Hi My Friends.
It's been quite some time since I've posted here and am only rarely here to read occasionally. Since Kathy relapsed in January I have had to quit sports betting and hunker down. As you may remember right after Christmas she was bribing me to quit sports betting and if I did she'd get me a horse. We live on five acres and she used to raise and race thoroughbreds and still has some contacts in the horsey set.
Well.. after her relapse I just said....f*ck it and quit on my own. Didn't need the stress then and don't need it now. Since then she has been in the hospital THREE months. Two months from Jan-Feb. Then a month off and then another month in for more chemo.
I am going to post some e mails that I sent out yesterday that will be quicker and easier for me. To tell you the truth I don't really like talking about all this stuff.
Bottom line is that she will be undergoing another bone marrow transplant in about six weeks. They have found two matches.. the one they plan to use is a 26 year old Chinese male. Also have a female in Japan.
Bad news is that she had a bone marrow biopsy last week. At the meeting at City of Hope.. Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix they told us that the biopsy was bad. She has relapsed again. We had been planning to start the BMT the 10th but with the relapse now we have to get her back into complete remission. But they said if they can't they can still go ahead with the transplant.
So here's some cut and pasted e mails and info. Kathy has AML type 4, a type of aggressive leukemia.
Hi Everyone...
Well... I have to go back to Boswell on Monday to have more chemo. ICK!!! THEN... If all goes well, I'm scheduled for a bone marrow transplant at the City of Hope shortly after I'm released in about 5-6 weeks. They've found a bone marrow donor for me!!! Actually, there are two donors. One matches me better, but the other can be used "just in case..." The first choice is male, Chinese, 26 years old and in the United States. The second choice is female in Japan. The search for a donor is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
When Randy and I met with Dr. Schreiber today, he didn't paint a rosey picture. It's his responsibility to tell me everything that could possibly happen... good and bad. Having a BMT from an unrelated donor could be very risky, but it's my only hope of a cure. Some patients walk away with hardly any side effects. Some have major problems. There's no telling what I'll end up with.
I'm so thankful that a donor has been located. Randy and I never gave up hope.
I'll keep you posted on how things are going.
Love,
Kathy
I sent this reply to Nick Douglas I think he responded to the above e mail which Eric had forwarded:
Well thanks for the replies... more info for those interested.
I do, of course, know of you and appreciate the reply to my message. I have had to just quit the sports betting in the past six months since Kathy's relapse back in January. It got to where I just didn't want to do it anymore because it was adding immensely to my stress. As you may know, I am a chiropractor, and practice in Phoenix, Arizona. With all that's been going on it's hard enough just holding on to the practice when most of the time I really don't give a shit. But I have to since it's our only source of income.
The bad news is that ....Kathy had a bone marrow biopsy last Monday. They punch a hole in her ilium..the wing of her pelvis..they often say hip but it's not the top of the leg it's the upper part of the pelvis. This is a way of determining if there are any leukemic cells present.
Then Wednesday we had a meeting at City of Hope to discuss the bone marrow transplant. Yes, Kathy has two matches. We were hoping to start the transplant on the 10th of January. But we were given bad news at the meeting on Wednesday. Kathy has relapsed again and will have to undergo more chemo before the transplant. Her doctor is confident that he can get her into remission but it will be a month in the hospital. Boswell in Sun City, AZ. Then in six weeks she will be ready to go to Good Samaritan-City of Hope for the transplant.
The procedure...transplant has a 30 percent or more mortality rate. It could kill her or she could be left with serious side effects (Graft vs. Host Disease). The doctor at Good Sam said...there are some things worse than death. Oh........
But this is her only chance. He said it's up to you. You may decide that you don't want to do this. You can go home and enjoy the last few weeks of your life..about three to four weeks.. or you can do the chemo..get into remission again and then go ahead. The choice is yours.
Well..Kathy didn't hesitate at all.. she said let's go for it.
So we are spending a quiet weekend. I usually work on Saturady half a day but decide to just blow it off and spend time at home or take her out for lunch or dinner if she feels like it. Maybe go to an Indian Casino to play slots...which she loves and I hate. If we go.. I'll play some poker. We went to Casino Arizona last Thursday ..yes..day before yesterday where I won 200 playing Texas Hold em and she lost about 500. Oh well....usually she wins.. don't ask me how!
Not much else planned for today. I can't say that I'm really happy but I'm just doing the best that I can. Kathy is kind of tired ..sleepy and a little weak. But she may feel like doing something later. It's about 10:30 now Saturday morning.. dunno what if anything we will do.
She is OK..emotionally and chooses not to dwell on what's ahead. She says.. let's just take one day at a time.
Me..I'm kinda scared chitless...what can I say? Pretending to be strong when I feel like screaming or crying most of the time.
Anyway.. we are both holding on and doing the best that we can.
Wish us luck if we choose to go back to the casinos...
