Another update and the NCAA Final Four - YIKES!

Reid was seen in the Fast Track Clinic at MD Anderson yesterday and everything was looking good.  His platelets stayed the same and didn't go down which was very good news.  It meant no transfusion was necessary and if they go up to 50 (from 44) by his next appointment on Thursday they'll remove the Central Venous Catheter.

I don't know who is more excited...him or me.  He'd love to see it gone because taking a shower is a bit of a hassle since it needs to be covered each time so it doesn't get wet.  It's also always there, in the way, and a constant reminder of what he's been through.  I'd love to see it gone because I do the bandage changes and now that we're living down here I do the daily Heparin flush too.  That was always Jim's job before, but he's back at the house so I do it now.  We're really keeping our fingers crossed that it's out on Thursday.

The fatigue hasn't gotten any better, but that is considered normal at this point and will just take time to improve.  The salty taste that the chemo left him with is better each day and yesterday his old appetite was 95% back.  He lost nine pounds in the hospital, but hopefully it will come back quickly now.

Now we have this to deal with...

We're living around a mile or so from Reliant Stadium and must pass by there to get to MD Anderson.  If there's another way to go I'm unfamiliar with that route or it involves a freeway.

We've been watching them transform Reliant Park and the stadium from The Houston Rodeo to The Final Four.  I would have taken pictures, but I was busy driving and in Houston traffic I must keep focused.  I also have no way to upload pictures on the Netbook.

This will give you an idea of our new traffic headache...

You'll have to click on the map to enlarge it.  We're staying near Main Street and just south of the 610 Loop.  The Medical Center and MD Anderson are located adjacent to Hermann Park and Reliant Stadium is located between here and there.  Taking Main Street is not a good option because it's almost next to impossible to get out in the traffic, so we take the 610 feeder road east to Kirby and go up Kirby to Old Spanish Trail.  (I don't even think they show Kirby on this map, but it runs along the west side of Reliant Park.)  On the east side is Fannin, but that will be just as bad as Kirby when it comes to traffic.  Hopefully, we can time things to avoid the worst traffic.  I hate traffic!

With luck his appointment on Thursday will be it for the week and we can hibernate here until the games are over.

Betty

Day +14 Update...and too much time on my hands!

Yesterday, we were back at MD Anderson for Reid's first follow up appointment with the Physician's Assistant.  His white count had gone down to 9.5 from 13.7 the day before, but this was expected.  His count had been higher from the Neupogen injections and now it all comes from his immune system.  I'll have more peace of mind when it gets up into the normal range and stays there.  We were both surprised that he didn't need a transfusion and she said he didn't need to return until Monday.  We had originally been told he'd have daily appointments including weekends for a while.  We celebrated by sleeping.  No early appointments to keep...YEA!

Fatigue is Reid's constant companion which is also very normal.  It can take a year or more for him to get his energy level back up.  However, he must get up and do some walking each day because of his lung.  His one lung doesn't fully inflate at the bottom since the original mass paralyzed a nerve to that lung.  One of the nurses explained that his new immune system might mistake that for infection and send a bunch of white cells there to fight infection which in turn would cause inflammation.  So, he must work to keep that lung as fully inflated as possible.

Yesterday, he got plenty of walking done at the hospital and then in the evening we walked around the outside of the motel.  Today, he didn't do as well.  We ended up having to go over to the hospital so he could get his lumens flushed since we don't have the supplies with us here.  We'll be getting them tomorrow when we go back to the house to get some things, but they need to be flushed daily or no less than every couple of days.  He was very tired, so he used a wheelchair for the trip into the hospital and then walked to the parking garage when we left.  I suggested another evening walk around the motel, but he fell asleep.

He also doesn't have much of an appetite.  Everything tastes salty to him...even plain water.  This is another chemo side effect and is expected to last a couple of weeks.  He's finally drinking more since I bought those Kool-Aid singles to put in the water.  I've got the refrigerator here stuffed with everything from Carnation Instant  Breakfast, Gatorade, pizza, lasagna, cheesecake, etc.  He eats a little, but says it's hard since nothing tastes right. 

Meanwhile, I found myself with a little extra time on my hands and stayed up late last night and did what bored people everywhere do....I googled my name.  Remember, I have a very common name, but what a life I've had!

I'm from NJ originally and must have had a Tupperware Party that I had completely forgotten about, but thanks to You Tube I now remember.




Bet you didn't  know there's an old British expression that goes, "All my eye and Betty Martin."  I'll admit it made absolutely no sense to me, but it means a lot of nonsense or baloney anyway.

I even have my own song called "Hey, Betty Martin."  It's sung by Joe Liggins and you can listen to my song here.

My alter ego has also been a writer, psychologist, artist and even an accountant.  I've died many times over, but I'll spare you the details. 

I've hardly changed at all over the years.

Yes, that could almost be this Betty Martin.  I actually had glasses like that once.

Then I googled my maiden name and found out that I had been arrested in Florida.  Here's my mug shot.

That's when I decided all this excitement might be too much for my heart and I quit googling.

Thanks again...Betty

Edited on March 29, 2011.  I had called this day +25 in the post title, but it was actually day +14.  I got the actual date mixed up with the post transplant date.

Day +12 Discharged!

Things got a little rocky yesterday with a couple of nose bleeds and swallowing difficulty, but a platelet transfusion and a good night's rest turned things around today.  His throat was much improved and he was discharged around three this afternoon.

We got back to Candlewood Suites and I walked across the parking lot to Taco Bell and got him 4 tacos.  He ate three of them...the first non-soft food in almost two weeks!

We'll be making daily trips to the hospital for blood draws, transfusions, etc., for a while.  That's considered normal at this point.

Thanks again for your prayers and support...Betty

Day +11 and progress being made!

