To All-
Wow Wow Wow!! Those three words encompass many things about our first visit to the Fred Hutch and SCCA. I'm really not sure where to start but safe to say the entire visit was very informative, well orchestrated, refreshing in a odd way but most importantly extremely encouraging! As with a great deal of this journey it's impossible for me to effectively communicate the entire process or what's happening within that process, there's just too much, but I will say today was a great day! Not that we hadn't had good news before however today we were able to put certain cares and concerns aside and truly look at the process and really the time line. We found out today that we can expect to begin the transplant process either late June or early July. Ret's mad because it's getting in the way of her summer and much worse her golf. While the actual transplant itself will be the easy part, if there's really anything easy in any of this, the "Conditioning " process is the most difficult in almost all cases. That is where, for all of us "lay" people, the Chemotherapy takes place. It is an intense 4 day medicine therapy, "chemo", that will eradicate most if not all of the cancer cells. That's not to say you are cancer free, just that Ret is in remission and they can then capture Ret's blood which carry the stem cells for them to reintroduce to her after she has gone through a 2 to 3 week recoup period. They actually capture and store enough stem cells to preform two transplants if necessary. After that has taken place we need to live within 15-20 minutes of the "Hutch" just in case any complications arise. It truly is a critical time as Ret will be extremely vulnerable to any type of illnesses from the common cold, flu, measles, chicken pox or whatever. But again we need to be close just in case anything comes up. That is because her immune system is basically gone. That period will last at least 3 months but could be as long as 6 months. As mentioned before in my previous posts all these things are dependent how Ret reacts to all these different procedures.
As I write this, I can see how to some of you this may not sound encouraging however given some of the options that are or were available believe me it really is.
Now I know that this is what you are really waiting for and that is my rants!!! Look I spared most of you this week because I placed this at the bottom just so those of you who want to can skip it. But really this is about each of you.
As you know I've mentioned things in previous posts that a lot of you have done for Ret and I along this crazy road we're traveling, again as you also know I'm not doing this for any other reason than to simply thank each and everyone of you. So here I go. I'm not sure but with the economic uncertainly in the world today that there aren't many places where you might place your money but one thing I will tell you is that whether it's Hallmark or any other card company dump it there. That's because some of you are spending a crazy amount on cards, whether it's monthly or weekly, and yes some of you are sending one weekly, Ret is getting a tremendous amount of cards. To each of you we can only say thank you.
I think I mentioned last week about things that Ret wants to take with her during the transplant process one being the prayer shawl she received, another being one of those new computer chip picture frames that rotates pic's off the chip which I'll pick up here soon, but another is a very special letter. Sorry I'm getting long winded here. We have a very close high school friend of ours who Ret has forged a very special relationship with over the years who sent her a letter. While the relationship is special, what is really special is not so much the letter it self but it's delivery. What makes it special is you need to know Bob is a feature writer for Associated Press and has been for thirty years, actually working at the Pentagon and he bangs out stories at a fevered pace as you can imagine. Just google Robert Burns AP and you'll see. So with that pace and volume of text he creates on a daily basis it would be too easy to just bang out a little more in an email or typed correspondence, knowing full well it certainly would be heartfelt, but still an easy way to communicate. But no, he left the keyboard and using his words he "was drawn to the pen" yes the old hand written letter. To some that may not seem to be that special but given how fast we live our lives the thought and the time Bob spent to be more personable was fantastic. As you can imagine the words and the message were caring and special but it just struck me that the medium just as special. That too is a treasured memento that will accompany Ret on her visit and stay at the Hutch.
Again you all hold a special place with us.
Lauretta and Jack
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
First Dr. Visit Post Medication
Everyone-
I'm posting a little late this week, we wanted to get the doctor visit out of the way in hopes of providing you all with some detailed info regarding Ret's progress, but more on that later.
