I hope all of you had the very best of Holidays and are enjoying your time off. I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with my family and it was wonderful!
I know I haven’t updated on what’s going on for quite a while and I apologize for that. There is good news and bad news and just plain tedious news.
First the good news:
I finished my fourth round of chemo and am happy to say I’m still in remission.
My immune system was strong enough that I got to visit with some old friends and family and be out and about.
It isn’t definite yet, but it sounds like the transplant team may have found a donor. The potential donor could not be contacted until after January 1st, so I should find out soon.
I have dark peach fuzz hair and my eyebrows and eyelashes are back so I look a lot less like a GE light bulb now.
The bad news:
After my last chemo round, my blood counts all looked good and I had permission to go see friends, go shopping, etc., but I still had no appetite or energy. Everybody, including me, thought it was because I had gone through four rounds of chemo and it would take more time to completely recover this time. Unfortunately, after blood tests, it was discovered I was in acute renal (kidney) failure. My kidneys were functioning at about 15% of normal. They weren’t sure if it was the chemo or the drugs that caused it. My opinion was, “You broke it, you fix it.” I spent almost a week getting my kidney flushed with intravenous fluids; consulted a kidney specialist; and went on a high salt diet. (High salt diet sounds weird to me too) Anyway, I’m back down to almost the normal range and I’m hoping to improve more. The kidney specialist said I may never get back to what I was before, but something in the normal range is what we’re shooting for.
The I’ve had enough already, tedious news:
I am typing this from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance where I am having the fifth round of chemo pumped into my veins. Blah! Normally I would be in the hospital, but the insurance company would only pay for the experimental chemo if I was an outpatient. I don’t know the reasoning, probably cost. At first we (especially Ron) were a little nervous because I had some pretty serious side effects from the chemo before, but so far all is going well. We are at SCCA for about seven hours a day getting two types of chemo, then home. Tedious, tedious. I have three days left after today.
Unfortunately I will be back in home detention (no visitors) for a while and worse than that, I will lose my peach fuzz hair!
I want you all to know how much both Ron and I have appreciated your love and support. I really don’t know how I could have gotten this far without you. Please keep me in your prayers and well wishes because I still have a long way to go.
And lastly but not least, I again have to thank the greatest people in the world; my Boeing coworkers. I wish there were words enough to tell you how much we appreciated all the hard work you put into your bake sell and your generosity to Ron and I. Thank you, thank you, thank you and God bless you all.
With love and gratitude,
Connie
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