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)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wed, June 11
Hi all,
I'm sitting in the hospital computer lab with my pink mask on.
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)
I'm sitting in the hospital computer lab with my pink mask on.
reference image:
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)
Monday, July 9, 2007
Mon, July 9
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)
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)
Friday, July 6, 2007
Fri, July 6
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)
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)
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Tue, July 3
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
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
Saturday, June 30, 2007
baby Skodol!
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...
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...
Friday, June 29, 2007
Fri, June 29
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)
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)
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