Day 70 - Testing for Stem Cell Transplant

I am finally back! I have had so much go on. I recently did all of my initial tests at MD Anderson. I did all of the tests I had done in November and December along with additional tests on my heart and lungs completed to send to Blue Cross Blue Shield to get approval for the stem cell transplant. I received a phone call from my assigned RN from Blue Cross Blue Shield, she indicated that they assign her to the patient once they are approved for the transplant, so I guess I am approved for the transplant. I will feel better once I get the letter from BCBS officially. The RN said she is there to help in getting me everything i need through the process in working with Blue Cross Blue Shield. My tentative start date is May 6th, but I will find out for sure April 15. I think I am going to call my physicians assistant tomorrow and find out if possible. I have to have a place to stay within 10 minutes of the hospital since some of this will be out patient. I called some apartments for a short term lease and each month before furniture, electric, water and other necessities was $2,555.00 per month. I looked into the hotel that is connected to MD Anderson called Rotary House owned by Marriot which only allows MDA patients and their family members to stay. The cost for a room with 2 queen beds a kitchenette and a small table and chairs is $134.00 a night which really isn't bad at all except I need to rent for 56 days. It's all going to work out...I just know it! I will feel more comfortable being that close to the hospital not to mention I will not have to worry about driving to and from anywhere.
I receive a mini manual and a CD manual in everything I need to know about the transplant. My wonderful girls at my office Nancy and Brenda printed the CD manual out for me and put it in a binder so I can refer back to it all during the day. It is overwhelming how much I have to know. We took a class with an instructor last week on Transplantation. Roland, Linda (my Mom) Louetta (my sister in-law), Roxi and Johnny Bernardo took the caregivers class which had an instructor / psychiatrist that only took the caregivers and the patient cannot attend. No one that attended could have ever had cancer either. I will have to have a caregiver with me 24/7 during out patient times and when I leave to go back home. I also will be back to " newborn status" where I will have every single immunization that I have ever had in my entire life since birth.
I will be shaving my head right before i am admitted to the hospital or the week of collection of my stem cells to avoid the depression of seeing it fall out in hand dulls. The manual even recommends it as well. I will give my hair to Locks of love.
Yesterday I started my fourth round of chemo back at Dr. Abramowitz's office at Hermann Memorial. They are going to keep me on chemo and all of the iother medicines until my transplant. I am so excited that I went from 80 percent Multiple Myeloma cells in my bone marrow to only 10 percent in it since starting treatment January 15th, 2013. I am looking forward to the day I am completely clear. God has had his hand in this entire wild event. I am just curious why, but I know I will serve Him and praise Him through it all because He does have a plan for me and someone He wants me to run into or help from this journey. .

Lord, I love you! I can't thank you enough for everything that has taken place. You have plans and a future for me and I am excited to wake up each day and be apart of this wonderful glorious world that you put me in. Continue to guide me and direct me in the way you want me to go. Please lift up all my friends who are still battling this terrible disease and comfort the families and friends that need comforting. Give me the wisdom and knowledge that I need to go through each day fighting the battle and still working full time right now. Lord, you are so awesome! I ask this in Your precious son's name, Jesus name, Amen.

Here's a pic from yesterday getting my meds at Dr. A's office.