Yes, it's day +11 and there have been some changes.  Yesterday his white count went from .3 to 3.1 and today it's 9.1.  He's now engrafted and no longer needs the Neupogen injections.  He's producing white cells on his own!  It might fluctuate a little, but it won't go down much now.

There is a possibility he could be released tomorrow, but he must be able to drink 2 liters and swallow all his pills.  Right now his throat is bothering him because with engraftment everything starts to heal and new tissue is growing behind the damaged stuff in his esophagus and it's trying to slough off.  It feels as if something is stuck in his throat.  He's been told to try eating soft food...apple sauce, yogurt, etc., to see if that helps.  He also needs to walk around more in hopes of getting this thing dislodged.  And he needs to keep drinking.

I talked him into ordering scrambled eggs and apple sauce for breakfast (he hates yogurt so that's not an option) and he's giving it a try.  Nothing really appeals to him and I've found that making lots of suggestions sometimes meets with success.

Meanwhile, I moved yesterday to Candlewood Suites around 4 miles from the hospital.  I ran to Kroger on my way back there last night and bought a few things.  I'll need to get some more things before he's released.  Today I came here on their shuttle, so I don't have the car.  I hadn't expected things to move this quickly, but I'm glad!

Thanks again for your support!  Betty

Day +9 and Happy Spring!

As I type this Jim and Reid are snoring away.  I'll try and concentrate...but it won't be easy!  Jim has always snored, but with Reid it is something new and I attribute it to the sores in his throat.  However, the good news today is that after many days the throat finally feels a little better.  He was able to drink the milkshake we brought today.  That's a big improvement over yesterday when he had one sip of milkshake and nothing else all day.  The nurse told us yesterday that all of a sudden the throat would feel better and the sores would disappear as quickly as they came.  She knows her stuff.

Today his white count was 1.3 up from .3 yesterday!  He can be discharged when the count is at 2.0, AND he can swallow his pills, AND he can drink 2 liters, AND his fever is normal for 48 hours.  The nurse seems to feel that this will happen soon.

All the nurses here are amazing.  They are excellent at what they do and all seem to enjoy their jobs.  As one nurse put it, "They really take care of us here."  I get the impression that MD Anderson really values their nursing staff.  They encourage all their nurses to get advanced degrees and pay for it...totally.  Then they move them to a higher pay scale.  As one nurse put it, "It's a win-win situation for them."

I just can't say enough about how good the nursing staff is here.  They are on the ball, well trained, and know exactly what to expect.  A very competent and compassionate group. 

Reid did develop a few nodules under his skin three or four days ago and today they biopsied them just to be on the safe side.  We should hear something in a few days.  They could just be another side effect from the chemo or something like a fungal infection.  Some have actually gone away, so hopefully this is just a big nothing. 

The lung culture from the other day never showed anything and that's good news.  His fever comes and goes, but it remains a low grade fever when it comes.  The nurse explained to us that when they start producing white cells the body sometimes mistakes that for an infection and gears up to fight infection with a fever.  After a while things settle down and the fever goes away.

When we arrived this morning he was out of his room taking a walk.  He's walked every day since he's been here except for the three worse days.

He just got up and went out for another walk.

Happy Spring!  For us it's been a good first day of Spring.  Betty

Just a quick update on day +7

Today Reid wasn't feeling as well as he was yesterday, but so far the test on his lung tissue has been inconclusive.  They were trying to grow a culture and as of this morning when the doctor came in nothing had grown.  I'm not sure how long they give it, but I take nothing at this point as good news.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

His fever had remained very low yesterday, but this afternoon he felt warm and it had gone up.  I'm sure that had something to do with the way he felt.  They had given him Benadryl again for a platelet transfusion.  They always give Benadryl whenever any kind of transfusion is given. I think they said it's done because of the preservatives that are used.  I guess it's in case of an allergic reaction, but Reid hates the way it makes him sleep.  He wants to stay awake!  I think another one of the reasons he was kind of miserable today is because he doesn't want to use the pain killers for the same reason.

The last couple of days have brought on nose bleeds due to a low platelet count, so he has to have platelets and sometimes transfusions.  This is all to be expected at this point.

The good news is that today for the first time in days his white blood count was no longer zero.  Today it was .1.  It isn't much,but it's a start.  We were excited!

The cards continue to arrive.  Someone even sent him a lovely book.  When things settle down I'll try and thank as many people as possible personally, but in some cases I won't be able to due to a lack of address or blog name.  Please know that everything is very much appreciated.  He's really enjoyed all the mail.

Thanks once again for everything.

I've been taking pictures for Reid.  Here are a few:

Whoops...what's going on???  I clicked to add a picture and it brought up a box saying sign in for Google Cloud Picker to select an item from online storage.  What???   I've always added pictures from my computer.  I hope that's just a temporary glitch.  I do have a Picasa album for the slide show on my blog, but my other pictures are on my hard drive and I'd like to keep it that way.

Oh well...no pictures.  Betty

Day +6 update to follow...and help needed for Japan's 4 legged friends

I will try and post an update on Reid later when I'll possibly know more.  He's been running a fever and has part of one lung collapsed, but it is only a small area.  He also has a small amount of fluid in one lung and is on 4 different antibiotics, but a low grade fever remains.  This morning he had a procedure done where they went down and took a piece of lung tissue to try and determine exactly what is going on.  All things considered  he's actually looking better today and he started receiving the Nuprogen yesterday.  My hope is that things will start improving  more soon.  I'll post more as I know more.



Meanwhile I wanted to join in a special relief effort for Japan's four legged friends.  Being an animal lover myself I wanted to participate in this cause. 

Thanks again for your support and prayers and I hope I'll have more to report on Reid later.  Betty

The real Day +4 and this and that...

Today is day +4 and I got ahead of things yesterday when I called Monday day +4.  I guess it was wishful thinking on my part wanting to get this long ordeal over for Reid. 

