit paranoid around 4am -- their favorite time to visit. Fortunately I got a new PICC line today, so I'll be practically needle-free again. big cheer!!

Sending a HUGE HUG to Alicia's dad Gary. We love you and are thinking about you as you kick off your chemo. I know your lungs will be bright & shiny again soon, although there may be some yucky days in the interim.

Love, Hillary (& Chris)

p.s. Way to go on the 100 miles Leigh and Ian!

Sunday June 3rd

2007-06-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that Hillary was admitted to the Hospital on Friday since she had a fever and her body couldn't fight off the infection or virus since she doesn't have many white blood cells (she's doing just fine today). She had a fever Friday and Saturday, going back and forth from chills to sweats, but the fever broke Saturday night and she felt much better today. When we got out of the hospital a month ago the Dr's said to not be surprised if Hillary had to be admitted at some point during the outpatient consolidation chemo process as it's pretty common. Her white blood cell count was near zero, but since we made it two weeks after she got the chemo, I thought we were out of the woods of the first round of consolidation chemo.... apparently not. I think maybe she just wanted all her meals served to her in bed and apparently I didn't do that at home.
They haven't given a specific time she would be out of the hospital, but they didn't think it would be more than a week. Since her fever is gone, I think we just have to wait for her white blood cells to rebound.
Chris

raffi's adventures

2007-05-27T19:15:00.001-07:00

Since I've been precluded from traveling and working (and almost eveything fun), my friend Simone has been entertaining me with a hard-working, hard-playing little toy giraffe...

...enjoy the adventures of Raffi! (click below)

Mon May 21

2007-05-21T17:32:00.001-07:00

hi everyone.
Chris and I finally got to have a relaxing weekend at home - no hospital visits, yeah! I had a quick trip to the hospital this morning for the usual blood tests. We expected my blood cell counts to be really low, but the nurse was surprised to see that they have not totally dropped yet. So no blood transfusions today. Instead... ice cream & lemonade at home! (Thanks KB!)

I'm also finally getting my potassium back up. Seems like a small issue, but my potassium deficiency has added about 2 hrs/day to my hospital trips for the past 2 weeks. Apparently, I would need to eat a tree of bananas to get as much as they drip in my IV...

... Speaking of being a 'hard worker', people were wondering if I am missing work. Yes very much! I can't thank my wonderful friends over at Adobe enough for all the love you have sent. What an unbelievably supportive (and of course, incredibly good looking) group of people. I miss you guys.

I also wanted to share some of the amazing feats my family and friends are undertaking in order to raise money for wonderful causes. Here are a few, and please let me know if I've missed any...

Pam Leister - on Aug 12, my dear friend Pam will be lithely gliding through Chicago's Distance Classic (that's half a marathon, people!) while raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Amy LaRue - also on Aug 12, my dear friend Amy will be modeling the hottest new fashions as she runs the Chicago Distance Classic and raises big money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Leigh Hinkle - on June 3rd, Leigh will get on her bike and ride 100 miles around Lake Tahoe. It sounds crazy, but this wonderful friend is also a survivor of Hodgkin's (almost 8 yrs in remission!), and continues to raise amazing amounts of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training.
Brett Welborn - We're just plain lucky to have Brett in our family. This cousin never ceases to amaze any of us, and he has gone and chosen the best-named fundraiser: "24 Hours of Booty"! On July 27th, Brett will be riding his bike for 24 hours straight for team 'Chemo Shmeemo' while raising money for cancer research (p.s. it will probably be about 200 miles!).
Gretchen Hagelow - a lymphoma survivor and amazing gal, Gretchen will be racing through Chicago in October for the big marathon as she continues to raise loads of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Ian Casey - on June 3rd, Chris's friend Ian, will also be riding 100 miles around Lake Tahoe in order to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! (anyone else feel unbelievably lazy??)
Kristie Provost - my friend from college is also undertaking the Chicago Distance Classic in August! Kristie is the epitome of bubbly and fun... she'll probably chat her way through the entire half-mar, while raising money for Leukeumia & Lymphoma Society.
Shannon McHugh - flying in from Denver for the Chicago Distance Classic (on 8/12), our wonderful/adorable friend Shannon will also be leaving the masses in her wake as she raises money for the Leukeumia & Lymphoma Society. (note: with an unfair advantage from training at an elevation, I'd put my money on Shannon.)