Day 51 - Happy Days

So it's been 8 days since my last post...a lot has gone on. I went with my friend Stephanie to look at wigs and what a fun and hilarious time we had! We were only going to try on 3 and then the girl who ran the store, another lady in the store, Stephanie and myself got into it and began trying quite a few on. I have picked out 3 to buy so I will have a variety to chose from daily! I will need these after my Stem Cell Transplant. I will lose all my hair, but this will be so worth it! I WILL become Cancer Free! Can't wait for that day to be here! I worked the rest of the week and had chemo on Friday...Haylee was on a field trip with her EMT class and after visiting the Spring Branch Fire Department they went to the Mall at Memorial City which is connected with the crosswalk that leads right to my Doctors office so she met me at my appointment.that was great because I got to show her around the office and afterwards we grabbed a bite then made our way home. Saturday was filled with housework and laundry. Sunday was a
great day at church with a great message on how God only responds to faith and when asking for miracles and blessings we should be specific in what we ask.
Monday I had a busy day with work then an event with CAI for the Premium Partners and new Business Partners. It turned out good and felt great to see people I haven't seen in two months. Tuesday was busy with work then back to Doctors office where I did the whole round of tests and of course chemo. Wednesday today was busy with work, eye doctor visit the I went to HAA Ambassadors where again I saw people at that group that I haven't seen in a couple if months. I figured I wanted to see people and friends before I go into the hospital where I will be there for at least a month then when I get out I won't be able to leave the house for few months while my body rebuilds its immune system after being zapped with unbelievable doses of chemo to kill off any and all of the Multiple Myeloma left in my body...putting back the good stem cells they took out and froze then waiting for my body to build back up. I know I will be blogging every day when I go into MD Anderson...definitely! Working full time and everything else i do daily then coming home doing things I do when I get home... I usually fall asleep sitting straight up!!
I wanted to catch you up on everything. Thank you and continue to pray for Gods
will to be done.
Lord,
Thank you for the opportunity to seek you each and everyday. Seeing and being a part of this wonderful life here is such a blessing. I ask for You to continue to lead me and guide me in the way You want me to go doing Your will. I love you and ask this in your precious son's name, Amen.

Day 43-Still Feeling Great!

Hi and I am sorry for the delay in blogging....I think I now can finally do this from my computer.  I have been having a time trying to get to my blogger from my laptop.  I think I got it now.  I created by mistake another blog thingy and it has been a small nightmare fixing what I did, LOL!

This past week has been super busy with work, HLSR BBQ Cook Off for our clients and then taking Jesse to meet his Sargent for the Army on Sunday.  Monday I got to see him inducted at the MEPS builiding off of San Jacinto in Houston.  That is pretty exciting and I am sure he is a little nervous since they were leaving out to go to the airport and then to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina for boot camp right afterwards.  Jesse is such a wonderful person and has always been a great child.  I wish him all of the best and I will be praying for him each and every day for safety, strength,wisdom and knowledge.

Today was the beginning of my third round of chemo and I am still feeling great!  I did my CBC and I have some of my blood counts are even back up in the normal ranges and that makes me so happy!  Dr. Abramowitz said that I have gotten about 60 percent of the Multiple Myeloma out of my system. He gave me another graph that shows where I started and where I am now.  It is so exciting to see it.  He thinks I will probably only go this 3rd or possibly 4th round of chemo before the stem cell transplant, but he said it will be up to Dr. Nina Shah at MD Anderson to determine after running all of the tests that are going to be completed on March 18th and 19th.

I got a bag of Zometa (bone medication) and my Velcade (chemo) today at the docs office.  The overall visit was a good visit.  My nurse, Linda was on vacation so I had a substitute nurse named Robin...she was so nice and very pretty too.  Everyone there are like "Angels."  I feel like I am at home!  I met a very nice woman today there while getting my treatments named Kris and they do not know what she has yet.  She found out she was anemic and no matter what she does she can't hold any iron in her body or I think it was the B vitamin also.  They have tried all sorts of remedies and even had her swallow a tiny camera that videos all the way through.  Prayer warriors please pray for this to be a small deficiency of some sort so that she can take something to fix it.

There were so many things that I didn't fully listen to completely and now I listen to every word that comes out of peoples mouths.  I really want to be in "the here and now" when I am talking with someone.  Understanding what others are going through and sharing the good news of Hope, Faith, and Loving the Lord is something I now hold near and dear to my heart and want to share with everyone.  We have so much to be thankful for each and every day.  God is so Good.  He healed my friend Jo Edwards, she got the  news last Tuesday that she is CANCER FREE!!! Yay!  She is such an inspiration to me and if you get a chance to read her blogs:  cancer2curedjourney.blogspot.com

