I typed this whole post out and then Firefox crashed and I lost everything. Let's try this again.
This week has been so busy that I haven't had much chance to update. Here is a general rundown of the week:
Saturday the 11th: Mom and Marilyn return to Concord. Emily at Carmen!Carmen! in University trims up Mom's wigs and they look awesome. Mom, Marilyn, Allen, Will and I go out to dinner at a favorite Mexican spot.
Sunday the 12th: Will has his first swimming lesson and loves it. I teach violin and love it. We spend some time with Marilyn in the evening and then Allen takes her to her hotel near the airport.
Monday the 13th: Marilyn flies out. I teach the first preschool cooking class at my place which is awesome. The kids and moms are all so wonderful. What a great group! Will and I go to the library to get the homeschool books for the week and then do his homeschool lessons. The theme for the week is "birth and babies"
Tuesday the 14th: Will watches the movie "Babies" and is absolutely thrilled. I have a midwife appointment that goes just great. Baby and I are doing beautifully!
Wednesday the 15th: Mom drives to Tai Chi, the first time she's been allowed to drive in weeks. She does great with it and is recovering well from everything she's been through. Allen, Will and I meet at IKEA for our weekly lunch.
Thursday the 16th: We go for my ultrasound and find out we are having a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Yay! She is named Lillian Agnes Kinsey. Allen's grandmother was named Lillian and Agnes is a name that my great aunt and great grandmother both had. I spent the rest of the day on the phone with relatives and friends, posting on the computer about the news, etc.
Friday: Mom, Will and I make the trek to Duke. Mom's blood draw looked great, had a good meeting with the doc and she had her maintenance infusion of Velcade. Will and I had lunch while Mom was in the infusion area and then drove home when she was done. It turns out that we don't have to spend the weekend at Duke. Yay!
This has been one whirlwind of a week, but overall Mom is recovering beautifully. She was pretty tired at the beginning of the week but has been a bit more energetic as the week goes on. Her elbow was sore, but the doctor thinks it's just a vein thing that should get better with heat and time.
The past few days, I have been exhausted. Lily was so active on Wednesday and Thursday nights that I only got three or four hours of sleep. It was pretty hard to keep up my schedule without decent rest. The more pregnant I get, the more difficult the trip to Duke gets. Yesterday, I had all kinds of ligament pain, fatigue and general soreness. The lack of sleep combined with a massive belly growth spurt and having lots to do and it was a very difficult convergence. Last night, I looked in the mirror and could not believe how different my tummy looked from when I got up in the morning. It got huge!! Anyway, I felt like I needed to learn to walk again and then by last night I was beyond desperate for sleep. Thankfully, I was able to get almost eight hours of sleep last night and feel like a new woman today. My plan is to spend some time on the birth ball and go for a nice long walk to get used to the new way I have to move with this massive belly. LOL!
Tomorrow, we have Will's next swimming lesson and then I am meeting with my dear friend and doula, Patti, to talk about birthy stuff. This week is another busy one and then Friday we make the trek to Duke again for Mom's next Velcade dose. Don't be surprised if I don't update the blog until next weekend again. I'd like to do so sooner, but with homeschooling in full swing and things settled down on the medical front, I'm not home very much at all.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
WOOOHOOOOO!!!
Mom had apheresis at Duke today and they got more stem cells than they needed!!! This is a process that can take several days but they got all that they needed and more this very first day. They needed 8,000 but they got 15,000 in the first bag and that doesn't include what they got later in the second bag. Amazing!
This means that Mom is DONE with this whole stem cell collection business! DONE! Yahooo! It's been quite a ride but step-by-step everything has come together.
From this point on, Mom is just on maintenance chemo, to extend her remission as long as possible. The weekends of September 17th and 24th, we'll be at Duke while she gets Velcade. October and November involve chemo in pill-form that won't require much travel, other than for her monthly check-up at Duke. December, she'll have Velcade again, and so on. For December, we'll have to figure out logistics, since I'll be full-term with a baby and not traveling anymore.
In other news, Will had his very first day of homeschool preschool today and loved it. This week's theme is, "All About Me." We're practicing writing the letter "A," as well as reading books and watching cartoons about what makes different people special. Will is also going to be helping to take pictures of important things like the house, his room, family members, pets, favorite toys, and his favorite things to do, etc. The photos will be compiled into a book called, "All About Me." Today, we made a trip to the library to pick up the week's books and read a few books. We played at the Lego table there and then watched a couple of videos at home. Will was so excited that he had to show Allen everything when he got home. lol. I think this is going to be very good for Will!