Love,
Hillary

Thur May 17th

2007-05-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!
No trips to the hospital today... yeah! We just started my first round of out-patient chemo, but it is only on Mon, Wed, and Fri this week. According to my IV bag, my chemo is 'high dose' (tough girl). Fortunately it is totally painless, and so far I have been feeling fine, although a bit tired. My doctor said that I might start feeling sick next week, with the cumulative affects of the chemotherapy. It is difficult to predict though, since everyone reacts differently. The primary side effect is that my blood cell counts will drop to almost nothing, so I'll be neutropenic again. Basically that means I cannot fight off infections, so I won't be able to eat fresh fruits & veggies, work in the garden, or make out with you if you are sick. sorry.
Some good news... my appetite is still going strong. I polished off half of a Lou Malnati's pizza yesterday (thanks, dad, et.al.!), so my reserves should be well stocked in case I need it!

I continue to be so humbled by the amazing outpouring of support from my wonderful friends and family. You keep me laughing and keep my spirits high, and you are my motivation to, if I may quote my cousin Brett, "punch this cancer right in the mouth". Funny mental image! Speaking of my awesome friends and family, I want to share some of the extraordinary things they are doing in order to raise money for so many great causes. So stay tuned, because that is coming soon!

{happy bday to my mama!}
Love,
Hillary

Thur May 10th

2007-05-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'll give Hillary a break from her postings. She has been feeling great all week - even with her daily 5-7 hr visits to the hospital.
She'll start her consolidation chemo treatment next week as an outpatient on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After the treatment next week, she will have 3 weeks to recover at home. Assuming nothing changes, she will probably get 3 or 4 rounds of this consolidation chemo treatment over the next 3-4 months, following the one week of treatment and 3 weeks of recovery pattern.
According to our Dr, she could get an infection at some point during the next month and have to be admitted.....we'll do our best to keep her at home, though!
It's been so great to have Hillary home the past two weeks - we've been having a lot of fun hanging out, visiting with friends, going for walks and enjoying the beautiful weather. The return of her appetite continues to impress me....and I think I've packed on a few sympathy pounds trying to keep up!
I'll try to post a few pictures in the next few days - she is very stylish with her hats.
Hillary sends her love to you all.
-Chris

Thur, May 3 - good news :)

2007-05-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends and family!
Chris and I met with my doctor yesterday, and we were thrilled to hear more good news. The doctor explained that they divide cases of AML (acute myeloid leukemia) into low risk, medium risk, and high risk of recurrence. It was like we were on a game show - Chris and I sat on the edge of our seats while the doctor explained high risk, paused and finally said that I am NOT high risk. Phew. Then he continued by explaining medium risk, paused and then finally said that I am NOT medium risk. Jackpot! So I am in the LOW risk category - yeah! Basically, that means I'm more likely to have complete remission (CR) after my next round of chemo. This also means that it is very unlikely they would need to do a bone marrow transplant. (We then veered off on a tangent discussing last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy where Izzy donated her bone marrow... and overacted. My doctor agreed that the whole situation was totally unrealistic.)
Speaking of... I had my follow up bone marrow biopsy this morning. Chris held my hand and we chatted about puppies and shopping, which made it much less unpleasant. We'll get the results back on Monday, and they expect me to be in remission - meaning no "blasts" of leukemia cells. Then we may even start the next round of chemo on Monday. Until then, I'm doing my best to fatten up, which is really a lot of fun.
Thank you all for your funny and thoughtful posts, emails and mail! I hope you know how much it all means to me. OK gotta go... it's snack time!

Mon, Apr 30 ... hi all!