Here I go again! As with my last posts I've mentioned some of the great things that you've done for us that truly give us hope but more importantly let's us know how blessed we are to have each of you as family and friends. Well again this is one I should have mentioned right from the get-go. I've had a number of comments regarding what a great idea it was to create this blog enabling all of you to keep track of Ret's progress. Well guess what.............it really wasn't me! I know, I know you're shocked, me too I usually come up with all the great ideas. But really it was Kim Christianson and her daughter Andrea, they had the idea, created the layout then passed it on to me. How easy was that huh? What I really should do is put them in the witness protection program because giving me another avenue to blab, JUST AIN'T RIGHT, and may put their lives in danger!! Let me give you a little hint just skip the first paragraph or two go right to where I talk about Ret and you'll be spared. Another cool thing is we received a Prayer Shawl from Jim and Sue Gronhovd, TJ's in-laws, that a lady in their church the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Puyallup made, it is truly a beautiful piece of work and craftsmanship. It also came with two wonderful prayers one which was said during the entire time she worked on the shawl....incredible. There are certain things that Ret wants to take with her while she stays at the Fred Hutch for the transplant and treatment and I've been told this shawl is definitely one of them. I know I've said this before and I know I will say it again you people are amazing!
Our first post medical treatment doctor appointment was today, unfortunately we didn't get the blood labs back so while we didn't get any real factual information, outside of the normal, the doctor was happy with Ret's progress to date. We discussed the side effects Ret has been experiencing along with other tidbits and again the doctor said all seemed to be normal. One troubling bit of info was that because Ret's form of this particular cancer is a very aggressive, was that she was to be on two drugs to manage the disease not just the Thalidomide, the other being Dexamethasone, well she wasn't. While this is not particularly large problem it's certainly not what we wanted to hear. Lesson here ask ask ask! The weird thing was in all the literature we read the Dexa drug was mentioned but we also knew and discussed with the doc that in many cases the Thalidomide was the appropriate drug therapy. Again not a huge problem but hey you want it right from the start, well we're now on the right path so things are looking up. As I mentioned before our first visit to the Fred Hutch will be on March 30th, while we approach that visit with a certain sense of trepidation, which may sound weird to some of you, it will set us on a course to recovery.
I can only say, words large or small, cleverly crafted or just written in plain language, can't express how we feel about each of you.
Love,
Ret and Jack
I'm posting a little late this week, we wanted to get the doctor visit out of the way in hopes of providing you all with some detailed info regarding Ret's progress, but more on that later.
Here I go again! As with my last posts I've mentioned some of the great things that you've done for us that truly give us hope but more importantly let's us know how blessed we are to have each of you as family and friends. Well again this is one I should have mentioned right from the get-go. I've had a number of comments regarding what a great idea it was to create this blog enabling all of you to keep track of Ret's progress. Well guess what.............it really wasn't me! I know, I know you're shocked, me too I usually come up with all the great ideas. But really it was Kim Christianson and her daughter Andrea, they had the idea, created the layout then passed it on to me. How easy was that huh? What I really should do is put them in the witness protection program because giving me another avenue to blab, JUST AIN'T RIGHT, and may put their lives in danger!! Let me give you a little hint just skip the first paragraph or two go right to where I talk about Ret and you'll be spared. Another cool thing is we received a Prayer Shawl from Jim and Sue Gronhovd, TJ's in-laws, that a lady in their church the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Puyallup made, it is truly a beautiful piece of work and craftsmanship. It also came with two wonderful prayers one which was said during the entire time she worked on the shawl....incredible. There are certain things that Ret wants to take with her while she stays at the Fred Hutch for the transplant and treatment and I've been told this shawl is definitely one of them. I know I've said this before and I know I will say it again you people are amazing!