Dear Lord,
Thank you for your grace and mercy on me.  Thank you for ALL of my wonderful friends and angels that you send my way.  Please lift up my friends that are fighting this battle with cancer and my new friend who doesn't really know what battle it is yet.  Thank you for your miracles and thank you for healing Jo.  Thank you for my mother, for her always being there for me every chance and anytime I need her!  I love my mother and she is my "light!"  My sister-in-law Louetta who has always been there for me and is already planning for the visit to MD Anderson. I love my sis!  Thank you for showing me the areas that I need to grow in You!  Thank you for your precious Son and I love You Lord!  I ask all of this in Jesus Christ name, Amen.  

Day 35-Loving Life

Well hello! I hope all is well with you. I feel more normal this past last week if my 2nd round of chemo than I have the entire time. I can't tell you how that nausea medication really helped me out. It was a real life saver. My doctor gave my referral to MD Anderson for the Stem Cell Transplant. They told me to be expecting a call to set up the initial meeting to get things going with the transplant in setting up with my insurance, etc. It is all becoming so real, just the not knowing everything is what makes me nervous. I am excited to get "cancer free" just the going through the whole process seems like I have a long road. There is a reason for this and I am trusting in The Lord to walk with Him each day through the healing and where He wants me to go i will ho. I am grateful for His mercy and grace.

This week is " no chemo" week! Yay! So I get to rebuild my blood and blood platelets! I still take the steroids and the Revlamid just not the chemo. It is a busy week with work and then our client night at the HLSR BBQ Cook Off on Saturday. On Sunday we take Jesse to check in for his boot camp for the Army. I hope everyone has a great week and I will try to blog as much as I can. Thank you for your prayers! It means so much!

Thank you Lord for all of the prayer warriors. Please bless them in the way You know is best for them. Thank you for the time I have here with You and this wonderful and beautiful world we live in. I love you and praise You! In Your precious name, Amen.

Day-29 Tuesday, February 12

You know I just love Sundays! I love going to my church, Texas Cowboy Church in Orchard, Texas. Great family of friends! I felt pretty good and going to fellowship with everyone there lifts me up even more! Pastor RO Murray had a great message this Sunday...You know it really doesn't matter where you came from...It matters where and how you are going somewhere with God. Trust Him with all your heart. When you ask God to Bless you ask Him to Bless you in the way He wants to Bless you. He knows how and the best way to Bless you. "Bless me oh Lord the way You want."

Oh that you would Bless me indeed and enlarge my territory. Let Your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. I Chronicles 4;9-11

I thought about that and the way God is Blessing me really is the best way for me. I am finding out really just how Blessed I am. I have so much to be grateful for and am thankful for His mercy. A lot of times we get so busy with just the day to day stuff, work, children, grocery shopping, cooking dinner....at my house it is mostly getting home by 7:00pm or so feeding the animals, eating a little something and get settled in to bed because our days start at 4:00am. So with all the hustle and bustle we forget to spend REAL quality time with The Lord. It is just like you as a parent...you want to spend time with your children enjoying them and teaching them and really knowing your children don't ya?The Lord as our Father wants that time with us and we can do that by reading and studying His word. Roland and I pray every morning together and I have always listened to an audio Bible or listened to a audio message or Christian novels that my my Pastor's wife and I trade back and forth, but until now did I really set aside time to study the Bible except for 15 minutes here and there. I am now making it my goal to spend time each day with Him so that I can understand something's I have questions about but mostly to have a super close relationship with The Lord. There is just so much I have to learn and I am excited!
I feel good and today's Doctor visit went great! The Doctor brought me this graph of the Multiple Myeloma where we started
And where I am now. The Multiple Myeloma has decreased by over 50 percent in my body in the last 3 weeks. He said that was great and we are moving right along and that I am doing good! All my levels in my blood came up a bit which was good too. So, I am happy all the way around.

Thank you for praying for my friends it means a lot. I hope everyday brings you joy and love. Speaking of that Thursday is Valentines Day..maybe send someone you care about some love by maybe calling them and telling them you care about them. I really feel so different than I did before. I always loved people and cared for them, but not like I do now AND I really listen to everything they are saying and are not saying if you know what I mean!