2007-04-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

I managed to pry the keyboard from Chris :)
I wanted to thank you all for your amazing support. I have been overwhelmed by the wonderful messages and positive thoughts. I hope you all know how much it means to me. I feel soooo lucky to have you all in my life.
My new {unpaid} job - a daily trip to Stanford's infusion treatment center - is going well so far. I've been feeling really well, and we've been watching my white blood cells growing like the little champions they are. (go guys!)
We're meeting with my doctor this week to figure out chemo phase 2. Perhaps they'll figure out how to cram 4 months of treatment into, say, a weekend. :)
fun: one of my drugs wipes out my potassium, so Chris has been making me banana milkshake concoctions!
love to you all...
hill

Sat Apr 28th - guess who's home....

2007-04-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Yes - Hillary was discharged today - about 4:30 pm to be exact. I asked her what she wanted me to make for her first homemade meal in over 3 weeks and she said Thai - so we got take out....she wouldn't have wanted me to try to learn cooking Thai at this point. Stevie and Carey and the two boys drove back to So. Cal today as well, and Margie flew home also which was good timing by all. Starting tomorrow (and every day for next 3 weeks or so) Hillary will be back at the Hospital for six hours a day to get a drug infusion. Hopefully by the end of the next week we'll have a better idea about the next round of chemo treatment - the good news is this will also be as an outpatient. Enjoy some belated photos...

Margie, Hillary and Brett

Hillary, Stevie and the boys

party time with Carey, Stevie, and the boys

Fri Apr 27

2007-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Another good day today here at Stanford - the Dr's still think Hillary should be able to go home this weekend, I guess after they see her white blood count tomorrow they'll decide ( I think her white blood count was 1.8 today. Hillary had fun with her nephews today - she even dragged her IV stand out to a grassy area to enjoy the nice warm weather - the nurses probably thought she was going to make a break for it......but no, she returned to her room. I think they enticed here with tater tots and Ensure. Margie brought in some pizza so we all had pizza and ice cream for dinner - not a bad Friday night. I'm staying here tonight, so we'll probably either watch a movie or see what's on the tube.

Thur Apr 26th

2007-04-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

It will be a short post tonight as there isn't too much new to report. Hillary felt good again today, ate all of her meals and even two Cliff bars as snacks, which is great to see. She had another good day with her two nephews (and sister and mom of course), and had her longest walk outside (with her pink mask and pink robe of course). The Dr's think there's a good chance that she might be able to go home this weekend. Her white blood cell count was 1.2, so as soon as it's closer to the 6-10 range, she should be able to go home. I'm not sure what the exact number they are looking for is, but hopefully she'll be home this weekend.

Wed, April 25th

2007-04-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago tonight was when Hillary and I went to the hospital due to her abnormally high white blood cell count. As I'm trying to balance a little work with the hospital time, I have to admit, I know a little less of the day to day happenings here at the hospital. I'm staying here tonight, and from what I heard from Stevie, Margie and Hillary, it was another good day as Hillary is eating more and getting in plenty of walks, she even got outside again today.
It sounds like Hillary should be able to go home in the next week, maybe even by this weekend - it all depends on when her white blood count gets back to a normal level. I think a normal level is when the white blood count reaches between 6-10, which really means 6,000 to 10,000. The days after the chemo when they wiped out her white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets, her white blood count was around 0.1, and stayed there for quite a few days. Just in the past few days it has gone from 0.1 to 0.2 to 0.6 to 0.8 today. I guess they expect it will continue to increase until it gets closer to the normal 6-10.
Overall Hillary had a great time with her two nephews today and hopefully tomorrow her white blood cell count will get over 1.0. I think the over/under is 1.1....

