More Fun with Family

After watching a Joanie Bartels video - The Rainy Day Adventure, the kids enjoyed their own adventure going around and through this "limbo box".  They had so much fun and we had a lot of fun watching them. 






Our weekend is over and we are heading back to Seattle.  It was good to be home to enjoy some of the normal day to day life without medical issues.  Oh wait, we still had those, and that's kinda normal too, but just being home was great!  After a week with a sore throat, and it getting worse daily, I (Elaine) went into the clinic Monday to find that I have a sinus infection.  I knew I needed to get in to the doctor so that I could start taking meds to clear it up if is was necessary, but I thought it would be more of a throat issue than a sinus issue.  Crazy huh!  Anyway, I'm on the meds ..., on the mend.   It seems that we must have all caught this bug, because most everyone of us has a sore throat or other problem. I suppose we will trickle into the doctor and get it all taken care of.  Maybe by next week we will all be healthy again.  HOPE!  PRAY!

Lastly, one of the normal happenings was that we heard and saw these planes going over the house.  This has been a normal occurrence for ..., well, ever since we've lived here, over 20 years now.  However, this is the first time we have seen 7 at one time.  Usually there are 2 or 3, and maybe we've seen 4 or 5 a time or two, but never this many, so it was kinda cool.  Sometimes they are so low it feels like you could reach up and touch them.  I always enjoy seeing them.

Celebrating Halloween With Family

We didn't get to see any of the grandkids in their costumes on Halloween this year, so while we were home for the weekend we were treated with a fun evening.  Saturday evening they came over, in costume and trick or treated for us.  We loved it.  

 

 

 

 

After trick or treating we had dinner (homemade pizza) and then watched Monsters University,

image from google search

 and had some yummy caramel corn that Tawnee made.  It was a fun evening together.

Happy Halloween!

Today was an Ofa day - infusion from 9:00am to 3:00pm.  Things went well, except that Terry didn't feel very steady and strong when it was done, so we gladly took the shuttle back to the house where he is resting for the evening.
We had a fun little bag of treats at our door when we got back.  This is what we found -

The little note tells us that this holiday goodie bag was put together with love from the Hutch School Kids.  The Hutch School is for children of the patients and caregivers at the SCCA Clinic.  Their classroom is here at the Pete Gross House.  We'll try to get a photo of that soon.   It was a fun little gift, but we wish we would have been here when they came so that we could offer them a treat too.

We took a few little candy bars for the nurses that helped us in the infusion room today and we had some stickers, m&ms, and a bouncy ball for our doctors daughter.  He told us yesterday that this would be their first year for trick or treating and they were excited for it.  He is from Russia and they don't do Halloween there.  Our giving seemed to please him and make him happy, and we were certainly pleased. It just felt good to give.

The Hutch School children walked around parts of the clinic today at 1:00 to trick-or-treat, but we were inside the infusion room and unable to see them.  We did see two children dressed in costume on our way out, and we had a couple sets of stickers that we gave to them.

Behind those children is the desk for the infusion room, where "Things" were working away today. There were a few others in costume too - what a fun day for everyone. 

We had a nice Halloween ... How about you?

(There's a funny thing we are noticing - we get kinda bored here even though we could be doing the same things at home and feel just fine, it's just not the same. Still, we are grateful for this opportunity to help Terry get better and we pray that it will help.)

We'll head home tomorrow afternoon, after a pharmacy visit and blood draw. No promise of posting over the weekend, but I do promise to post if I can.  Either way we'll be back with appointments on Tuesday.  Did you notice that ... no appointments on Monday!  Happy day!

Happy Halloween!
 

Steps of Transplant

Wednesday appointments went well, and the walk was really nice even though the sun wasn't out. There was a bit of a chill in the air, but no rain.  The leaves are beautiful in their varying colors and there are still some lovely blossoms tucked in here and there.  There is beauty all around!  (I should have taken a picture - maybe I can remember to do that tomorrow.)