Today he is still taking pain medication for the mouth and throat sores.  He's in considerable discomfort and doesn't really talk much anymore.  His body is covered with this crusty looking rash and I'm starting to think that the mouth and throat sores are really the same thing only internally.  All of this is caused by the one chemo drug.  The clinical trial is to determine how large a dose can be tolerated along with the other drugs in the study.  This one drug is a bear!

He is now running a fever...101.3.  They took him down earlier for a chest X-ray and I'm hoping the doctor will be in soon with an update.  When we took the pre-admission class one of the nurses told us that most do develop a fever at some point while the immune system is depressed.  Hopefully, this too will pass.

Yesterday he received another stack of mail.  Wonderful cards (some beautifully hand made), inspiring notes and letters, and some adorable drawings by children were in the pile.  I actually saw a half smile on his face as he whispered to me that I should open the large envelope.  Inside a four year old boy had sent him drawings of planes crashing.  Reid could relate since many years ago he did similar drawings.  It's a guy thing I guess.  There was also a very pretty drawing from Mallory.  Thank you everyone!



I did promise you a picture of one of our cats.  I was printing out some information on dolls from a CD so I could take it to the hospital and read.  (My Netbook doesn't have a CD drive.)  Anyway, whenever Zoom hears the printer she comes running.  It doesn't matter where she is in the house.

She loves to try and catch the paper coming out.



There was a little entertainment outside Reid's hospital room one day last week.  Three helicopters landed on the roof below in a period of a couple of hours.  One was Life Flight and I certainly hope the person they brought in is doing OK now.

I've been trying to keep up with the news from Japan.  It's a tragedy of such huge proportions that it's hard to even imagine what life must be like for the people impacted.  For a few years I've followed the blog of a lady that lives in Japan, but was born here.  She's a quilter and I believe I learned of her blog from my friend Karen at SewPrimitive Quilter.  I'm no quilter (I would never have the patience), but Tanya at Taniwa often shares information about her life in Japan and I always enjoy her posts.  She also has six cats and a dog (one less cat than us!).  She was the first person I thought of when I heard the news, but I had no idea where in Japan she lived.  Anyway, she never lost Internet access and has been posting daily reports.  It's very interesting to read her account of the events.  Be sure and go back and read her earthquake posts from the beginning.  (She was actually underground in a stone quarry when everything started happening!)



Thanks again for everything!

Day +4 update

I wish I could tell you that he's improving each day, but unfortunately the opposite is true.  Although not unexpected by the nurses and doctors it has definitely surprised me at how quickly things have changed.

As one of the nurses put it, "It's as if your insides have been run over by a truck."

When I arrived this morning the nurse was just giving him platelets and pain medication.  In spite of him being vigilant with the special mouthwash routine he has developed very painful mouth and throat sores.  Actually, one of the nurses explained the other day that the sores are throughout his intestinal track.  I guess that's where the getting run over by a truck comment comes from.  Today's nurse said the sores are inevitable with the chemo he's had...it's just a matter of the degree.  I know he did everything within his power, but he's still in a lot of pain.  They will be hooking him up later to a pump where he can press a button and self administer the pain medication.  He's on a soft and liquid diet.

Thankfully, as I type this he is sleeping from the pain medication and the Benadryl.  He has also broken out in a red rash and in places has scratched himself raw which is not good with no immune system.  This is also a side effect of this particular chemo.

 Sitting here watching my child (no matter how old, they are always your child) suffer this way is very difficult.  I can't help but question why.  He's been through so much since being diagnosed in October 2009.  He had six months of ABVD chemo, weeks of radiation, almost three months of ICE chemo and now the clinical trial chemo regiment.  This is by far the worst.

If only there was a 100% chance of this working because anything less would be a very cruel joke after all he's going through.

I wish you could meet him.  I realize I'm his mother, but indulge me for a few moments.  Reid is quiet and easy going with a very good sense of humor.  He rarely complains.  I believe these personality traits have helped to get him through some of the rough patches.  But today there's no smile on his face.

The sores will not get any better until he starts receiving Neupogen which helps his body produce more white cells.  That won't be until day +5 or day +7 (in his case the nurse wasn't sure which until she looks it up) and then it will take a few days for the sores to begin to heal after the white count starts to go up.

The nurse has assured him that things will get better even though it doesn't seem that way right now.  He tells me this is Hell and he will never go through this kind of treatment again.  At this point I don't blame him one bit.  I feel helpless sitting here watching.  I am so grateful to Keith for taking time off from work to sit here with me last week.  He went back to Austin on Saturday and I really miss him today with the change in Reid's condition.

Reid also developed a cough a few days ago and is receiving breathing treatments 4 times a day and oxygen for shortness of breath.  This is a little concerning to me, but so far his lungs are clear and that is good news.

All the nurses here are very good, but today's nurse is super good.  Very attentive and caring...the one you'd want if you were feeling like crap.

I got here before the bad weather today which is good since it's getting very dark and dreary now and with my eyes I can't see well enough to drive in the dark anymore.  I might drive locally, but not on the freeways so now I'm worried about getting home.  I hope the weather clears.  I just checked with the motel where we have reservations beginning on the 21st to see if I could check in this week and be closer to the hospital, but it's not possible with the rodeo still in town until the 20th.  I hate having to leave early each day to beat rush hour traffic and darkness, but there's no choice.

Reid's awake now and they just hooked up the pump and a blood transfusion.  It's already helping some.  YEA!

As much as I hate all of this I was reminded yesterday that at least there's a possibility of a cure for Reid.  My friend Connie isn't as lucky.  I found out yesterday that she's been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).  Actually, her mother was a friend of mine that I met shortly after moving here in the early 90's.  Annette died of Lou Gehrig's disease around 7 years ago.  Connie was the one that cared for her mother.  Talk about unfair, but no one ever said life is fair.