Tue, Apr 24

2007-04-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today Hillary was back to her 4 walks again, and even managed to make it outside on two of them for a bit with Margie to enjoy the beautiful weather - her first time getting fresh air in almost 3 weeks. She also continues to eat a little more each day - I think she ate most of her breakfast of cream of wheat and a pancake, all of her lunch and all of her dinner (I think it was another make-it-yourself egg salad sandwich). She felt good all day, which always helps. The day ended with a surprise visit by her sister Stevie and family - Carey and the two boys, Charlie and Tommy. Hillary was expecting Stevie to fly up Wed am by herself, but the four of them drove up from So. Cal today and surprised her this evening - she was completely surprised and is excited to spend some time with them the next few days.

Mon, Apr 23

2007-04-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hillary wanted to send out birthday wishes to a bunch of people (she's sitting next to me dictating to me :) Happy "our" birthday to Jess Lewis, Happy birthday to Jess Powers, Happy almost birthdays to Paige Wagner, Amy LaRue, Shannon McHugh, and Kendal Reis! She had another good day - she even walked up and down the stairs.....not attached to her IV stand of course. Dr's say she is right on schedule. We're off to hit the sack

Sun, Apr 22

2007-04-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty happy to report that today was pretty uneventful at the hospital. Hillary felt pretty good all day and her appetite appears to be returning a little as she had a good breakfast, ate all of her pasta for lunch, and had most of her cheese and fruit plate for dinner along with a little ice cream for desert. We had several visitors today including her cousin Brett who is in town from the East Coast for work tomorrow.
To clarify something I mentioned yesterday, I mistakenly said she might get chemo three times a week for four months as an outpatient, which sounded like a lot. The Dr's clarified today that one of the possible outpatient chemo treatments would start a few weeks after she is discharged. She would get chemo for three days the first week of the month, then have three weeks with no chemo treatment, just monitor her progress, and repeat this for three or four months. Three days of chemo for the month sounds a lot more reasonable.

Sat - Apr 21

2007-04-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

Luckily Hillary felt better today than she did yesterday morning as there were big plans for her birthday (well, big for being in a hospital room all day). Tom and Margie had some balloons delivered to her room this morning and we had some ice cream to celebrate Hill's b-day and she opened some presents in the late morning. The nurses put up some birthday signs around the room when we were off on a walk and later came in and sang "Happy Birthday" to Hillary which was great. Margie made some friends as she passed out ice cream to some of the nurses and others on our floor. Hillary got a chance to read the last few days of the blog and all of the comments - she loves reading everything. We're keeping it pretty mellow tonight as Hillary has been a little tired this afternoon/evening - we'll probably watch Anchorman, which neither of us has seen, then hit the sack early.
I wanted to let everyone know that with Hillary responding well to the chemo, and if she keeps doing well with her cells growing back, the Dr's said she could possibly be discharged in about 2 weeks, which would be about 1 month since we got to Stanford. After that there would still be a number of things that would happen as they would do another bone marrow biopsy to see how the cells are doing, and there would be more chemo - probably for several months (maybe even three times a week for 4 months), but this would be as an out-patient. Obviously this is all dependent on Hillary continuing to do well, but it's great that they are talking about the next steps - and Hillary being able to go home in the near future.
I wanted to thank everyone for all of the comments on the blog, the gifts Hillary has received, all of the cards, the text messages and the voice mails. She loves hearing from everyone - even if she can't get back to everyone. They all put a smile on her face.

Fri, April 20

2007-04-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

I finally posted a few more pics - one with her new do, and the other one trying out one of her potential new looks - very stylish. She looks so cute with the new look, I think a few of the nurses are jealous of it.
Hillary actually started the day pretty slow, we didn't get the best night sleep as they were changing out some of her medicine last night. Between less sleep and some of the effects of some of the medicine, she wasn't feeling too hot this morning and decided to rest up today and hold off on visitors. We've been so fortunate in how good she's felt the past week, we have to realize she'll have more energy some days and less others - today happened to be a lower energy day. After she rested up some she felt a little better, got in two walks, had a veggie burger for lunch and cheese and fruit for dinner, followed up with a little vanilla pudding and ice cream for desert. I knew she was feeling better when she beat me 3 games to 2 in Connect Four - I'll get her back tomorrow. We then finished up an few day old game of Yahtzee, and her dad got the best of us....I was on the losing end, I guess my luck (or skill) ran out from last night. Margie is staying over at the hospital tonight, hopefully they get a decent night sleep before Hill's b-day tomorrow.