Will's cold is getting better. Today, he mostly had a cough. I think he may be back to normal after a good night's sleep. I'm glad to see him back to his bubbly self and I am really looking forward to being able to go visit Amber and fam, as well as meet their new precious baby girl. I have been chomping at the bit!
It looks like Allen, Will and I will have a few days on our own before Mom comes back to town. She and Marilyn are going to have fun around Raleigh/Durham for a few days and head back home on Saturday, when Mom has an appointment with Emily to have her wigs trimmed. We'll have a couple of days to hang out and catch up with Marilyn before she flies out to CA on Monday.
This means that Mom is DONE with this whole stem cell collection business! DONE! Yahooo! It's been quite a ride but step-by-step everything has come together.
From this point on, Mom is just on maintenance chemo, to extend her remission as long as possible. The weekends of September 17th and 24th, we'll be at Duke while she gets Velcade. October and November involve chemo in pill-form that won't require much travel, other than for her monthly check-up at Duke. December, she'll have Velcade again, and so on. For December, we'll have to figure out logistics, since I'll be full-term with a baby and not traveling anymore.
In other news, Will had his very first day of homeschool preschool today and loved it. This week's theme is, "All About Me." We're practicing writing the letter "A," as well as reading books and watching cartoons about what makes different people special. Will is also going to be helping to take pictures of important things like the house, his room, family members, pets, favorite toys, and his favorite things to do, etc. The photos will be compiled into a book called, "All About Me." Today, we made a trip to the library to pick up the week's books and read a few books. We played at the Lego table there and then watched a couple of videos at home. Will was so excited that he had to show Allen everything when he got home. lol. I think this is going to be very good for Will!
Will's cold is getting better. Today, he mostly had a cough. I think he may be back to normal after a good night's sleep. I'm glad to see him back to his bubbly self and I am really looking forward to being able to go visit Amber and fam, as well as meet their new precious baby girl. I have been chomping at the bit!
It looks like Allen, Will and I will have a few days on our own before Mom comes back to town. She and Marilyn are going to have fun around Raleigh/Durham for a few days and head back home on Saturday, when Mom has an appointment with Emily to have her wigs trimmed. We'll have a couple of days to hang out and catch up with Marilyn before she flies out to CA on Monday.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Marilyn is Here
Marilyn arrived this evening, a little after 6:00. I really wanted to pick her up myself but I was feeling really tired and didn't want to risk catching Will's cold by wearing myself down too much. He starts homeschool preschool on Tuesday and needs to get off to a good start. Allen wasn't feeling as tired, so he went to pick Marilyn up from the airport, about an hour drive from where we live.
Allen dropped Marilyn off at her hotel and helped her up with her things. Mom is actually staying in the same hotel, just for tonight. We dropped her off there earlier today. That way, she can get away from all the germs floating around the house. As expected, the two sisters were happy to see one another and filled with lots of good happy energy.
Will still has his cold today and tried to push himself really hard. He ended up skipping his nap and then being in bed by 6:00 tonight. We just went in to check on him and the little guy is sleeping hard as a rock. He's so cute!
Allen surprised me with dinner tonight: Chinese food from one of our favorite spots. He picked it up on his way home from dropping Marilyn off. We settled on the couch and watched a movie together. Nothing like a little together time on the long weekend. Love it!
Tomorrow, Mom has to be at the bone marrow transplant center for blood work at noon, so she and Marilyn will start the drive to Durham in the morning. Tuesday, Mom will start the apheresis process. Thankfully, she still seems to be healthy, so things should move along normally. I cannot believe that we are getting so close to having this part of the journey completed.
Allen dropped Marilyn off at her hotel and helped her up with her things. Mom is actually staying in the same hotel, just for tonight. We dropped her off there earlier today. That way, she can get away from all the germs floating around the house. As expected, the two sisters were happy to see one another and filled with lots of good happy energy.
Will still has his cold today and tried to push himself really hard. He ended up skipping his nap and then being in bed by 6:00 tonight. We just went in to check on him and the little guy is sleeping hard as a rock. He's so cute!