If you choose to email Kathy please do not mention her relapse. She chooses to NOT tell her friends and family. Just that she is going back in for more chemo before the BMT..If you want to e mail her and need the address it's removethisprefixkatblue@aol.com trying to keep email from being picked up.. so it's katblue
Randy
Will continue next post sorry so long
It's been quite some time since I've posted here and am only rarely here to read occasionally. Since Kathy relapsed in January I have had to quit sports betting and hunker down. As you may remember right after Christmas she was bribing me to quit sports betting and if I did she'd get me a horse. We live on five acres and she used to raise and race thoroughbreds and still has some contacts in the horsey set.
Well.. after her relapse I just said....f*ck it and quit on my own. Didn't need the stress then and don't need it now. Since then she has been in the hospital THREE months. Two months from Jan-Feb. Then a month off and then another month in for more chemo.
I am going to post some e mails that I sent out yesterday that will be quicker and easier for me. To tell you the truth I don't really like talking about all this stuff.
Bottom line is that she will be undergoing another bone marrow transplant in about six weeks. They have found two matches.. the one they plan to use is a 26 year old Chinese male. Also have a female in Japan.
Bad news is that she had a bone marrow biopsy last week. At the meeting at City of Hope.. Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix they told us that the biopsy was bad. She has relapsed again. We had been planning to start the BMT the 10th but with the relapse now we have to get her back into complete remission. But they said if they can't they can still go ahead with the transplant.
So here's some cut and pasted e mails and info. Kathy has AML type 4, a type of aggressive leukemia.
Hi Everyone...
Well... I have to go back to Boswell on Monday to have more chemo. ICK!!! THEN... If all goes well, I'm scheduled for a bone marrow transplant at the City of Hope shortly after I'm released in about 5-6 weeks. They've found a bone marrow donor for me!!! Actually, there are two donors. One matches me better, but the other can be used "just in case..." The first choice is male, Chinese, 26 years old and in the United States. The second choice is female in Japan. The search for a donor is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
When Randy and I met with Dr. Schreiber today, he didn't paint a rosey picture. It's his responsibility to tell me everything that could possibly happen... good and bad. Having a BMT from an unrelated donor could be very risky, but it's my only hope of a cure. Some patients walk away with hardly any side effects. Some have major problems. There's no telling what I'll end up with.
I'm so thankful that a donor has been located. Randy and I never gave up hope.
I'll keep you posted on how things are going.
Love,
Kathy
I sent this reply to Nick Douglas I think he responded to the above e mail which Eric had forwarded:
Well thanks for the replies... more info for those interested.
I do, of course, know of you and appreciate the reply to my message. I have had to just quit the sports betting in the past six months since Kathy's relapse back in January. It got to where I just didn't want to do it anymore because it was adding immensely to my stress. As you may know, I am a chiropractor, and practice in Phoenix, Arizona. With all that's been going on it's hard enough just holding on to the practice when most of the time I really don't give a shit. But I have to since it's our only source of income.
The bad news is that ....Kathy had a bone marrow biopsy last Monday. They punch a hole in her ilium..the wing of her pelvis..they often say hip but it's not the top of the leg it's the upper part of the pelvis. This is a way of determining if there are any leukemic cells present.
Then Wednesday we had a meeting at City of Hope to discuss the bone marrow transplant. Yes, Kathy has two matches. We were hoping to start the transplant on the 10th of January. But we were given bad news at the meeting on Wednesday. Kathy has relapsed again and will have to undergo more chemo before the transplant. Her doctor is confident that he can get her into remission but it will be a month in the hospital. Boswell in Sun City, AZ. Then in six weeks she will be ready to go to Good Samaritan-City of Hope for the transplant.
The procedure...transplant has a 30 percent or more mortality rate. It could kill her or she could be left with serious side effects (Graft vs. Host Disease). The doctor at Good Sam said...there are some things worse than death. Oh........
But this is her only chance. He said it's up to you. You may decide that you don't want to do this. You can go home and enjoy the last few weeks of your life..about three to four weeks.. or you can do the chemo..get into remission again and then go ahead. The choice is yours.
Well..Kathy didn't hesitate at all.. she said let's go for it.
So we are spending a quiet weekend. I usually work on Saturady half a day but decide to just blow it off and spend time at home or take her out for lunch or dinner if she feels like it. Maybe go to an Indian Casino to play slots...which she loves and I hate. If we go.. I'll play some poker. We went to Casino Arizona last Thursday ..yes..day before yesterday where I won 200 playing Texas Hold em and she lost about 500. Oh well....usually she wins.. don't ask me how!
Not much else planned for today. I can't say that I'm really happy but I'm just doing the best that I can. Kathy is kind of tired ..sleepy and a little weak. But she may feel like doing something later. It's about 10:30 now Saturday morning.. dunno what if anything we will do.
She is OK..emotionally and chooses not to dwell on what's ahead. She says.. let's just take one day at a time.
Me..I'm kinda scared chitless...what can I say? Pretending to be strong when I feel like screaming or crying most of the time.
Anyway.. we are both holding on and doing the best that we can.
Wish us luck if we choose to go back to the casinos...
If you choose to email Kathy please do not mention her relapse. She chooses to NOT tell her friends and family. Just that she is going back in for more chemo before the BMT..If you want to e mail her and need the address it's removethisprefixkatblue@aol.com trying to keep email from being picked up.. so it's katblue
Randy
Will continue next post sorry so long