Thur, Apr 19th

2007-04-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Another short post as I'm staying here at the hospital again tonight. It was another good day - the Dr's said they would see if Hillary's white blood count will increase by itself, or if she would need something to help them grow back (not sure of the technical terms since I wasn't here when the Dr's made their rounds today). They did say that the final analysis of the bone marrow biopsy was the same as the preliminary analysis - which was good. She got in a few walks today, and ate a good amount of her meals. We just finished up a little Yahtzee tournament with Bill and Michelle - fun times - I won't brag about who won. I'm delinquent in posting a pic of Hillary's new do - but tomorrow for sure....
She has a few visitors tomorrow, so another busy day for her - then I'm guessing she'll hit the town for happy hour - or maybe just take a stroll down the halls of the hospital and cap it off with an Ensure.

Wed, April 18th

2007-04-18T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm really going to keep this short as I'm staying at the hospital today and looking to get some sleep and watch some quality TV with Hillary. Hillary was feeling pretty good today - she ate a good breakfast and almost her whole cheese pizza lunch. She had an urge for ice cream in the afternoon - and lucky for her Sarah B. was coming to visit, who happily picked up some Ben and Jerry's....and coincidentally, Hillary wasn't too hungry for dinner. I'm glad she was hungry for some ice cream though- she's happy with the task to gets some calories in her diet - after last week when she really didn't eat much at all. She had a few visitors today, but since I was out part of the day, I really don't know all that she did today - but I know she got in a few walks. I'll try to get a pic posted tomorrow with her new do - I meant to get it posted today.

Tue, April 17th

2007-04-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

From the previous post, obviously it was a great day. By no means is our fight against the leukemia over, but it was a great step along the way - now hopefully it doesn't come back in upcoming tests as her body tries to build good red and white blood cells and platelets without the leukemia cells.
We celebrated with a few games of connect four and an episode of Entourage - season 3 - good stuff.
Hillary's appetite continues to improve. Breakfast was the standard egg and pancake. For lunch, Hillary ate almost all of her cheese pizza, and for dinner, after the our standard mac and cheese and tater tots getting overruled, she ended up with a make-it-yourself egg salad sandwich - she was given two pieces of bread, two hard boiled eggs, and a little mayo. It was more fun watching Hillary make the sandwich, but she ate it all - I think the first time she's cleaned her plate here.
I attached a few pictures - One with the mask Hillary 'gets' to wear when we go for our walks - she sounds like Darth Vader when she talks with it on. I also added a picture of Hillary with the haircut halfway done - unfortunately I didn't have one with the final buzz - but I'll try to upload one tomorrow.
Margie is keeping her company tonight - hopefully they're getting some good sleep.

Good News

2007-04-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

I figured good news deserved a mid day update. I'll keep it short and sweet (just like Hillary), but from the preliminary analysis of the bone marrow biopsy, we were just told that Hillary responded well to the chemo and the Dr's didn't see any blasts (leukemia cells). The final results won't be for a few days, but they expect it to be the same, and then we'll know what happens next. There will probably be a preventative round of chemo and I think they said they would probably do another bone marrow biopsy in few weeks to check on how her cells are recovering (I think either way, she needs about 2 weeks to build back her cells), but for now we are happy with the news.