Allen surprised me with dinner tonight: Chinese food from one of our favorite spots. He picked it up on his way home from dropping Marilyn off. We settled on the couch and watched a movie together. Nothing like a little together time on the long weekend. Love it!
Tomorrow, Mom has to be at the bone marrow transplant center for blood work at noon, so she and Marilyn will start the drive to Durham in the morning. Tuesday, Mom will start the apheresis process. Thankfully, she still seems to be healthy, so things should move along normally. I cannot believe that we are getting so close to having this part of the journey completed.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Squirt Gets a Cold NOW?
Yesterday evening, Allen and I noticed that Will had a runny nose and a little bit of a cough. By this morning, he was in coughing fits. We took him out to get some new pj's this morning and then stopped by the grocery store. Right now, he's taking a nap and we're really hoping that he'll feel better soon.
I told Mom that it wouldn't bother me if she wanted to stay in a hotel tonight instead of here, to get away from the germs. She'd rather stay here and is wearing a mask and limiting contact to try and reduce the chance of her getting sick. It's a little iffy since the hefty dose of chemo she had really reduces immunity and Mom isn't really supposed to be around sick people.
We are hoping that Mom will stay healthy because the next few days of this process depend on that. Marilyn is flying in tomorrow night and then Monday morning they are driving to Duke. Mom has to be healthy to go into the bone marrow transplant clinic and proceed with the apheresis, so pray that she stays that way!
In other news, my friend Amber had her baby last night. Welcome to the word little one!
I told Mom that it wouldn't bother me if she wanted to stay in a hotel tonight instead of here, to get away from the germs. She'd rather stay here and is wearing a mask and limiting contact to try and reduce the chance of her getting sick. It's a little iffy since the hefty dose of chemo she had really reduces immunity and Mom isn't really supposed to be around sick people.
We are hoping that Mom will stay healthy because the next few days of this process depend on that. Marilyn is flying in tomorrow night and then Monday morning they are driving to Duke. Mom has to be healthy to go into the bone marrow transplant clinic and proceed with the apheresis, so pray that she stays that way!
In other news, my friend Amber had her baby last night. Welcome to the word little one!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Yesterday and Today
Yesterday got so busy that I didn't get enough time to give you an update. Mom had her Neupogen again and had more of a reaction to it. She had lots of achiness in her upper body, a dizzy spell and a brief spell of anxiety. Today, her shots seemed to go just fine.
This morning we went for another round of blood work at NorthEast hospital. They were able to get what they needed but one side of the central line is acting fussy again. Mom says they were able to flush it out. While there, a man was playing the piano, so Will and I stopped to watch on the way to the bathroom and he absolutely loved it.
After the hospital, we had to stop by the credit union, grocery store (I just ran in for water.) and grab some lunch. We got home around 2:00, so it has been a busy day.
Big thanks to our friend Patti who brought dinner last night. It was amazingly delicious! She also hung out with Mom and Will for a couple of hours so Allen and I could go on a date. I was able to get a room at the Hilton for 70% off, so we spent a few hours over there. It was just what the doctor ordered. When we got home, we found Patti hard at work. She had mopped the floors, and she and Mom had worked on cleaning the light fixture above the kitchen table and washing the kitchen curtains. What a wonderful surprise! Will had a ball, too, and especially loves the alphabet animal book that Ms. Patti brought him. I think it's going to be a new staple in his bedtime routine. He's since been asking about seeing Ms. Patti and going to Ms. Patti's house to meet the goat and the dog. lol.
Allen, Will and I also got to have our weekly lunch at IKEA yesterday, which we weren't able to do last week or the week before due to lots of stuff going on. We were all glad to do that and Will was especially excited.
In other news, a local friend of mine is in labor today with her second baby. She called me early this morning. I am so excited to meet her new bundle of joy when she is born! If you could send positive thoughts and prayers to my friend Amber, that would be great. :-D
This morning we went for another round of blood work at NorthEast hospital. They were able to get what they needed but one side of the central line is acting fussy again. Mom says they were able to flush it out. While there, a man was playing the piano, so Will and I stopped to watch on the way to the bathroom and he absolutely loved it.
After the hospital, we had to stop by the credit union, grocery store (I just ran in for water.) and grab some lunch. We got home around 2:00, so it has been a busy day.