I feel like I should end this on an upbeat.  I remember my niece who was a television news producer saying that they always tried to end the newscast with something upbeat, but today I'm at a loss.  I do have an adorable picture of the cat to share, but it's on the home computer.  I'll share it soon.

Thanks again for your support and prayers...Betty

Day 0...finally!! and creamed corn??

Finally!  Around 11:00 this morning Reid began receiving his stem cells back.   There were three bags that had to be infused and that's the first bag hanging all the way to the right in this picture.  It took a little over an hour and initially he was sick, but the nurse gave him something for nausea and then he pretty much slept through the whole thing and the rest of the day.  They've been giving him Benadryl anyway because he's had a reaction to one of the chemo drugs and has broken out in a rash.

The nurse stayed with him the entire time.  A nursing student observed.  Needless to say, Reid did not feel like posing for a picture, so you won't be seeing him today.

                                        

The whole thing was very interesting.  The stem cells arrived from the lab frozen in a thing that kind of looked like a cooler inside this white box.  Here he is getting ready to remove one of the bags.  (I'm sorry...I didn't get his name, but he was very nice about explaining everything to me and answering my 1001 questions.)

He thawed the bags as the stem cells were needed.  Here's one of the frozen bags sitting on the counter.  It came in the flat metal box that you can see in the picture and I assume it was to protect the bag from being damaged.  I understood him to say that they're hung by number inside a cryo...something, but we'll just call it a fancy refrigerator here.  Sorry, I'm no scientist.

He placed the bag of frozen stem cells inside what looked like a large Zip Lock bag and then placed them in water to thaw.  I think he told me the water was body temperature, but would drop a few degrees while he turned the bag around and the stem cells thawed.  It probably only took five minutes or less to thaw each bag.

With the third bag he had to take a couple of samples of the thawed stem cells so they could determine how many died during the freezing process.  It's normal for some to die off and I guess they want to have a pretty good idea of exactly how many good cells were infused.

And that was it.  The whole thing was finished in a little over an hour.

Then the entire room smelled like creamed corn.  Even though we were wearing masks we could still smell it.  The preservative that's added to the stem cells causes a smell like creamed corn that Reid's body puts out through his skin.  We were told ahead of time to expect it, and they weren't kidding.

Now it's in God's hands.

And while all of this was going on the nurse came into the room and said, "He's gotten a bunch of cards today," and handed me a stack of envelopes.  Thanks to Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent" people are sending him cards after she wrote about him on her blog.  He'll have mail to open when he's feeling a little better tomorrow.  Thanks to Jenny and everyone else who read her blog post and responded.

All the caring, concern, and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Day -2 and counting...

Today is day -2 and so far things are going well.  Reid is still in good spirits and joking with everyone.  However, his counts have gone down and today he required his first transfusion.  As the counts continue to go down he will become more and more fatigued, so Keith and I will take a walk with him shortly.  We are told that evidence seems to indicate that the people who exercise and remain active get out of the hospital sooner.  There will be days when he won't be able to do much, so he must remain active while he can.

Here are the pictures I took on Monday when Reid was moved to the new stem cell floor.  He doesn't consider any of this a Kodak moment, but agreed to one picture.  

This is Keith sitting on the couch that opens up into a bed in case someone wants to spend the night.  Keith joked that it was too bad Reid didn't have this room on Sunday when we had the plumbing problems at home.  We could have all moved in and saved money on a motel.  :)  There are 2 TVs in the room and you can see the one in this picture.  The table can be rolled anywhere in the room and is nice for when we eat here with Reid.  I'm actually using it now as I type on the Netbook.

I give up!  I uploaded these pictures to Blogger from home intending to add text from here.  I keep trying to get my text aligned to the left, but it wants to be centered like the pictures and I'm tired of trying to change it each time.  From now on it will be centered...I think!

This picture shows how the room is set up.  It's at least twice as big as the room he had before.

And this is the view.  The building with BCM is Baylor College Of Medicine.  Between Baylor and the building to the right is Rice University's football stadium.  At least I think it's their stadium.

 

The brick building is St. Luke's Hospital.  That's where the Texas Heart Institute is located.   I believe the glass building is medical offices

I think this is part of St. Luke's too.  We'd love to see a helicopter land, but so far it hasn't happened.

That's the update for today.  Thanks again for your prayers and support.  Betty

Sometimes when it rains, it pours and day -4

This is day -4 and so far Reid has been doing well.  He is still eating well and exercising daily.  The stem cell patients are supposed to walk for at least 10 minutes three times a day.  Today is considered a day of rest and he receives no chemo on this day.  So far he's been receiving the same chemo drug, but tomorrow he'll receive something new.  At least that's my understanding.
 
A few hours ago he was transferred to a new room on the 17th floor.  This is a brand new area of the hospital and he's the first patient in this room.  It's probably twice the size of his previous room and has 2 tv's.  One for the patient and one for visitors.  The view of the Houston skyline is amazing.  I've taken pictures and will post them later.  Right now I'm at the hospital on the netbook.  We were kind of surprised when we heard about this move as we did not realize the new section was ready for patients.

His new room number is 1741.  The rest of the address is still the same.

Reid Martin

c/o MD Anderson Cancer Center

Room 1741

1515 Holcombe Blvd.

Houston, TX  77030

I haven't had time to update my blog.  When it rains, it pours.  We had sewerage backing up into the house and spent last night at a motel.  The plumber came this morning and we're OK now...I hope.  It was chilly yesterday morning and I turned the heat on and the carbon monoxide detector went off.  We turned off the heat and opened all the windows.  We actually think the detector malfunctioned.  We bought a new one and turned the heat on and it detected nothing, but we won't run the heater again until it's checked.

It's time for us to go take one of those ten minute walks!  We appreciate your warm thoughts and prayers...Betty

"Day -9" and counting...

