Amy's Angels

Amy's Angels is a project started by a friend of Megan M. (Julie's daughter) .
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As many of you know, in September I walked in the Breast Cancer 3-day Walk because of my friend Amy. I am happy to report that Amy is cancer free andis back to her sassy self.

Recently Amy shared with me that what got her through the tough times were cards and letters from friends and family. She also got cards from people she didn't even know. This got me thinking. I talked it over with our3-day team and they love the idea of paying it forward. This is how theCards by Amy's Angels project was born. We want to send out cards to peoplewho are fighting cancer. Not just breast cancer--any cancer.

Here's how it works: a friend or family member requests a card. They send an e-mail to our card address ( located on our blog) and we then send out the card FREE OF CHARGE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. The recipient gets a handmade card (did you see that? HANDMADE...noHallmark stuff here!) with a personal note inside from one of us.It's that easy.

This is where you come in. I need you to bookmark our site and send it to anyone you know. Ask them to bookmark it and pass it on. Anything thatwill get our blog out there for folks to see. Oh...and the blog site is: http://cardsbyamysangels.blogspot.com

Back to the Hospital on the 14th

Yesterday Vicki got the news that she'll have to go back to UCSF for the transplantation phase of the treatment on December 14. This means she'll be there through the Christmas and New Year holidays.

We're going to have to figure out how to adapt our Christmas morning tradition to a hospital setting. I'm not sure if adult beverages and the un-rated version of "Bad Santa" will be permitted.

A Big Harvest

Today I arrived at work where I picked up a phone message from Jack, shortly before Vicki was discharged from the hospital yesterday.

He said that they needed to harvest 2 1/2 million cells for the transplant. Analysis of the first harvest showed that it contained 60 million cells, "That's six-zero." Way to go Vicki!

Jack had the dogs waiting in the car for the trip home, which I thought was very sweet. I'll bet those were two happy pups.

A True Thanksgiving

Miss Vicki went home from the hospital this afternoon. We will have a true Thanksgiving this year. She said she'll need several nights of sleeping in her own bed to start feeling normal.

Unless there are major developments there will be a little less activity on the blog now, updates only when there is something significant report. Everybody have a nice holiday, count some blessings.

Coming Home Tuesday (Cross Your Fingers!!!)

I had a message from Jack this afternoon telling me that Vicki did beautifully today. They inserted the catheter in her neck and did the first apheresis session as planned. The quality of the white cells they collected was very "rich", which is a good thing, so good that they might have gotten enough on this first try. The technician who tests the sample has gone home for the day so we won't know until the morning. There's a small chance they'll have to do one more collection tomorrow, but either way Vicki should be able to go home tomorrow. She's in a bit of pain from the catheter so taking some good pain relief to keep her comfortable tonight.

Everybody say your prayers and cross your fingers!

All Benign

All lumps, bumps, and skull creases are benign. Tomorrow morning V. gets a catheter in her neck which sounds a little scary and makes her a bit nervous. It'll be Jack's day off work so he'll be able to be at the hospital for support. The first stem cell harvest will be in the afternoon.

V. is hoping to come home soon. We know that there's always the chance that things could go off course over the next few days, but if things change we'll just deal with it then. For now we're going to assume a normal course of events, a high yield harvest, and a quick discharge leaving plenty of time to be home and enjoy the holidays before the big treament begins.

The next round of treatment will be a big one folks. The drugs are intense and there's no getting around the fact that the Dragonfly Gal will be sick, sick, sick, even with all the medical support. It'll be hard, but she can do it with a little help from the village.

Lumps and Bumps

V. had a little temperature spike Thursday night and was pretty sweaty and uncomfortable. She found a lump on her (she'd kill me if I told you exactly where) which may be an abscess and could explain the fever. They did a CT scan and are waiting for the results to decide what to do about it.

Last night she whacked her head on IVY (the IV pole) for about the dozenth time, but this time Jack ratted her out to the nurse so they scanned her head at the same time as the lump. We're still waiting for results, but I'm pretty sure the diagnosis will be a thick skull and the prescription will be to duck next time.

The 20 Day Limit
V. said that 20 days is about her limit on this deal which means her expiration date is Sunday. Hospitals are not good places for sick people and V. is just about ready to go home. She's feeling spunky and P.O.'ed about having to be there, which is a pretty good sign overall.