Lord, thank you for friends, fun and laughter! Thank you for Your Blessings Your way! Thank you for discernment too. I love you, in Jesus precious name, Amen

Day 26 - Going Good!

I started my second round of chemo this Tuesday and I think we have it down with the nausea and yucky stuff. I got a bag of the bone medication Zometa given to me through the IV and a bag if the nausea medication Zofran through IV on Tuesday along with my Velcade (chemo) injection. I felt really pretty good afterwards and also on Wednesday. It makes me tired which is to be expected, but I am so glad I didn't feel nauseated like before. When I went for my Velcade shot yesterday I went ahead and took the nausea pill that the doctor gave me. It worked and I had no nausea, YAY! I was sooo tired that I came home and basically went straight to bed at 5:30 pm though. I guess my body just needs the rest to heal itself. So I have another week if the chemo and then round two will be over. I haven't got a meeting set up yet for MD Anderson to meet with the doctor that will be doing my stem cell transplant, but that will come soon enough. I am so thankful that I feel good and am not experiencing what I did in the first round. God is so good!
I have several friends that are going through tests and treatments that I would like you prayer warriors to pray for and I will be praying: Jo - my wonderful friend that has helped me tremendously has finished all 12 rounds of chemo for colon cancer and is now going through her re- testing of everything to make sure she is cancer free. Please pray for a complete healing and great results. She is such an Angel and has been so helpful to me understanding things about cancer and learning about foods to eat, etc. I am so grateful to have her as friend!
Janet- my dear friend that has battled breast cancer and now different cancers that have now tried to bring her down. Please pray for a miracle from God to obliterate the the cancer and to heal her body. Also please pray for comfort for her and also her family since she is now at home and having nurses come to the house to make her more comfortable.
Donald- friend and also our Sr. Vice President if our bank, her is battling Lymphoma and is being treated at MD Anderson three times a week. Please pray for Gods complete healing for his body and that it be a speedy recovery.
I am so grateful for each day that I have and know this was not what I would have thought of to make me appreciate life, friends and family more, but it has made me see that we waste so much time on little things that really do not matter. It's weird changing the way I respond to things from how I used to. I just can't continue to worry about stuff that us not going to fulfill the things that REALLY matter. Live, Love and Laugh....that really does mean so much now. I love my family and friends and am so thankful for all of you!
Lord, please watch over all of my friends and family. Also Lord please heal and comfort my friends that are going through cancer treatments or tests. Thank in advance for the healings and Your hand being on them during their trials and or tests. I ask all if this in Jesus Christ name, Amen.

Day 18 - I'm Back! 😃

Well Hello!! Last Saturday I was sick from the chemo all day. Yucky! I tried to get up and do something, but ended up on the couch most of the day. This week has been my off week from chemo shots so I have felt good! I still have been taking my Revlamid pills and the steroids as scheduled.

My Dad and stepmother (Buzzy and Patsy) came in town all the way Alexander City, Alabama to stay, visit and go with me to my doctors appointment . I am so glad they came to visit, it was such a blessing to me and actually ALL of us at my house!!! We love them! They truly are so caring and loving, I have missed them and this made me realize just how much I need that "family" time with them. The visit was too short but I am just so glad to have gotten to spend time with them. I got a prescription for nausea medication and
I start back on Chemo on Tuesday so I will let you know how that goes. 😃
Tonight is our Texas Cowboy Church Annual Chili Supper held at the Rosenberg Civic Center from 5-9pm. Chili, desert and drink for $10 for adults children $5. Great Chili, great singers, silent auction, desert auction and fellowship. I am so grateful for my church family. I am not sure that I could make without them. They lift me up and encourage me when I need it most!
Thank you Lord for all of the wonderful people you put in my life!! I am blessed and I am aware that you have a plan for me. I get excited each day to see the surprises you have in store! I love you and pray in Your name, Amen.