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HANNA'S CANCER: ONE-YEAR CHECKUP AND CELEBRATION!!!

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We spent the last couple of weeks traveling to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for Hanna's one-year Cancer Check Up. The annual checkup at Mayo will be a life-long routine from here on out. I'll share some of the fun pictures of our experience, and then near the end, what the Doctor had to say about Hanna's condition. (Don't worry, it's good news, but keep reading anyways for entertainment value.) The day started out with the usual blood test. (And in case you are wondering, yes, there was a 24-hour urine test where she peed into the jug of shame. But, this took place at home and a sample of the urine was mailed to Mayo. We still have not informed our unsuspecting mail carrier what kind of toxic waste is in the packages we mailed............) Notice how cheery Hanna is while having gallons of her blood removed from her body. She has learned that beating cancer is a lot of good attitude and that being negative accomplishes nothing. Plus the medical profession...
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100-DAY CHECK UP!!

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Welcome back to the grand adventure! Here, have a picture of Hanna about to give up half the blood in her body to the blood test people at Mayo Clinic/Med City. Eleven vials this time! We made a quick trip to Mayo for Hanna's 100-day post Stem Cell Transplant checkup (and celebration). We flew over on Monday. Attended a full day's worth of tests and appointments. And then flew home on Wednesday. We stayed at the same home we stayed in for two months last Fall. We are starting to call it our "second home". Rochester is a fine city and it feels like home too. First up was the very extremely early 7:30am (5:30 in our time zone) Blood Draw. (See above). 8:00 was the Bone Marrow Biopsy. This was Hanna's third time to have a drill or needle plunged through her hip into the bone marrow to take a sample and see how much of it is cancer. Good news and Bad news on this one. Bad news first. This time, for the first time ever, it hurt. Not unbearable, but about 30 seconds of ...
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GETTING CLOSER.........

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Guess what this is!! So exciting! It came in the mail a few days ago, just like a large gift from Santa Clause! Only it is not from Santa. It's from Mayo Clinic. Yes! It is the jug of shame!! To be used for her 24-hour pee test in preparation for our trip to Mayo Clinic on January 3rd.  They want her to pee ahead of time.  Just pee in the Jug of Shame, shake it up, pour some of it into a smaller container, mail the smaller container back.  They even included detailed instructions! The pee test will help the doctors to see what sort of nastiness is still in her system. Proteins primarily. I wonder if the mail lady even knows what she will be transporting............ Merry Christmas from Mayo Clinic! Pee in a jug!! We felt that excitement warranted a blog post. (Yes, our mostly isolated/retired life can be this boring at times. We can't wait to get out more.) Update:  Things are going well, except for one mostly minor mishap (see below).  Dr Gay, our local oncolog...
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ALMOST HALF-WAY!! And "DNR"

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Today is Day 47.  (47 days since the Stem Cell Transplant).  We are three days shy of being half-way to the much anticipated 100-day mark. Here, have a picture of the new matching cancer hats Hanna made us!  JEEP green!  Very nice. She actually finished them both before we left Mayo Clinic, but we just figured out that we never did show them off to you all. Hanna is doing very well: She has her energy back; no more fatigue.  She spends at least 30 minutes on the treadmill almost every day and keeps speeding it up more and more with time. She hardly ever naps any more and sleeps well at night. She has her appetite fully back.  No more pressuring her to consume her minimum of protein and calories. No signs of toxic, explosive diarrhea or toxic vomit in one's hat. We think there are tiny stubs of new hair starting to show up on her head. She has started to regain feeling in her toes.  Huge miracle there as several doctors told her that may not ever come b...
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HOMEWARD BOUND

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Saying "good bye" to the Mayo Clinic and ready to head for home tomorrow.  No appointments over the weekend gave us a chance to rest and things actually seemed to be getting back to normal.   As usual, have a few pictures of what we have done the past few days: Hanna's last blood draw!  All numbers were in the normal area.  The Stem Cells are thriving.  Everything is on track. Only our Scouting/Wood Badge friends will truly understand the significance of the next two pictures, taken in Dr. Gertz's own waiting room: There were a bunch of creatures like these hanging on the wall, but only these two critters.  And they happened to be "ours".  We couldn't help but take a couple of pictures! The Medical Staff allowed me to stay in the Procedure Room to witness the removal of Hanna's port.  They warned me that there may be blood and I could faint.  I reassured them that if I did faint, I was in a hospital that has some of the best care in the world...
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ENGRAFTMENT!

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A picture of Hanna, modeling one of her many hats.  And SMILING!  We somehow manage to meet our challenges with humor and smiles.  That appears to be mostly my job.  But it ain't hard to make Hanna smile. One of the more embarrassing tests transplant patients (and their caretakers) have to deal with is the 24-hour urine test.  They give you a huge two-gallon bright red jug to pee in for 24 hours.  You take it home with you and then bring it back full the next day.  They try to hide it in a white shopping bag.  But there is no hiding the bright red jug.  We have taken to calling it the bag of shame.  Many other patients have burst into laughter as we called it that while they carried theirs past us down the Mayo hallways. Monday we were bringing the bag of shame back to Unit 9-4 for testing.  (Someone actually goes to school to learn how to test urine.  Amazing!!)  As always, our wheelchair set off the "they may have a gun"...
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IMPROVEMENT/ENGRAPHMENT!!

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Here is Hanna with her cancer fox.  Every cancer survivor must have a cancer fox.  I had one.  It makes a huge difference.  (Both were provided by very good friends and supporters of ours that pray a lot.)  We are so thankful for them, their faith, and the foxes they gave us. This is just a short blog to keep you all updated.  After dramatic blogs about hair loss, explosive toxic diarrhea, and vehicular vomit episodes, we wanted you to know that things are getting better and are on the up and up.  The awesome new stem cells are working hard and Hanna's body is recovering well. Hanna is feeling better, which is one of the three requirements for getting approval to travel home.  Yesterday she consumed bacon and steak.  Her appetite is coming back.  She only had the one episode of vomit and hasn't had diarrhea in several days.  She still has a couple of nasty mouth sores that keep her from getting too excited about eating.  But sh...
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