I feel like Shorty Powers at NASA giving the countdown.  If you're not familiar with Shorty Powers then you must be young.  During the Mercury days he'd give the launch count down and then after launch tell us that everything was "A-OK."

So far everything is "A-OK" with Reid's anticipated stem cell transplant.  He received the three pre-admission injections which were to help with mouth sores.  The doctor had told him that they would cause a coating on the cells to protect them.  I guess they did because he developed a coating on his tongue which he finds a little annoying and which gives his food little taste.  He also developed a red face which is a side effect of this medication.  Yesterday he looked as if he'd been out in the sun way too long, but today it wasn't as noticeable.

He was admitted to the hospital on Monday evening.  On Tuesday he was given a test dose of one of the chemo drugs and then blood was drawn every two hours all day.  I believe this was to see how his body would react to the drug and how it was metabolized.  This drug can cause seizures, so he had to take anti-seizure medication.  The pharmacist told him that he must take this with the chemo drug and if he's ever unable to keep it down they will give it to him by IV.

Today was day -9 and a day of rest.  No chemo was given and he was feeling just fine.  We ordered lunch from room service and also took a ten minute walk outside the room wearing our gloves and masks.  Reid doesn't have to wear a mask or gloves in his room, but everyone else does.  He only has to wear them when he leaves the room.  He also began a  mouth regiment where he has to gargle four times a day with some special stuff (new medical term).  This is also to help with mouth sores.

Tomorrow is day -8 and that is when the real chemo begins.  His stem cells are scheduled to be returned to him on "day 0" which is March 11th.  We're told that some people consider this their new birthday.

Over the weekend Troy told me to return the Netbook and I notified Amazon that I wanted to get a replacement.  They immediately shipped a new one.  It was here in two days!  I can't say enough about Amazon's great service.  I took it to the hospital today and then couldn't connect to their WiFi.  Reid tried and he couldn't get it to work either.  I was about to call MD Anderson's tech department but decided to try one more time.  A box came up, I clicked it, and it worked.  Unfortunately, I have no idea how I did it and now hope I can get it to connect tomorrow.  We must have been doing something wrong.  It gave me the option of saving the connection and I didn't.  I was afraid that if I did it wouldn't work at the house.  Now I'm kind of sorry I didn't just save the connection for the hospital since that's where I'll be using it most of the time.  Wish me luck tomorrow.

I came home yesterday and went out on the deck to visit the cats.  I looked up and saw this...

Yes, little baby leaves.  Spring is definitely right around the corner.

I also took a few pictures of the cats.  Here's Atticus...

Jem...

and Scout.

I'll try and post regular updates.  It will be a long hospitalization and if anyone would like to send a note or card (nothing else is allowed) the address is:

Reid Martin

c/o MD Anderson Cancer Center

Room 1076

1515 Holcombe Blvd.

Houston, Texas 77030

Thanks for your support and prayers.



"Day -13" Starts Tomorrow

I was having so much fun with my new Netbook, but then it quit.  Yes, quit.  One minute it was fine and the next minute it wasn't.  It was so new I hadn't even had a chance to drop it yet.  If I was a geek I could probably fix it myself, but I'm not.  So, it will have to wait until Troy comes over.  I had been planning to use it during Reid's hospitalization and while we're living down in the Medical Center, so I'm really hoping Troy can figure out what's wrong and fix it.

Yesterday Reid had an appointment with the doctor that's running the clinical trial.  Reid's stem cell doctor was away, so he saw this doctor instead.  His cold and the shingles are gone, so he'll be admitted on Monday for the chemo and then the stem cell transplant.  He starts the injections tomorrow and will have one each day for three days to try and keep him from having too much trouble with mouth sores from the chemo they'll be giving him.  They keep referring to this as the "really strong" chemo.  This is the chemo that is so strong it will destroy his immune system which is the reason for the stem cell transplant.  We're praying that it will also destroy any remaining cancer.

Reid's stem cell doctor told him a couple of weeks ago that he believes someday this chemo will become the standard for relapsed Hodgkin's.  The doctor yesterday said the results have been promising...especially in patients with Hodgkin's like his.

So, tomorrow he starts the countdown with the first injection and that will be considered day -13.  The days before transplant are minus days and the day of transplant is day 0.  After that the days will be plus days as in +1, +2, etc.  There is a risk of infection while his immune system is destroyed and hopefully the stem cells will engraft quickly and begin to multiply.  He's going to be in the hospital until they feel his numbers are high enough to give him some protection.  That can be two or three weeks from the time of transplant, so he's going to be in the hospital for a while.  He's not exactly looking forward to it, but he's resigned and ready to get the show on the road.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get some things done before I spend time down there every day with Reid.  Today I mowed the back lawn.  Actually, it was the weeds that were growing and I needed to get them knocked down.  We don't have St. Augustine grass in the back.  St. Augustine is a warm climate grass, but it doesn't grow well in the shade and we have a lot of trees.  Something like Fescue can't tolerate the heat, so I let Monkey Grass grow all over the yard.  Monkey Grass isn't really lawn grass.  It's used as edging and usually grows along borders or around trees.  I just leave it tall around the edges and trees and then mow it shorter everywhere else.  It's slow growing, so I don't have to mow too often.  Hopefully, today's mowing will last a while.

I know some places have had snow again.  I'm sorry to report that I have still not seen a robin, so I don't believe they've started their migration north yet.  Or perhaps they have and I've just been too busy to notice.  Normally, I'd be walking outside a little this time of year, but I just haven't had time.  I did notice violet plants all over the yard today, but no flowers yet.  I also saw a butterfly go by. The trees are all budding though and I'll probably be seeing leaves soon.  It's been in the 70's lately.