Our first post medical treatment doctor appointment was today, unfortunately we didn't get the blood labs back so while we didn't get any real factual information, outside of the normal, the doctor was happy with Ret's progress to date. We discussed the side effects Ret has been experiencing along with other tidbits and again the doctor said all seemed to be normal. One troubling bit of info was that because Ret's form of this particular cancer is a very aggressive, was that she was to be on two drugs to manage the disease not just the Thalidomide, the other being Dexamethasone, well she wasn't. While this is not particularly large problem it's certainly not what we wanted to hear. Lesson here ask ask ask! The weird thing was in all the literature we read the Dexa drug was mentioned but we also knew and discussed with the doc that in many cases the Thalidomide was the appropriate drug therapy. Again not a huge problem but hey you want it right from the start, well we're now on the right path so things are looking up. As I mentioned before our first visit to the Fred Hutch will be on March 30th, while we approach that visit with a certain sense of trepidation, which may sound weird to some of you, it will set us on a course to recovery.
I can only say, words large or small, cleverly crafted or just written in plain language, can't express how we feel about each of you.
Love,
Ret and Jack
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Treatment Week Two
To All-
We hope all is well with each of you.
My hope is that I'll continue to be able to post once a week giving you the chance to keep track of Ret's progress. As I mentioned in my last post my intent was not to draw attention to anyone individual or group, but again you people are making that extremely hard for me. Again as I confessed in my second blog, I must confess here I should have mentioned this from day one.
As all of you know Ret has worked for Dr. Baker for 12 years starting chair side, her real love, then ending up running the office for his practice. In those 12 years there has been many ups and downs with staff coming and going, including Shelby working for her mom and just the day to day stuff. However one constant has been Ret's and Dr. Baker's relationship of trust, mutual respect and understanding of what it takes to keep the office humming. That trust and respect has never been made more apparent in Dr. Baker and his wife Sheryl's commitment to Ret in these trying times. Their commitment to Ret is to continue to keep her on the payroll as well as continue to pay her health insurance coverage. As you can imagine for Ret and I that has been huge it's also truly hard to put into words what it really means to us. Obviously as in most cases in life the monetary debt can be met and parties satisfied. However I can't tell you how hard it will be for us to repay our debt of gratitude to Steve and Sheryl. In the most caring of ways we hope and pray that won't be necessary, but mine you, if they need us we will be there. We are continually reminded of your love, your care, your concern and how deeply your human spirit runs.
Ret has had a pretty good week this past week. Actually she starting sleeping back in bed, the first time in over two months. Her strength is getting better, albeit slowly the early morning dizziness is subsiding which is good as well. Our first Dr. appointment since starting medication is the 20th of this month so after that we should have a little more information to work with. We now have our first appointment with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance set for March 30th. We will first meet with Ret's physician team which will handle the entire transplant procedure, then her care team which will handle all pre and post daily care, then my favorite the financial team.
Again as we move forward I'll try to keep you all update as to Ret's progress.
We Love you all.
Ret and Jack
We hope all is well with each of you.
My hope is that I'll continue to be able to post once a week giving you the chance to keep track of Ret's progress. As I mentioned in my last post my intent was not to draw attention to anyone individual or group, but again you people are making that extremely hard for me. Again as I confessed in my second blog, I must confess here I should have mentioned this from day one.
As all of you know Ret has worked for Dr. Baker for 12 years starting chair side, her real love, then ending up running the office for his practice. In those 12 years there has been many ups and downs with staff coming and going, including Shelby working for her mom and just the day to day stuff. However one constant has been Ret's and Dr. Baker's relationship of trust, mutual respect and understanding of what it takes to keep the office humming. That trust and respect has never been made more apparent in Dr. Baker and his wife Sheryl's commitment to Ret in these trying times. Their commitment to Ret is to continue to keep her on the payroll as well as continue to pay her health insurance coverage. As you can imagine for Ret and I that has been huge it's also truly hard to put into words what it really means to us. Obviously as in most cases in life the monetary debt can be met and parties satisfied. However I can't tell you how hard it will be for us to repay our debt of gratitude to Steve and Sheryl. In the most caring of ways we hope and pray that won't be necessary, but mine you, if they need us we will be there. We are continually reminded of your love, your care, your concern and how deeply your human spirit runs.
