Day -8, -7, -6

Day -8 was considered a "rest day" so Mark and I just enjoyed the day. We slept late and then had a late breakfast at Cracker Barrell. We shopped around a little and got some things done. Target, Hobby Lobby, Dicks, Walgreens, etc. At 330 we saw the new Mission Impossible Movie which was pretty good if you like action movies. We finished off dinner at Pizza Hut. It was a pretty good day of just being out and about and hubby and me tme.

At Outpatient BMT getting my chemo

Day -7: Yesterday we had to be here at the BMT unit early to get my 2nd dose of Busulfan. It went well. I started out with my premed of Zofran IV and then the Busulfan went in over 3 hours and I got to go home. I forgot to mention the horrendous reaction that I had to the tegaderm where my right hickman line is. My skin is all red and blistered. I took the dressing off and refuse to wear another one. Hopefully it will get better. When we left the BMT unit we headed to our hotel The Hyatt Place where Nana, Jeannie, and Allie were waiting on us. Allie was standing just inside the hotel with Nana and she smiled from ear to ear when she saw us and I hugged her so tight. So happy to see my baby. We spent the night playing and then went and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice night and I really enjoyed spending it with my family and especially sweet Allie. Before going back to the hotel we stopped at Walgreens and got some Eucerin cream to put on the rash. Hopefully, that will do the trick!

Day -6: We are here at the BMT unit now, my 3rd dose of Busulfan is infusing as I type. No bad side effects now. A little nausea at times that I can handle but mainly the Ativan makes me feel woozy and a little out of it. I've only got about 30 minutes left of the 3 hour infusion. We plan on taking Allie to the Birmingham Zoo if we have time today. I think she would love that. I will blog more about that next time.

Outpatient Chemo for SCT Day -9

Hey Peeps! Today begins my outpatient chemo portion of this process. My day didn't quite start as I had hoped. First,we woke up late, like 3 hours late. OOPs...I was extremely tired from cleaning and packing all day yesterday. I set my alarm at 4am to take my scheduled Ativan (seizure prophylaxis bc the Busulfan can cause seizures) and woke up on time for that. I also set it for 5am but somehow hit the snooze and went back to sleep. It was no big deal when I called the BMT unit, they said just come on over.

BTW, Leaving Allie was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. She just held onto me so tight and was crying right along with me. I love that little girl so much. She is my whole world. Nana and Meagan came to pick her up and that helped me a lot. I know she will have a great time playing with everyone and I'll skype with her as much as possible. I just miss her so much already..

On another note....

Upon arrival, I had blood drawn, IV fluids started, and saw Dr. Salzman. She is a very nice doctor. I started my first dose of Busulfan around 130pm. It was a 2 hour dose but then I have had to have labs drawn after it was finished and every hour until 730. This helps them to see how my body metabolizes the medicine and so they can make each of my other doses specific to me. Make sense?

Anyway, today is considered Day -9......We count backward to transplant day which is Day 0 and then we count it + days after transplant. My hope is to be out of the hospital by day +10 - +14. We will seee. I'll update again soon ! :)

Gotta have a little fun :)

Always by my side

1st day of chemo shot :)

Transplant Day = Jan 5, 2012

We had a slight change of plans for my upcoming treatment. After signing my consents to received the high dose chemo and for transplantation, Melissa reviewed my final schedule with me. Everything had to be pushed back 1 week because one of the meds that I will get (Thiotepa) has to come from Australia. They want to make sure that they have it in the hospital before the procecss starts. That was fine by me because the change in schedule would allow me to be home for Christmas. I have to get a 4th dose of SGN next Monday because of the delay but I'm content with that as it got me into remission and I want to take every scheduled dose until I start my transplant chemo. On Tuesday, I will have my 2nd hickman line placed on the right side. I did ok with the first one, its just a little sore now. Below is the schedule change:

Mon Dec 19- SGN tx #4
Tues Dec 20- 2nd Hickman line placed
Tues Dec 27- Start outpatient chemo
Sat Dec 31- Admit to BMT Unit to finish chemo
Thurs Jan 5- Transplant Day!!!

Bone Marrow Transplantation Plans and Schedule

Hey Peeps!! So, Mark and I met with Dr. Shelton and she was very happy with the results of my scan. She said that it is definitely time to move forward to transplant as soon as possible.