Does anyone remember this song?  It goes..."Spring is here said the daffodil; how do you know said the old oak tree."  Every spring I find myself humming it, but those are the only words I remember.  One of the kids sang it in preschool.  It might have been Reid, but I'm not sure.  If anyone has a child or grandchild that sings this song today please send me the words.  Thanks.

What's been happening around here...

I finally decided to change my E-mail addresses from AOL to gmail.  Tonight I tried to sign into my blogger dashboard and couldn't.  I kept trying with my DayDreamnWorld gmail address and couldn't get in.  Finally I typed in DayDreamnWorld at the AOL address and it worked.  Now I'll have to go back and change that too before we give up AOL.  I have comments coming to the gmail address, so I thought I was all set.  Guess I was wrong.

This past weekend I looked outside and there were the cats with the armadillo that lives under our deck.  Atticus was following him around and Jem was poised on the roof watching the action below.  It was one of those morning where everything was wet and it hadn't even rained.  I guess that's one of the reasons why this is called a semi-tropical climate.  Anyway, the A/C was running and keeping us nice and cool inside the house.  I grabbed my camera and ran outside to get a picture.  So many cute Kodak moments as the armadillo ran around and Atticus followed him.  I was snapping away and this is what I got.

All of my pictures looked like this one.  I know from past experience to wipe off the lens and keep shooting, but this time the moisture was even behind the lens.  It comes from going quickly from the cool house out into the warm, humid air. 

Keith has been here since Saturday and will leave tomorrow to go back to Austin.  He originally planned this trip thinking Reid would be in the hospital for the stem cell transplant, but it worked out because Reid is feeling a little bit better and we were all able to go out to eat on Saturday.  Troy joined us too for some Italian food at Birraporetti's here in town.  There's also a Birraporetti's in Houston down in the Theatre District and I guess that's why they have all the posters from various shows on the walls here.  Below are Troy, Keith and Reid trying to decide what to have for lunch.

And waiting...

And then I told Jim to take a picture of me since I'm usually the photographer and rarely appear in pictures with the rest of the family.

I never got a picture of Jim and Troy was cut out of this one.  One of these days I'll figure out a way to get a picture of all of us together.

This week Reid has appointments down at MD Anderson on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  If all goes well he'll start the three days of injections he needs prior to chemo to help prevent mouth sores on Saturday and then will probably be admitted sometime on Monday.  We'll find out for sure in the next few days.  His cold and the shingles are pretty much gone, so things are looking good right now. 

I had to change the motel reservations for when he's discharged and we have to live down in the Medical Center.  The place I originally booked can't extend the days because of the NCAA Final Four in Houston April 2-4.  Other places were booked too, but I finally found one that had room.  I actually kept the first reservation too because I think I like that place better and she put us on the waiting list for the extra days.   We're the first name on her list and will get the room if there's a cancellation.  I just have to make sure I remember to cancel one of them nearer the time before I get charged for two places.

My Netbook arrived last week and I'm having fun fooling with it.  It's one of the reasons I decided to go with gmail.  I don't care for reading E-mail from AOL's home page and I wasn't about to put AOL's program on the Netbook.  Although I'm not crazy about the keyboard (it's supposed to be 95% the size of a standard keyboard) it's a trade off for the smaller size and lighter weight than a laptop.  I got the Asus EeePC 1015 from Amazon.  If you're interested you can see it here.  I read a bunch of reviews and ended up getting this one because of  the positive things people said and the longer battery life.  A lot of people suggested upgrading the RAM, but so far it's working OK for me, so I decided to wait and see how it goes.  I even found a YouTube video where a guy shows you how to install it.  It sure looked simple enough, so I might eventually give it a try.  Now I'll have a way to keep in touch while we're away from home.

Reaching Into the Valentine's Day Archives...

I wanted to do a post for Valentine's Day, so I reached back into my photo archives and came up with a couple of pictures.  Some of you might have seen them before.

GinnyEllen ate way too much candy and cookies at the class Valentine's Day party.  The school nurse arrived in the nick of time.

This was another year when the boys got into a fight over GinnyFaith's affection.

Happy Valentine's Day!!



Valentine's Day Treat

It's time to confess.  We still have our Christmas decorations up.  I'm pretty sure we'll have to buy a new tree next Christmas because the cats have climbed this one once too often.  The lower branches now hang way down and when I try and push them back into place they don't want to go.   If I had all the boxes here at the house instead of the storage place I'd probably have slowly taken some of it down by now, but it's going to involve a bit of time and a truck to get them all over here.  So, for now the Christmas things stay up.  If I wait much longer I can just tell people we put our decorations up early this year!

I still had candy canes left over from Christmas.  I also had some of the candy melts left over from when I made the Christmas Tree candy that I showed you here.  Since it's almost Valentine's Day I decided to make Valentine's Day candy.  It was just a matter of buying a pan with heart shapes instead of Christmas Trees.  These are very easy to make and taste pretty good too.  My picture isn't fancy (or very good), but it will give you an idea of what they look like.  I used one of those Wilton silicone pans that I got at Joanne's.

We've had some really cold weather lately.  So cold that the cats had to cuddle up to stay warm.

But today it is beautiful outside.  I was out in the yard for a while and didn't even need a jacket.  The windows are open for the first time in weeks.  I do believe that Spring is right around the corner.

Reid's cold has continued to get a little better each day.  The shingles look ugly, but they really aren't causing him any discomfort.  We should find out this week what the new game plan is for the stem cell transplant.  Hopefully, it will only mean a one week delay.

We had told Reid last November that we would plan a vacation for him and his brothers.  A way to celebrate the stem cell transplant and something to look forward to during the treatments.  They all wanted to go to Comic Con in San Diego in July.  I had never heard of Comic Con, but I quickly learned that I've apparently led a sheltered life.  Comic Con is very popular and the biggest convention that San Diego hosts.