Ret has had a pretty good week this past week. Actually she starting sleeping back in bed, the first time in over two months. Her strength is getting better, albeit slowly the early morning dizziness is subsiding which is good as well. Our first Dr. appointment since starting medication is the 20th of this month so after that we should have a little more information to work with. We now have our first appointment with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance set for March 30th. We will first meet with Ret's physician team which will handle the entire transplant procedure, then her care team which will handle all pre and post daily care, then my favorite the financial team.
Again as we move forward I'll try to keep you all update as to Ret's progress.
We Love you all.
Ret and Jack
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Treatment Week One
Everyone-
Unfortunately for all of you, I think each time I login, I'll have a few words about things in general before I get to Ret's progress. The real reason for that is, not just because I like to talk, it's because if not daily but possibly every other day one of you or a group of you continues to do something for Ret and I that cements our belief that we are truly blessed to have each of you not only in our lives but with us as we fight this difficult battle. My intent is not to draw attention or praise to any one individual or group it's more to show your generosity and belief that with your support we'll make it through this trying time.
Ok it's the "Girls from the Wood" no not the "hood", but the "wood"..............Stanwood!!
Diana, Kim, Marie, Pam, Pat and Tami got together and made, I don't know a bunch anyway, of frozen dinners for us so that I can spend more time taking care of Ret instead of cooking. I'm not sure if they really did it so I could spend more taking care of Ret as opposed to making sure Ret gets a decent meal. Anyway I'm just trying to make me look good. Oh by the way remember in my last post I said, reading between the lines, and this one not drawing attention to anyone in particular, girls I even put your names in alphabetical, order yes Pam and Pat you too. Man I'm sick!!
Oh yea Lauretta! Week one on medication has been good just a little dizziness in the morning when she gets up. The drowsiness is still there, we're not sure if it's med's or just her body trying so hard to fight the cancer. Her strength is coming back slowly getting up in the morning is easier, she thinks it's the med's I say it's the "Rocket Chair" I'm just still trying to get credit, but I believe she's right it is the med's which is super. All and all the first week has been good and we look forward to each one of them getting better.
Hopefully some of you have had the chance to visit the websites I provided in my last post, they are extremely helpful also they'll provide you some insight into Ret's continued journey.
We love you all.
Ret and Jack
Unfortunately for all of you, I think each time I login, I'll have a few words about things in general before I get to Ret's progress. The real reason for that is, not just because I like to talk, it's because if not daily but possibly every other day one of you or a group of you continues to do something for Ret and I that cements our belief that we are truly blessed to have each of you not only in our lives but with us as we fight this difficult battle. My intent is not to draw attention or praise to any one individual or group it's more to show your generosity and belief that with your support we'll make it through this trying time.
Ok it's the "Girls from the Wood" no not the "hood", but the "wood"..............Stanwood!!
Diana, Kim, Marie, Pam, Pat and Tami got together and made, I don't know a bunch anyway, of frozen dinners for us so that I can spend more time taking care of Ret instead of cooking. I'm not sure if they really did it so I could spend more taking care of Ret as opposed to making sure Ret gets a decent meal. Anyway I'm just trying to make me look good. Oh by the way remember in my last post I said, reading between the lines, and this one not drawing attention to anyone in particular, girls I even put your names in alphabetical, order yes Pam and Pat you too. Man I'm sick!!
Oh yea Lauretta! Week one on medication has been good just a little dizziness in the morning when she gets up. The drowsiness is still there, we're not sure if it's med's or just her body trying so hard to fight the cancer. Her strength is coming back slowly getting up in the morning is easier, she thinks it's the med's I say it's the "Rocket Chair" I'm just still trying to get credit, but I believe she's right it is the med's which is super. All and all the first week has been good and we look forward to each one of them getting better.
Hopefully some of you have had the chance to visit the websites I provided in my last post, they are extremely helpful also they'll provide you some insight into Ret's continued journey.
We love you all.
Ret and Jack
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