Mon, April 16th

2007-04-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty eventful day. Although Hillary was a little tired the first half of the day, she managed to eat a decent amount of breakfast and lunch. They then did the bone marrow biopsy early afternoon, and she was such a trooper - she said it didn't hurt as much as the first biopsy, but I know it wasn't the highlight of her day. After that she started feeling a little better (the Vicodin couldn't have hurt either), and she wanted to take the scissors and clippers to her hair. She wanted to take pictures, and she really did enjoy having her hair cut. It was a joint effort between Margie, Tom, and myself. It's very, very short - and she will soon realize the benefits of short hair - low maintenance. She said she's looking forward to her first shower and not having to spend 1/2 hr blow drying her hair. We tried on some hats and scarves and she looked great in all of them. She wanted to show her new look off to the nurses - and got raving reviews. She is soo cute with the new hair cut. We did save the hair to donate, which made her feel even better. Then we went for a good walk - even went up the elevators so she could see another floor and the entrance to the hospital. After that, it was mac and cheese and tater tots again... though apparently they want to serve something else tomorrow night - I crossed out the choices they had for tomorrow's dinner to keep with our mac and cheese, but we got vetoed for something else for tomorrow....apparently they want variety in her meals.
Since I get to sleep over tonight, I'm off to watch a little TV with her and get some sleep.
I will update everyone with the results of the biopsy tomorrow - with fingers crossed, prayers, and positive thoughts for the good outcome we're hoping for and expecting.

Sun, Apr 15th

2007-04-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hillary had another busy day with 4 walks, several visitors in the afternoon, and family in and out. Her appetite is slowly returning - eating a little more for all three meals - even an oreo brownie for desert. Stevie left today - it was great to have her here the past 5 days, hopefully she'll be back soon. I know it was hard for her to leave, but with Hillary looking good and in such good spirits, it made it easier.
Over the past few days the Dr's have determined that Hillary's AML is related to her having an inverted Chromosome #16, which they say is a good thing, since it gives more information as to Hillary's type of AML, why she got AML, and it helps them in treating her type of AML. Although I've tried to do a lot of reading on this, I still don't fully understand what all it means, but at least it's more information about Hillary's Leukemia.
Also several people have asked me - yes, Hillary is going to lose her hair in the next week or so from the chemo. As some of you know, she was actually growing her hair out to donate an organization that would use it for patients that lose their hair in the hospital.
Margie stayed over tonight with Hillary - so hopefully they had a good time - I think they were going to watch one of the Planet Earth segments on the Discovery Channel - a pretty amazing series.

Sat, Apr 14th

2007-04-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

Since I just posted Hillary's comment (see previous post), I'll keep this short...
From her post, you see she had another good day. Eating is getting a little better - she had part of her pancakes and eggs for breakfast, a whole 1/3 of a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, and for dinner she polished off her tater tots and a good amount of the mac and cheese - I knew the tater tots would be a winner...she didn't even save any for me. I posted another picture of her - the pink phone she is on actually plugs into here cell phone, and it actually works. I tried to post a few more pics, but for some reason it didn't work. ...maybe tomorrow
The Dr's came by again this morning - once again, they were positive is what they are seeing, and hopefully the bone marrow biopsy early next week will show what they (and all of us) are hoping - that the chemo killed all of the leukemia cells.
We just finished a 4th walk today - another record.....I think the fact that she read the blog and I had mentioned that our goal was to get 4 walks in gave her a little incentive to do it today - hey, whatever works :)

Post of Hillary's Comment

2007-04-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

Below is a comment that Hillary posted a few hours ago - I figured I'd copy it as a new posting for those not reading the comments - chris

hi everybody!We are on walk #3 and I am having a good day---just stopping by the e-mail station. Thank you for all the wonderful messages....they bring tears to my eyes. xoxolove, Hillary