Update from Vicki

Received the following e-mail message from Vicki on Thursday:
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My white counts have already started to increase from the neupogen and Doctor Wolf says we are ahead of schedule. He is increasing the dosage of neupogen tomorrow evening and sheduling my collection catheter be put in on Monday. Then Tuesday the Harvest will begin. I am really excited.I could be going home next week.

Start Warming Up the John Deer

Dr. W. says they'll be ready to begin harvesting stem cells next week. The process is described in detail in the document included in one of the earlier posts, but in short the patient's blood circulates through a machine which separates out the cells they need to keep then returns the remaining cells to the patient. If you've ever done apheresis platelet donations at your local blood bank, the process is similar. The process takes 3-4 hours and will be repeated 1-4 times until there are enough cells for the transplant.

Donate Blood
And speaking of blood donations, Vicki has received literally dozens of units of donated whole blood and platelets. Without the support of these transfusions the chemotherapy she receives would weaken her to the point that it would be very difficult to survive. Blood products are always in extremely short supply and there have been times when it was not certain whether Vicki would receive what she needed. She does not need designated donations from any of us, but your donations can help improve the overall supply across the nation and help support others in your community whose lives depend on it.

Nothing Much to Report

No big news, which is good news. Vicki is nice and stable, no infections, no major developments. She's doing so well that her doctor suggested moving her to another floor so that a sicker patient could be moved to the leukemia ward. After moving four times this was unwelcome news. Jack made a phone call to the nead nurse and said, "I don't think so."* Vicki will be staying put for now.

* Private joke: reference to the time I scared a little girl in Las Vegas.

Growth Hormone Begins

I had a nice visit with the DragonflyGal on Sunday. She was perky and alert, taking her walks, and doing great. She says this treatment is a walk in the park compared to what she went through in August.

Today she'll begin taking the growth hormone which will increase her white blood cell count and prepare her for the collection phase of the treatment during which stem cells will be collected from her blood stream to be transplanted later. The drug, filgrastim (brand name Neupogen), can cause mild to moderate bone pain. Vicki took this drug in 2005 and found it to be quite painful. Our good friend vicodin will be back in town for the duration of this treatment.

Private Room

Miss V. has her private room now. She has a view of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge. She said that last night she watched the fog roll in until her windows looked frosty.

She's tired and weak, but doing pretty well. The diarrhea is over, thank goodness! She had a little fever last night and has developed some itty bitty sores in her mouth, which is very much expected. She went for two walks yesterday which will help very much with keeping up her strength and energy.

She says she really likes her nurses and feels safe there.

Jack can't visit because he has a cold so keep the phone calls and e-mails coming to keep our gal company.

Yeah for Neutropenia

Today's bloodwork showed that Vicki is neutropenic which means her white blood cell count is low. This is an expected result of the chemo and although it means she is now more vulnerable to infection. The good news is that it means she gets to move to a private room.

Shhhhh (It's a Surprise)

I need your help to try to coordinate a little surprise for Miss V. Please e-mail me privately so I can clue you in on what you can do.

She's reading the blog so Shhhhhhhhhhh!

How To -- REVISED 6-NOV
Sorry, my previous instructions aren't working. I didn't want to post my e-mail address because this is a public blog and I'm asking for heaps-o-spam. I'll It's AllenAndCatz@att.net. BE SURE TO WRITE IT DOWN. I'm going to take if off the blog after a couple of days.

Chemo Means Business

Yesterday was not good. Vicki said, "The chemo let me know it meant business." Today she is better, but very tired. Her blood counts are starting to decline, as expected. When they get low enough she'll get to move to a private room.

They are running a poo test to see if her diarrhea is bacterial and if so, antiobiotics will start. She's expecting her first transfusion today which always gives her a bit of pep.

She's working on doing a little exercise every day and said that everybody is out doing their laps around the ward during the day, but it gets pretty boring. She said she might try a short bike ride today. I assume she means a stationary bike, but don't be surprise if you see her out in Golden Gate park with her hospital johnny flying and her fanny hanging out for the world to see.

Keep the comments and e-mails coming. V. said that although she doesn't always feel well enough to reply, they really help lift her spirits.

Treatment Details

Last Sunday Vicki gave me a copy of a patient consent form which spells out the details of the treatments she will receive along with the risks and side effects. For those who feel better with more information, I have provided a link to a copy of that document.

WARNING: I found it rather frightening and upsetting to get so many details all at once so please consider your own sensitivity to such things when deciding whether or not to read.

Patient Consent Form (.pdf)

This is a rather large document so it may take a couple of minutes to load in your browser window.