I believe the tickets went on sale online the first time in November.  Knowing it was a popular event Reid and I each got on a different computer and attempted to buy the tickets.  We couldn't get into the site.  Finally, they announced that their site had crashed and they'd sell tickets another time.  The second time the same thing happened.  I believe we invested two or three hours each time reloading the screen.  Then one day in December as we were walking into the hospital Reid saw on his phone where they had sold 1,000 tickets that morning unannounced as a way to test their new ticket selling procedure.  We were kind of bummed that we missed that opportunity, but waited for the new date to be announced.

Finally, the day came last Saturday.  We had Keith standing by in Austin on his computer and we all attempted to get into the site for the sale.  This is what we saw...again.

We tried again for a couple of hours.  Finally, I had to go out and Reid and Keith became discouraged and gave up.  While I was gone Reid decided to go back again and try one more time and he had success!  He was able to buy tickets for everyone including Jim.  (Well, not exactly everyone.  I'll stay here to take care of the dog and cats.)  Then we started looking for a hotel/motel.  We found that anything close to the convention center is already booked.  Finally we found a place not too far away and locked in a room.  (We might have to take out a mortgage to pay for that room.)  So, Comic Con here they come!  It's July 21-24 2011.  Hopefully, Reid will have regained a lot of his strength by then.  Another reason why we're anxious for the stem cell transplant to get underway.

Now I'm going to go back outside and sit on the deck for a while and enjoy the day.  I'll let you know if I see a robin.  I always know Spring is on the way when I see the robins migrating through here on their way up north.  I usually see the first one sometime in February.

What Next??? Update...Change Of Plans

Last night Reid suspected that he might be coming down with a cold.  He had a slight sore throat...the kind you get when a cold is approaching.  We hoped it was just caused by extra dryness in the house from running the darn heater so much lately.  We've had winters where we only ran it a few days all winter, but lately it's been running day and night for a couple of weeks.

This morning it was official.  He's got a cold and that's bad news right because of the scheduled stem cell transplant.  He spoke to his doctor's nurse down at MD Anderson and was told to get down there right away.  We jumped in the car and were there within a hour.

They drew blood and sent him for a chest X-ray.  He saw the PA and she did a test for flu, but we're 99.9% it's only a cold.  However, he noticed a slight rash yesterday and mentioned it to her because it had spread and encompassed a larger area on his shoulder and chest today.  Much to our surprise we learned that it's shingles.  It hasn't really been painful which she told him was unusual, but it's still shingles.  Hopefully, it won't bother him too much.  He's now taking Valtrex and something else that's for a bacterial infection.  I think that one is being prescribed as a prophylactic.

The stem cell transplant is on hold.  He will not be getting the pre-admission shots and he will not be admitted on Sunday.  On Monday he has to go back to MD Anderson.  I guess then we'll know more. 

I know patients with depressed immune systems from chemo sometimes get shingles.  We are so careful about using hand sanitizer and avoiding crowds, but he finally caught a cold.  This is the first cold he's had since this cancer journey began almost 16 months ago.  It's just the timing for all of this is so bad.

I know they don't want to delay the transplant, but right now there's no choice.  I just wish once he'd get a break.  He's certainly earned it.

Thanks for your support and prayers.

Moving Ahead With The Stem Cell Transplant

I haven't had a chance to update my blog lately because we've been spending a lot of time down at MD Anderson the past week.  A lot of the time is spend waiting between appointments since they can't all be scheduled one right after the other.  The hospital has plenty of areas to relax with recliners, couches, tables and comfortable chairs.  There are usually jigsaw puzzles to work on too.  In fact, the jigsaw puzzles are also in all the waiting rooms.  In addition there's places to do research, coffee shops, etc.  They've tried to make it as comfortable as possible since everyone has to spend time waiting.

I finally decided to order a Netbook.  I went back and forth for a while trying to decide between a laptop, IPad or a Netbook.  I wanted something that wasn't too heavy to lug around but that could be easily used for E-mail, blogging and surfing the web.  It's taken me so long to order one because I just couldn't make up my mind.  Earlier this week I saw Oprah talking about the IPad being her all time favorite thing and almost went back to the IPad.  Anyway, yesterday morning I took the plunge and ordered the Netbook from Amazon.  It's difficult to keep up with things when I'm down at the hospital all day and too tired at night to get online.  Now maybe Reid and I can use the Netbook to help occupy some of our "spare" time although he already has a phone and Kindle that he uses.  I'm hoping the Netbook gets here quickly.

Now on to what we know about the stem cell transplant.  Last week Reid had a bilateral bone marrow aspiration.  That's two in each hip.  We learned yesterday that his bone marrow is clear.  This week he had all the PET scans again and he still has a few little spots in his chest but they are smaller than they were before.  He's been recovering from the ICE chemo and his blood counts have gone up a little although his hemoglobin was still down but not enough so he needed a transfusion.

He will be admitted to the hospital on Sunday, February 13th.  The days before transplant are considered minus (-) days.  The day of transplant is day "0" and then the days following are +1, +2, etc.  Reid will start at -13 which will be Friday (good thing we're not superstitious) when he must have an injection of Palifermin which helps control mouth sores.  Saturday will be -12 when he gets a second injection and Sunday will be -11 when he gets the third and last injection and is admitted.  (Does this remind anyone else of a NASA countdown or is it only me?)

It has been decided that Reid will not get the standard pre-transplant treatment for recurring Hodgkin's which is usually a chemo regiment called BEAM because it is felt that his disease cannot be effectively treated this way.  His tumor appears aggressive and he was stage 4 at diagnosis.  Instead, he will be part of a clinical trial that MD Anderson is conducting using three other known drugs.  The purpose of the study is to determine the highest tolerated dose of the one drug combined with the other two.  Here's the information about the trial from the government website if you're interested in reading the technical stuff.  Everything was explained to Reid and he was given many opportunities to ask questions.  No promises were made.  They were very careful to say things like, "this may..." and not "this will..."  Of course, these drugs all have pretty much the same side affects as the other chemo drugs he's had...secondary cancers, sterility, etc.  The list goes on and on.  You do what you need to do and Reid signed the papers yesterday.  This particular trial is ongoing and only being conducted at MD Anderson.

