Cindy Lou

Journal to share my thoughts and daily events with friends and family
in my journey through Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Doctor visit

Yesterday Kyle and I went to Cleveland for my monthly doctor appointment and my doctor says I'm doing great. So, we are going to taper off the prednisone and in 2 weeks I will be totally off of it! He is happy with my blood counts and said I can discontinue going to the local oncologist for weeky blood tests! So now I just have my monthly appointment with my Cleveland doctor, unless anything goes wrong, which I am hoping and praying does not happen. They took my Hickman line out too, so now I feel even more free! After my appointment, we went to Kyle and Erika's for dinner and we shared a glass of wine together to celebrate the good news! Erika is going to run in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's marathon next year in my honor! The proceeds go to cancer research and if you would like to donate in my name there is a link on my blog site that you can go to learn more about it. Erika is such a wonderful daughter in law, and I truly appreciate all the hard work it will take for her to train for this. She is so thoughtful and I am so blessed to have her in my life, as well as all the rest of my family and friends. God bless you all.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Much to be thankful for...HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hi Everyone. I am so happy and so thankful today. I had my weekly blood draw this morning and my platelets once again doubled and are now over 100,000. My nurse from Cleveland clinic called after she was faxed the results and she said my doctor was ecstatic. I have been feeling soooo much better and even get a little bored now and then. I continue to rest when I am tired, but it seems to be less and less each week. I went to visit Gale Bilgen's class yesterday ( they are the second graders who prayed the rosary for me constantly when I was in the hospital) and it was so nice to see them and answer any questions they had about my treatment. I thanked them all for all their prayers and told them how blessed I was to have so many people praying for me. Tomorrow will be a very special Thanksgiving for our family. When we sit down to pray there will probably be tears shed as we recall all we are thankful for. My list is so long.... First my sister, Libby, who was my donor, I owe you my life; My wonderful husband without whom I could not have done this; My children and their spouses, who kept a brave face for me through it all, even though I know they were as frightened as I; My grandchildren who's faces brought me enormous pleasure even when I could only dream about them; All of you out there who kept me up on my bad days and said prayers for me constantly; All of my closest friends, who like my children, put on a brave face but felt like they were crumbling inside when they saw me for the first time; Kyle's family and my family, who were there whenever we needed them, they too kept a brave face for me, but were frightened beyond words; the 2nd graders from St. Mary's who prayed the rosary for me, even coming to my deck in June and praying for me; all the people who brought food and gave Kyle a break in the kitchen; and most of all, the dear Lord who made it posible for me to be here this Thanksgiving. So this Thanksgiving when you all sit down with your family count the many blessings in your life. Too many times we take a lot of them for granted, I know I did. I don't think I will ever view the world from that perspective again. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Platelets continue to rise

I went into the local hematologist office today for a blood test and my platelets continue to rise quickly. I am so happy and so was my nurse at Cleveland clinic when I spoke with her this afternoon. Seems things are progressing on the right track. Thank you everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Good news

Today I went to my local hematologist here in Sandusky for a blood draw and my platelets have doubled since last week! They faxed it to my doctor in Cleveland and he called this afternoon and said he is extemely pleased with the lab results. The platelets are higher than they have ever been since the bone marrow transplant. YES!!!! I just have to keep getting stronger so I can start thinking about going back to work. I miss all my friends there. But, I am taking it one day at a time and I thank God every day for all the blessings in my life and all of you are included in that category. Thank you all. We've come a long way together.

Friday, November 03, 2006

100th Day

Yesterday was my 100th day and I had my last weekly appointment at the Clinic. My counts are stable, but still low and my doctor says I don't have to come back for 1 month! I am too excited! And I don't have to get that 4 hour infusion anymore, so next month it will be just a doctor appointment and they will take my port out on that day also. YEAH! I am starting to feel stronger and better. I drove for the first time this week and it felt good. I had a wonderful 100th day, but of course that infusion always knocks me out so I took a nap when I got home. But, Hey I MADE IT! 100 days ! It is what they keep telling you is the goal to make it to and I did. YES I DID!