Fri, April 13th

2007-04-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

We've been in the hospital for 9 days now, but Hillary and I were talking today how the time actually has gone by pretty fast. I think a lot of it has to do with how well she has done all week. Between the Dr. and nurse visits, a few walks, a few meals, a few visitors, a little TV, and a few other things, the days fill up pretty fast....she's keeping a pretty busy schedule.
We got good news this morning as a result from a test that was done yesterday that confirmed that the Leukemia hadn't spread to the spine. Though the Dr's said it wasn't common, it was possible, so it was good to hear that the test came back negative (which is positive for us). Other than that, there was nothing new from the Dr's - which is good from our standpoint. The bone marrow biopsy will be either Monday or Tue and then it might be a few days to find out the results, and this will really tell us how well the first round of Chemo has worked on her bone marrow.
Today was a pretty busy day - with three walks once again (maybe one of these days we'll get that 4th one in, but by dinner time she's pretty tired). During one of the walks we went to the room with the computer, so she got to read a little of the blog and some of the emails everyone has sent - she is so thankful for such a great network of family and friends. I may try to add a few pictures of her here in the hospital in the next day or two.
Breakfast was a few bites of scrambled eggs and a half of an english muffin. Lunch was grilled cheese, and she ate more than she has in a meal all week - which was great. I wasn't there part of the day, but apparently she got the best of her dad in a few games of Connect Four. The highlight of the day was Hillary getting a foot and hand massage - the second one since she has been here - apparently it pays to be at Stanford Hospital (no the massages aren't free, but they are very reasonable). She was hoping for a mani and pedi also..... but unfortunately they aren't allowed due to infection risk. For dinner she also ate a little more than she has most of the week, which was great to see. She also got a few games of Connect Four and Yahtzee in, then I left her with Stevie for what I'm sure turned into a wild Friday night.

Thur, April 12

2007-04-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm going to keep the update short tonight as I'm staying with Hillary and we have a lineup of Thursday night shows we're watching.
It's good to report that today was once again, a good day here. In the morning rounds the Dr's said her Red blood counts and Platelets were at good levels, so she wasn't going to need any tranfusions today. Every few days she has needed some to keep her blood balanced, so most of the day she just had an IV of saline solution to keep fluids going into here body.
Though Hillary's appetite is still lacking, she is trying to eat some at each meal. We went on three walks today - the most since we've been here, and she is doing great - I think she even has a strut going. The Dr's have emphasized how important it is to try and walk and eat. Walking not only gets her out of bed, but gets the body moving to keep her strenght up in her lungs and heart (I think)
She had a few more visitors and that's also keeping her talking, also good for her - she's probably seen enough of a few of us, so she's happy to see new faces here at the hospital.
She had a pretty good night sleep last night, and hopefully another good one tonight.

Wed - April 11th

2007-04-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hillary was feeling and looking good again today. The Dr's are still waiting for a lot of the results to identify which specific kind of AML she has, and are still happy with how her body is reacting to the Chemo so far. She ate some pancakes for breakfast and a few bites of pizza for lunch. Being a vegetarian definitely limits the choices of meals....luckily we found the childrens menu, so she now have a few more choices like grilled cheese, pizza and tater tots. She is often eating some canned fruit, and eats just a little of the actual meal. It's amazing how small her appetite is - even if she is hungry - she has a few bites and gets full.
She went on two walks today, which was great to see.....and if we can keep the walks up maybe her appetite will increase a little. She had a couple of visitors, and all in all it was a positive day all around.

To keep busy, she is reading plenty of quality magazines (if anyone needs to be updated on Brad and Angelina or Anna Nichole Smith's baby - she'd be happy to update you), beating me at electronic Yahtzee, eating, seeing Dr's and visitors, and napping.

10 days and counting until Hillary's 31st b-day

Thanks again for all of the kind words and thoughts and prayers

Visiting Hillary

2007-04-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

Hillary is in the Main Hospital at Stanford - on Pasteur Drive (parking is on Blake Wiblur Drive) . She is in Wing F on the Ground floor. She is allowed to have visitors (and if she is awake she enjoys seeing people), but we're trying to spread them out to keep it to a few visits a day. It's tough to know when she will be napping, so if you want to come by, just realize that it may be very brief if she is on drugs that make her a little sleepy.
Please email me or call me if you want to swing by..