Big thanks to our friend Patti who brought dinner last night. It was amazingly delicious! She also hung out with Mom and Will for a couple of hours so Allen and I could go on a date. I was able to get a room at the Hilton for 70% off, so we spent a few hours over there. It was just what the doctor ordered. When we got home, we found Patti hard at work. She had mopped the floors, and she and Mom had worked on cleaning the light fixture above the kitchen table and washing the kitchen curtains. What a wonderful surprise! Will had a ball, too, and especially loves the alphabet animal book that Ms. Patti brought him. I think it's going to be a new staple in his bedtime routine. He's since been asking about seeing Ms. Patti and going to Ms. Patti's house to meet the goat and the dog. lol.
Allen, Will and I also got to have our weekly lunch at IKEA yesterday, which we weren't able to do last week or the week before due to lots of stuff going on. We were all glad to do that and Will was especially excited.
In other news, a local friend of mine is in labor today with her second baby. She called me early this morning. I am so excited to meet her new bundle of joy when she is born! If you could send positive thoughts and prayers to my friend Amber, that would be great. :-D
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Hickman Issues Resolved, Neupogen Shots and Etc.
This morning, Mom, Will and I were out the door by 7am to go to the outpatient lab clinic at NorthEast hospital. They called down someone from the IV team again to draw Mom's blood from her Hickman. At first they were having problems again but the nurse had my Mom cough and lift her arm. Low and behold, problem solved! No clots in there or anything. My guess is that the outpatient lab doesn't see too many folk with central lines, so they didn't know how to handle it Monday. The nurse today was more experienced and had just the right trick to free things up.
Today I went to the lab prepared with lots of stuff for Will to do. He had food, drinks, crayons and paper, a toy car and his Elmo lunchbox. I was so happy to have a satisfied kiddo on my hands. We were all out of there around 9:00 and then went home to relax for an hour before I brought Will to the first week of his first music class.
Will hated his music class. Poor kiddo cried and cried and just could not get into it. I think it was too noisy, too much stimulation and too much of everyone doing the same exact thing at the same time. I'm glad to have an independent thinker on my hands and he just was not into it. We suffered through the hour, but won't be going back. Afterward, I treated Will to lunch at Moe's and let him stay up for a bit before going down for his quiet time. I think Will would do better with some kind of private music lesson or a less structured preschool music class. He loved the kids but not the teachers. He also enjoyed the free playtime before and after class. The little guy just doesn't like being a robot. I can't say I blame him. LOL!
Mom is doing well with the Neupogen shots so far. She took the first shots yesterday and has already had her second set of shots for today. So far, I think the only real complaint was some itchiness and soreness last night,but nothing too major. I know it stings a bit after the injection, but that's the case with a lot of medications. I am so happy that Mom hasn't had anything too major with that stuff so far and I hope that it stays that way. It is nice to think that about week from now, she could be done with apheresis and we could be putting all of this behind us and just enjoying life.
Today I went to the lab prepared with lots of stuff for Will to do. He had food, drinks, crayons and paper, a toy car and his Elmo lunchbox. I was so happy to have a satisfied kiddo on my hands. We were all out of there around 9:00 and then went home to relax for an hour before I brought Will to the first week of his first music class.
Will hated his music class. Poor kiddo cried and cried and just could not get into it. I think it was too noisy, too much stimulation and too much of everyone doing the same exact thing at the same time. I'm glad to have an independent thinker on my hands and he just was not into it. We suffered through the hour, but won't be going back. Afterward, I treated Will to lunch at Moe's and let him stay up for a bit before going down for his quiet time. I think Will would do better with some kind of private music lesson or a less structured preschool music class. He loved the kids but not the teachers. He also enjoyed the free playtime before and after class. The little guy just doesn't like being a robot. I can't say I blame him. LOL!
Mom is doing well with the Neupogen shots so far. She took the first shots yesterday and has already had her second set of shots for today. So far, I think the only real complaint was some itchiness and soreness last night,but nothing too major. I know it stings a bit after the injection, but that's the case with a lot of medications. I am so happy that Mom hasn't had anything too major with that stuff so far and I hope that it stays that way. It is nice to think that about week from now, she could be done with apheresis and we could be putting all of this behind us and just enjoying life.
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