Terry's line entrance sight looks good and is ready to use as needed.  We will be changing the dressing/bandage daily for a couple days and then weekly, and we will be flushing the lines daily again.  Even this daily requirement will be so much better than the pokes, so it's all good.  There is a slight change in the way the process they go through to change the dressing, but it's not a big change so it won't be any harder to do.

The doctors seemed to be pleased with Terry's health improvement and are looking forward to transplant which will take place on Nov. 22nd, with conditioning starting on the 18th.

In case you need a refresher, I'll share the steps of transplant (Allogeneic Transplant, which is the kind of transplant Terry is having), as they are listed in the manual we received.

Planning Ahead - DONE
Preparation = Arrive at SCCA and begin medical evaluations, orientation, and get ready for transplant. (This is the stage we are in now.)
Conditioning = High-dose chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy  (begins on Nov. 18th)
Transplant = Stem cells harvested from the bone marrow (of donor) are infused into patient.  (Nov. 22nd)
Before Engraftment = Patient receives close monitoring, supportive treatment and management of complications while waiting for signs of transplanted stem cells are engrafting (growing and developing). (I don't remember how long it takes to see engraftment taking place, so we'll just have to let you know when that happens, after transplant a few, to several days, or maybe weeks.)
After Engraftment = First signs of engraftment ... immune system is starting to recover.  Close monitoring and supportive treatment.
Long-Term Recovery = Patient leaves the center and further care and treatment is provided by the hometown doctor and resumes life at home.  (They like to say that this takes place about 3 months after transplant, but we've seen that not happen for too many patients here, so we'll see.)


Now for the best news of the day - Terry is no longer in contact isolation, so he doesn't have to wear those masks anymore in the clinic ..., we can sit by a window and see out to the lake.  Everyone seems happy to remove him off that list, but no one can be more happy than he is about it.

The worst news of the day is that Terry will have to have another bone marrow biopsy before transplant. We tried to get them to just use the results of the last one, but they want one closer to the transplant day so that they have a more accurate count on things and to know if something else should be done during the conditioning.  Oh Bother!  Guess we gotta do what the doctor says.  I suppose we'll just be happy that we get to go home again this weekend.  Happy day!

Hickman Line In Place

We took a morning walk to the clinic again this morning, leaving at about 7:20am, for a blood draw appointment at 7:45am.

Then we went to the 2nd floor for the surgery.  Terry's platelets were at 52 so there was no need for an infusion, which meant the surgery went as planned and now Terry sports a Hickman Line once again, but this time it is on his left side.  He is doing fine and looking forward to no more needles.

The line placement looks a little different than last time, but will surely do the job just as well.

We're fine!

Monday and Missionaries

The weekend is over and we are back in Seattle at our apartment.  We brought a load of things with us again.  It just doesn't end, we keep finding something else we need.   Lucky as we feel to have this place, we are finding that there are still a few comforts that it lacks.  So this is what we brought with us this time.  My office chair ..., now I can sit for a longer period of time without aching so badly.



We put some things away, had lunch, and walked to the clinic to ride the shuttle to UWMC for Terry's ENT appointment. 

Dr. Davis said things are healing well and will continue to get better so we are looking forward to that. Terry still sounds a bit congested and has a bit of a sinus headache, but there is hope with the good news of improvement on it's way.

We went back to the SCCA clinic for a platelets infusion - in at 3:00pm and out about 5:45pm.  We are hoping he is ready for the surgery tomorrow without the need for more platelets. 

We will head to the clinic early in the morning, fasting in preparation for the surgery.  The Hickman Line will be so much easier than poking him over and over again so we look forward to it.


ABOUT OUR MISSIONARIES:

Chase has had some struggles lately, but is feeling really pleased with things right now.  He has been transferred to an area that has a Tongan ward.  His companion speaks Tongan and Chase is in hopes of learning from him.  His last couple emails have been so positive and encouraging.  He is loving the work and is doing well. His new address is

Elder Chase Lamont Hebdon
3986 Bellmore Way
Reno NV 89503

Connor is also doing well. He is happy to be serving a mission and strengthening his own testimony. He loves the people they are working with and is grateful for the many wonderful experiences he is having.  His emails always make me smile.  His address hasn't changed for awhile, but I'll share it again here

Elder Connor Ronald Hebdon
16 York Avenue, Apt. #2
Towanda, PA 18848

They would surely love to hear from you if you feel an urge to write them.