Chris

Tuesday - April 10th

2007-04-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday evening and it was another positive day for Hillary. It started off with the Dr's saying that they were happy with Hillary's response to the chemo so far - at least from what they can see in her blood cells. Yesterday was the last day of the first round of chemo. It sounds like most patients can expect to get a second round of chemo - mainly they don't want to take any chances.....though I'm not completely clear on the timing of when it would be. Obviously we won't know until 11 days from the original Chemo dosing as to how the chemo perfomed in her bone marrow, but from the blood tests the Dr's were happy with her blood counts so far.
She ate a little at breakfast, lunch and dinner, and went for 2 walks today. The second one was the longest she has walked since getting to the hospital, and it was soon after her sister, Stevie, arrived, so I think she might have been showing off. Stevie is staying with her tonight at the hospital, so hopefully she has another good night. Last night she probably had her best night sleep at the hospital - with two 3hr blocks with solid sleep and no interruptions. Usually it's maybe an hour max between interruptions - either nurses or bathroom breaks.
Even though yesterday was the last day of Chemo, it will be making her feel a little weaker over the next few days as it continues to kill blood cells in her bone marrow.
I'll try to update tomorrow if we hear anything new, but she continues to have a great attitude and we really like the Dr's and nurses - she has to be their favorite patient - but I'm a little biased.

Chris

Original Email with details

2007-04-09T17:42:00.001-07:00

Family and Friends - Some of you have heard the bad news, but most have not - I wanted to let you all know that yesterday Hillary was diagnosed with AML - Acute Myeloid Leukemia. It happened very quickly - she got blood drawn Wed afternoon and it came back with with unusual blood counts. She was taken to Stanford Hospital about 2am Thursday, the diagnosis was confirmed Thursday afternoon and they started Chemotherapy soon after that. Often it isn't known why someone gets AML.

As some of you know, she went to a Dr last Friday and was diagnosed with Mono. On Tuesday of this week she had another few symptoms, went back to another Dr and said she had looked all the symptoms up on-line on Wikipedia and was a little concerned of Leukemia - the Dr said he really didn't think she had Leukemia, but they took blood and we were called back Thursday night after the blood work showed abnormal cell counts. Her current Dr's couldn't remember anyone ever diagnosing themselves with Leukemia - a testament to how resourceful Hillary is and it helped getting herself into the hospital and treated earlier than it could have been.

As many of you know, though Leukemia is very serious it is also curable. We are all in good spirits and realize that it's out of our hands, we just have to hope the treatment works. There are several things we have in our favor. We're at Stanford - probably the best place Hillary could be for Leukemia with excellent doctors, which is extremely comforting. Also, the fact that she is young and in good health will help in her fighting the disease and recovery. Hillary looks very good, and is having an amazingly positive attitude.

She will be in the hospital for the next month. As for the process, she had a bone marrow biopsy yesterday that confirmed the diagnosis and she will get Chemo for 4 days, then 7 days after that they will do another bone marrow biopsy to see how she reacted to the Chemo. This means we really won't know how her body is responding to the Chemo for 11 days from now. Once we find out those results we'll know more about the next steps.

We all know that Hillary will fight through this and will come out even stonger.

Unfortunately she isn't allowed to have any flowers in her room. Anything sent to her can be sent to our house and I can bring it to her....I'll also check to see if she will be in the same room for the next month, and if so I'll send the room number. I won't be on email that often the next few days, so I won't be able to respond to things quickly.

I'll try to update if we get any new news, but I think we just have to wait, hope and pray for Hillary.

love to all - Chris

Monday, April 9th

2007-04-09T17:36:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know how good she looks and the fact that her attitude couldn't be any better. She's cheerful and still kind of a smart ass - I guess they haven't given her any drugs for that yet.

Today, Monday, was a good day for Hillary. She ate part of her breakfast and lunch, and more importantly - she kept it down. She didn't keep any food down Fri or Sat, but ate a little Sunday and even more today. We even went for a little walk around our wing in the hospital in the mid afternoon (she's pretty proud of the mask she 'gets' to wear when we went for the walk) She slept most of the Saturday, but she has now had two nights in a row where she has gotten some decent sleep, so she was very alert for Easter, and has been very energetic today as well.

Today is also the last day of her first round of Chemo....so far so good.

I know it's only a brief update and everyone's waiting to hear about her, so now that this is set up, I'll try to keep updating it every day or so - Chris