This past week I went in and had pre-transplant scans...Tons of blood work, a Chest XRay, MUGA scan, Pulmonary funtion test and Darn ABG. These are all very important so that we know my baseline before recieving the high dose chemotherapy.

The regimen I will recieve is called Bumeltt (Busulfan, Mephalan, and Thiotepa). It is supposed to be a great regimen for Relapsed/Refractory Hodgkin's with an autologous transplant following. I found some great research about this regimen compared to all others. Below is the research link if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fash.confex.com%2Fash%2F2011%2Fwebprogram%2FPaper43879.html&h=iAQGCfm6OAQHwk-2tE-_3kxDfrhgIYOR5b7Golgx8L_h1kw

If you're wondering why I have to do this after I've achieved remission, the reason is simple. I have relapsed before when we thought the disease was gone. This means that there were tiny tiny Hodgkin's cells still floating around in my body that were so small that they were undetectable in scans. The same could happen again even though I am in Complete Remission. Me being in Remission only helps my chances for a successful transplant. The high dose chemo is designed to kill off any residual Hodgkin's cells that may be undetectable. The transplant's purpose is to help my body recover from the effects of the high dose chemotherapy. I have to do this to increase my chances of never relapsing again.

Below is a schedule of upcoming appointments and the bone marrow process.....

Weds. Dec 14-  Meet with the BMT team, sign consents, and review scans

Thurs. Dec 15-  Port removed from Right Chest wall and 1st Hickman IV line placed in Left Chest         wall

Mon. Dec 19- 2nd Hickman IV line placed in Right Chest wall

Tues. Dec 20- Begin high dose chemotherapy outpatient

Sat. Dec 24- Admit to hospital to finish the next 5 days of high dose chemotherapy

Thurs. Dec 29- TRANSPLANT DAY

After my stem cells are given back to me on Transplant Day, we just watch and wait for my cells to engraft and start to produce new ones in my bone marrow to spread throughout my body. This is a long process and can take weeks to occur. Hopefully it will go by quickly.

It sucks to be in the hospital on Christmas but I can't complain because I think it's God's gift to me, A second chance at life. So for that, I am thankful.

Allie can't visit me while in the hospital because she is too young but we will skype daily. She is coming to Birmingham for a few days before I am admitted so I can spend that time with her. I think being away from her will be the hardest part but I'm glad that she is too young to know what is going on or to remember. She is my heart and I am so blessed to have her.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and prayers. We are hoping and praying that this is it and we can gain a CURE from this! I'll keep you all updated throughout the whole process, I can't promise everyday but I'll keep you posted as much as I can. Much love.

Glory to God in the Highest

On November 28th we headed to Birmingham for my 3rd SGN treatment. We waited forever in the infusion area and then got to the back. I was stabbed in the chest (my port accessed) and then the infusion began. Dr. Forero came in to see me and said he definitely wanted to do the PET scan sceduled the following day. He said to me, "What would you do if I told you tomorrow that you are in complete remission?" I just smiled and said, "I would cry"....He seemed to have high hopes for a remission and it sounded good but after relapsing and not responding to therapy something inside makes you hesitant to believe it is too good to be true. He told me to stop by his office after my scan the next day and he would give me the results.

Mark and I went to our hotel and I took a much needed nap. We had a great night out to eat at our favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake factory. We shopped for a little while and then headed back to our hotel for the night. It was very cold that night and was actually supposed to snow.

The next morning there was no snow on the ground. We head to our 1030 PET scan appointment. After it was finished I had my CT scan. Then we headed to Dr. Foreros office for my results. They weren't in when we first got there and so we waited.....and waited. Finally, Dr. Foreros nurse Jenny came and said we could come back. Dr. Forero was standing by his computer with my results pulled up. He smiled and pointed to the screen and said read. I was shaking uncontrolably and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I read those words over and over again and the tears were flowing. It said, "NO EVIDENCE OF METABOLIC LYMPHOMA NOTED." I hugged Dr. Forero so tight and cried and cried. Tears of Joy....I looked at Mark and his eyes were teared up as well. Dr. Forero said, "Anita, you are in Complete remission my dear, it is gone".  That was one of the best days of my life. God is so good and I give all glory and honor to him.

We then discussed what was next.....my autologous bone marrow transplant. He wanted it scheduled ASAP and so we decided to stay another night and meet with the BMT doctor, Dr. Shelton in the morning.

As much as I dread having that horrific high dose chemotherapy and transplant...I see an end in sight. A new healthy me......Thank you Lord...