Have a great evening!

Weekend at Home & Another Pumpkin Picking

We enjoyed our weekend at home and hope to have a couple more before transplant since transplant isn't until Nov. 22nd.   Since we couldn't get the transplant done on time, we'll swap for weekends at home - sounds good to me.  I hope they agree at the clinic.  ;)   Time will tell! 
We didn't really give them a choice this time.  Terry had his blood draw at 10:30am Friday morning and we picked up his schedule.  Noticing the Tuesday surgery, we knew that he would need platelets infusion before then, so I went to the charge nurse and told her we were going home, right now, and wouldn't be back until our appointment at 1:00pm Monday, so if they needed to infuse platelets before surgery it would have to be after that 1:00 appointment, no earlier than 3:00.   She called us on our way home and told us that Terry's platelets were 29 (I think), and that his infusion was scheduled for 3:00pm Monday.  

I loved being with the family - every minute was awesome!  I wanted to soak it all in and save it up for the week.

The grandchildren were so fun to watch - they played together nicely.  We wish all 8 of them could have been here.  Oh, have we told you - we're having another baby?   It's a boy!  Auger will have a brother, which means that Akleigh will have two brothers.  ;)

It was fun to see Elsie walking all over, and she did this cute little thing with the baskets - holding them on her arm.  LOVE IT!




Elsie got to pick a pumpkin, and took the one she could carry around on her own.  At first she wanted to eat it like an apple, but soon realized that wasn't what it was for.  She carried it around for awhile and it made me smile.

Auger and Akleigh got theirs earlier, here, from the garden, but it was too rainy, wet and cold for this pumpkin picking, so Anthony plucked them from the garden and brought them in the house for her to choose. 

 

 

We enjoyed our church meetings and having the family over for dinner before heading out Monday morning.  We'll have to do this again sometime! ;)

Now it's back to Seattle for another week of appointments.  We have something every day through Friday this week, so we will try to keep you informed. 

We're Home!

Uh Oh!  I forgot to post last night.

We had blood draw Friday at 10:30am and walked back to the apartment, picked up a couple things and left again.

We got in our car and headed for home.  :) 
We stopped at Costco in Issaquah for a few things and kept on driving.  It's a familiar road, and it just kept looking better and better the more we drove.  The best thing we saw along our drive was just 2 or 3 miles from our destination.  The field we call "the west units" was half harvested and the combine was at the truck loading it up (with grain corn).  We stopped and talked with Thomas a few minutes and then went home.  Home feels good.

BJo and Anthony got home from school - it was good to see them. 
We tried to catch up with a few things.
Talked with Michael, saw Tawnee and Elsie (and Elsie wanted me to take her, so I was a happy grama).  Tawnee made dinner for us.
Auger and Akleigh and Dana came, and Akleigh stayed with us while Dana and Auger took dinner to Thomas.  Akleigh was so happy to be with us, that she even enjoyed going through the mail with us. She didn't want to leave my side for a little while.  I think it made her too nervous that we were heading out again.  It was good to be together again.

Thomas and Michael came when they got done with the harvest for the day.
It was so fun to see family and be together a little bit. We look forward to the next two days.

We get to be here for the weekend, and will make the drive back to Seattle on Monday morning for an afternoon appointment with the ENT, Dr. Davis, and then an infusion of platelets at 3:00pm in preparation for the Hickman Line placement on Tuesday morning.  No more blood draw pokes or infusion pokes (except for that one final poke for IV for the surgery).  Happy Day!

I don't know if I'll post while we are home - we'll just have to see how things go, but I'll begin again for sure when we are back in Seattle. 

Have a great weekend - we know we will!  We've got a lot going on today - many directions, but we're home and that is what counts right now.