WILL THE BUMPS IN THE ROAD NEVER END?

December 1st is cancelled for Terry's transplant. She came down with a severe sinus infection and has been treated with antibiotics and a few other medications. She can't have the transplant with an active infectious process.
We saw the Transplant Oncologist earlier this week and now the tenative date is 12/15/09. That will mean Christmas in the hospital.
On a positive note, our daughter Karen and her housemate Annisa visitied for Thanksgiving. Although the visit was brief it was wonderful. They bring a lot of sunshine to us. We are thankful for every day, for all of our freinds, relatives and well-wishers.

AWESOME NEWS

We arrived home last night from our visit to Rome. There was a phone message from the Nurse Coordinator at the University of Michigan. The message was short but very sweet. "It's a go! Doctors Mineishi and Bloom conferred and Terry will have her stem cell transplant as scheduled on December 1st". Now we enter the next phase of her road to subduing the cancer.

A few people have asked some questions of this disease and the ensuing treatment. FYI, the stem cell transplant has nothing to do with embryonic stem cells. Terry will be receiving her own cells which were harvested from her bone marrow a few months ago. They have been "on ice" and will be defrosted just before the transplant procedure.

When Terry goes into the hospital for the transplant, we are told the procedure is rather anti-climatic. The cells are thawed and she will be given them by I.V. However due to a high dose of chemo given the day preceding the transplant Terry will have no ability to fight infections and will have to be hospitalized for a least two weeks and in a controlled form of isolation. She will be able to have visitors but whenever she wants to leave her room she will wear a mask. Terry will not be able to have fresh flowers or plants as they carry molds, fungi and other things that could do her harm.

Our prayers have been answered for this news. We know that a lot of people have been praying for her too. Please don't stop praying for her yet as she now needs a successful transplant. Thank you all for what you have done. God bless you all.

STILL ON THE FENCE

Terry had her biopsy last Wednesday and we were hoping to have the results by Monday-Tuesday at the latest. Both days came and went. Finally at 4 PM on Wednesday Dr. Bloom (Terry's Primary Oncologist) called with the results. Good news and we aren't sure news. The good news is that Terry's cancer cells in her marrow are down to 2 %. The goal was to get to less than 5%. However, the pathologist who examined Terry's bone marrow slide saw something that bothered her and she decided to do a few extra tests. That is why the results were late, as we were waiting for these added tests. The new tests show small islands of cancer within the core of the biopsy that are up to 15% cancer cells. Dr. Bloom wants to confer with the Transplant Oncologist (Dr Mineishi) to assess the viability of the impending stem cell transplant. To make a long story short we don't know and won't know if Terry will have her stem cells transplanted on December 1st or not. We are still up in the air and will probably know more early next week.

In the meantime Terry has a 10 day hiatus from chemotherapy so we are in Rome, New York visiting her family. Terry's Mom is in a nursing home, so this visit has been a jolt of good for both of them.

On a more macabre note, we visited our gravestone which was put in place a few weeks ago. I wanted to lie down and have our picture taken, but saner heads prevailed. Terry said "no".

I will update this blog next week, hopefully with good news. Please keep the prayers and good thoughts soming.

All Dressed Up and No Place To Go

Terry sure looks happy for a girl with cancer. The picture on the left is a recent photo taken for our church directory. The caption for this item is really a misnomer. We have been going a lot of places and visiting with many of our friends and family. We just dress more casually.
If everything goes right, Terry is scheduled to be admitted to the University of Michigan on December 1st for her stem cell transplant. We won't know about that for at least a few weeks.
This week Terry had to stop her chemotherapy as she has developed a case of shingles. I am no longer the only pain in her side. We don't know what this will do to her moving forward with the transplant. We will learn more in about a week.
This disease really sucks! Just when things seem to start to fall in line, something else appears and screw things up. Through all of this, Terry has had a great attitude. Someone wrote on the blog that she is a hero. She's got my vote too.
Soon after the transplant and the disease is put into remission, we will get all dressed up and have plenty of places to go.
Thanks again to all for your prayers, cards, notes, calls, etc. We are blessed to have so many friends.

A NEW MONTH - ANXIETY AGAIN

Terry has been taking her new regimen for a few months now and is tolerating it well. We thought her next bone marrow biopsy would be at least a month away. To make a long story short, Dr. Bloom ran another test measuring Terry's light chains. No, not the type you have in your closet! Her multiple myeloma is a kappa light chain type. Her kappa free light chains have been averaging anywhere from 22.1 to 25.4. Normal should be 0.33 to 1.94. Since she has been on this new medication, Velcade, her kappa light chains have dropped to 2.74. That is a remarkable result! However the proof of the pudding is in the tasting - in this case testing. We received a message from the transplant team, that they want a bone marrow biopsy scheduled soon. If that comes back as they suspect Terry will now get her stem cell transplant the first week of December.
Now it is time to get nervous again. If you have any extra prayers left, please say one for Terry to do well in the biopsy.
Thank you all for the cards, prayers, calls, e-mails, concerns and prayers. Yes, I meant to say prayers twice.

A day that wasn't

09/09/09 came and went---just like all the rest of the days this year. This was supposed to be the day the magic started and it wasn't. It was just a day.
Terry is doing well on her new medication regimen. She now takes Velcade on day 1, 4, 8 and 11-then a 10 day reprieve. That is one course and then she starts all over again. No major side effects, however her back aches more than in the past and she still tires with too much exertion. We are keeping the chasing down to once a day.
Her hair is making a comeback. We don't know if it will be straight, curly, gray, blond, red, black, brown or calico. Whatever it will be nice. We are having our pictures taken next week for the church directory. Terry will have a babushka.
Thanks to everyone for all that you do. You mean more to us than you will ever know.

A NEW DAWN STARTS TODAY

Terry started on a new therapy today. She will now be taking a product called Velcade which causes the cancer cells to stop dividing and hopefully causes the cancer cells to die. Cancer cells appear to be more sensitive to these effects than normal cells. (Let's hope that is the case with Terry).

She will be on this course of therapy for 3-4 regimens before another bone marrow biopsy is done. Each course of therapy is 21 days-so it will be it will probably be sometime in November before any results are in.

She had been on a drug called Revlimid for the past 7 months. This drug is a derivative of thalidomide. For those old enough to remember thalidomide is the drug associated with "flipper babies" due to birth abnormalities. It was used in the '60s for pre-partum nausea prevention. (I am recalling the information about thalidomide from my memory recesses-so I might be off a little).

There are a whole host of things that can be tried. Unfortunately they all take months before evaluation.

Terry is doing fine both physically and emotionally. She gets more and more energy each day and has a very positive attitude. I know the attitude is helped a lot by having so many good friends with tons of prayers and well wishes.

Her physical strength is probably due to the fact that we continue to chase each other around the house. (Some things never change).