I asked and was told that the doctors meet once a week and present their cases.  The cases are discussed and the best course of treatment is recommended for each patient.  We are all comfortable with this recommendation and Reid's decision.

It has also been suggested that he consider a second clinical trial.  He has plenty of time to think about this one as it wouldn't take place until after transplant but would last a year.  This one is a double blind study which means he may or may not get the drug being investigated.  It would mean an IV every three weeks and the usual scans and tests.  However, if he was in the study and relapsed they would be able to put him on the drug if he was getting the placebo.  This trial is for patients with Hodgkin's or at risk for the Hodgkin's to come back.  Reid is considering this one too.  This particular trial is being done at multiple institutions. 

I was thinking the other day that in the last fifteen months Reid has spent almost nine months on chemo.  Within the last week he has started feeling somewhat better from the last round of the ICE chemo.  We actually all went out to eat last night and had a good time.  Now it's time for him to go back into the hospital and start all over again feeling crappy.  It just doesn't seem fair.  Although he has moments of frustration he's usually got a smile on his face and just keeps pushing forward.  For that I'm grateful.

Today we don't have to be down at the hospital for a change and tomorrow he doesn't need to be there until 5:00 for the first injection.  It's nice to be able to rest up a bit before he's admitted for probably three weeks or so.  I did find a place down in the Medical Center this week and have that reserved for when he's discharged.  It's going to be rodeo time in Houston and I found that not everyone honors the medical rates during that time and some places are already booked up.  I'm glad I took care of that last week.

Now we have to all stay healthy.  No one can afford even a cold right now.  We're keeping the hand sanitizer companies in business and so far it's paid off.  When we hear someone sneeze or cough we run away.  I try and go to the grocery store when they're not busy and visit other stores as little as possible.  No more browsing just for the heck of it.  We won't be able to visit Reid if we get sick...especially when he has no immune system and very vulnerable to infection.  Needless to say, Reid especially cannot afford to get a cold or anything else right now.  We would not want to see his treatment delayed.

I'll try and post updates as time allows.  If the Netbook gets here quickly I'll be able to do it at the hospital.

Your thoughts and prayers will be especially appreciated over the next couple of months.

Stupid Spam Comments

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one that gets daily spam comments.  I moderate all comments just so I can catch the spam that might slip by Blogger's spam filters and every week I catch some.  The comments are never for a current post, but go back to something posted weeks or months ago.  Some post titles get more comments than others.  For some reason the post entitled My Italian Stone Fruit Collection is especially popular.  Also one of my posts with Christmas pictures from the 1950's that I posted back in 2009 gets quite a few.  Do they really think I'm going to let their comments go through?  If a comment  is even slightly questionable I delete it.

I'm assuming the people that don't moderate or have the dreaded word verification set up on their blogs are getting these comments and don't even realize it.  They are never for a current post and are usually for things like escort services, enlarging body parts, etc.

Today I got this one:

Hi, i simply needed to come here to show you of a super inexpensive service that posts comments similar to this on millions of Wordpress blogs. Just why you might ask, well you may wish to sell a product or service and target webmasters or merely just increase the amount of backlinks your website has that will improve your Google rankins which will then bring your web site much more traffic and cash. Take a fast look at this website for more information.

This one was caught by Blogger's spam filters.  I removed the link to this website, but it kind of explains how people are able to post so many bogus comments.  This is for Wordpress Blogs, but I'm sure they have it for Blogger too.

It's annoying, but I guess I'll just have to continue to delete, delete, delete.  I have a feeling I'm not alone.

Even Busier Days Ahead

Reid saw the stem cell doctor yesterday and as things now stand he'll be admitted to the hospital on February 13th for the stem cell transplant.  Meanwhile, he has a bunch of tests scheduled between now and then.

Tomorrow he has another bone marrow aspiration.  On the 4th is the Stem Cell Pre-Amission class and on the 7th there are labs, an echocardiogram and a pulmonary function test.  On the 8th he'll have the PET scans again and a visit with the Social Worker.  On the 9th he has an appointment for HT/WT storage consent  (I'm not sure what this is because we thought he had already signed something before they harvested the stem cells), another visit with the stem cell doctor, and a clinic visit with the research coordinator.  On the 11th he goes in for an injection and we were told he would have those for three days.  That brings us to the 13th when he's admitted for three weeks. 

We were told to start looking for a place to live down near the Medical Center for when he's released.  I've got a list to work off of and they said to get something lined up soon.  Even if he was released from the hospital early we should be able to change the dates.  Places down near the Medical Center are used to being flexible I guess.

I called today to get a hair cut.  I thought I'd better do it now before things get any busier.  And they're saying we might even get snow later this week.  Of course, that excites us because it's a rare occurrence in these parts.  The temperature has been dropping since early this morning and I heard a little while ago that it might even get down in the 20's in Galveston!  I dragged some of my tropical plants into the garage and covered the others with sheets.  I hope I don't lose any.  It's never gotten that cold in the 20 years we've lived here.  We'll let the water drip tonight so we hopefully we won't have frozen pipes in the morning.  Homes here are not insulated the way they are up north.

I can't believe all the snow I'm seeing on the news.  Such pretty scenes, but that's easy for me to say since I don't live there.  I'd just love to grab my sleigh one more time and go down a hill before I'm too old.



                                             

Circa 1954

Some years back on a Ginny Doll list we set our dolls up in scenes reminiscent of past events in our lives.  Here's one of my dolls looking like me back in 1954.



Stay warm everyone!