Thank You

On behalf of our entire family, we would like to thank each of you for everything you have done to show your love and support to us at this difficult time. There have been countless phone calls, flowers and personal visits along with an unlimited supply of food and beverages. It has been especially comforting knowing that we are included in your prayers! Our family is relying heavily on our faith in God, and we are confident that He will help us through these next days, weeks, months and years.

The services for Mike, Shannon and Brennen are scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 10:00 A.M. The Grove Community Church is located at 19900 Grove Community Drive Riverside, CA 92508. A reception for our guests will be provided immediately after the service.

If you wish to make a donation for the benefit of Blaine and Kylie, contributions may be made to:

Blaine and Kylie Asam Family Fund

c/o Varner & Brandt LLP

3750 University Avenue, Suite 610

Riverside, CA 92501

Message From Nonnie

Nonnie and Papa went up to Oregon on Thursday to open up the house for our annual Thanksgiving week trip. Lisa and I arrived late Saturday evening with the kids. We received a phone call on early Sunday morning learning that Mike and his family were involved in a tragic car crash on their way up to be with our family. Sadly, I must inform our family and friends that Mike (41), Shannon (40) and Brennen (14) were called home to be with the Lord yesterday morning. Blaine (11) and Kylie (9) were able to extricate themselves from the vehicle and waited with "Patrick", a Good Samaritan until rescue crews arrived.

Blaine and Kylie were briefly hospitalized with minor injuries and were picked up by Shannon's brother Derek. We all drove home through the night last night until Nonnie and Papa picked up the kids last night. We are safe and well at Nonnie and Papa's house in Riverside. We want to thank all of our family and friends for their support and countless prayers during this difficult time. The services will be held at Grove Church in Riverside on December 5, 2009. More information to follow regarding further details. Our family asks that this information gets disseminated to all pertinent persons. Thank you.

Thanksgiving In Oregon

The timing of all of the recent treatments could not have been any better! Nonnie and Papa are driving north to Oregon as I sit and write this entry. Dr. Paquette removed the PICC line yesterday and gave the "thumbs up" to them leaving town for Thanksgiving. She is feeling absolutely great since being home, and is looking forward to having all of the grandkids together for the holiday.

Nonnie and Papa are going up a couple days early to get the yards trimmed and the refrigerator full. Even though the weather forecast is calling for rain, rain and more rain, all of us boys are bringing our motorcycles to go explore the best trails on Earth! Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers and have a happy Thanksgiving. I will try to post some pictures next week.

She Did It Again

This morning, the doctors reviewed Nonnie's blood tests, and confirmed that her counts have risen above the level that is required for her to be released from the hospital. In fact, her counts are at their highest levels upon discharge since undergoing the initial treatment in April. Her platelet levels were at 95,000! Of course, it took a while for Nonnie to say all of her goodbyes to the staff, but they finally got on the road just after noon.

This is the second consolidation treatment that was just completed. As you could imagine, it takes Nonnie a little while to adjust from being in the hospital room for so long, to being out on the freeways, etc. Papa took Nonnie to Miguel's on the way home to satisfy the her craving for Mexican food. He then went to the store to get a few things for the house, while Nonnie picked up Brennen and took him to Blockbuster to get a movie. Those are the things she misses the most!

The plan is to meet with Dr. Paquette on Wednesday of next week, and then pack up to head to Oregon for Thanksgiving. This will be the first time since August of 2008 that we have all been up there together. This year will be so special because we all have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Birthday

When you spend as much time in the hospital as Nonnie has over the last year, it is very likely that some of those days will be holidays or other special days. Today is Nonnie's birthday, and she actually had a very nice day today! She was moved back to the 6th floor last night, and she is feeling very well. Her counts are on the rise now, and she received both units of Mike's platelets this morning. By tomorrow morning, her platelets will be higher than they have in about a year!

Nonnie received tons of birthday cards and phone calls wishing her well today. In fact, she had to charge her cell phone 3 times because of all the activity! I forgot a cool story from last week....Chuck and Kathy Reid visited the hospital last week. While the girls talked, the boys went to the world famous Jerry's Deli for lunch. Papa always jokes about what famous person he is going to see every time he takes us there. This time, they saw Jerry West.... a Lakers basketball player and coach who is now in the Hall of Fame. Only in L.A!

Nonnie is now in room # 6143 and the phone number is (310) 267-6151. Nonnie and Papa think they should be discharged no later than this Friday. How is that for a sweet birthday present?

Goal Setting

It is hard to believe that 3 weeks have already gone by since Nonnie has been back in the hospital. The last several days have been quite busy. After her move to the 7th floor on Wednesday night, she received blood on the following day. Her platelets have been hanging in there around 15,000 up until Saturday. Unfortunately, she started a fever early yesterday morning which usually affects those numbers significantly.

I shared some bad information last week regarding the lifespan of platelets. The actual time frame they need to be used by is 5 days, not 7-10. Since Nonnie's platelets were not low at that time frame, Mike's platelets were given to another patient. At least they did not have to go to waste! Mike went back to UCLA yesterday to give more platelets that should be ready by Tuesday for Nonnie. In the meantime, she is receiving platelets from a different donor as I write this entry.

Regarding the room change, Papa learned that the old hospital had 80 hospital beds in the cancer wing. The new hospital has 41 beds, which is why the demand is so high for a room. Since her fever started yesterday, she is on a list of 10 people waiting to get back on the 6th floor. She spoke with a friend who just came back for treatment, and he is in the maternity ward waiting for a room! I wonder who is getting more rest?

The goal today is to get the fever under control, and then get Mike's platelets in a couple of days. If all goes the same as the past, she might be able to come home later in the week! She would then go back to Dr. Paquette after being home for a week. At that point, she will ask about going to Oregon for Thanksgiving with the family. Is that too much to ask? Only HE knows!

Room Change

Nonnie was informed last night that she will be changing rooms. The reason for the move, is that there are other sick persons waiting to get a room and she was the most well person on the floor. It was encouraging to her and Papa to know that she is doing well and that another patient can be treated by the awesome staff at UCLA! Her new phone number is (310) 267-6249.

Platelets 101

As a refresher, Nonnie receives platelets when her counts drop below 10,000. When she has a fever, she will get platelets when that number drops below 20,000. That is also when the "fire drill" is conducted. This weekend, she did not have a fever, but the donor platelets only raised up to 15,000 and then dropped the next day to around 8,000.

Yesterday, the doctors decided to give Nonnie the platelets that Mike had donated last week. Within an hour of the infusion, her numbers jumped from 8,000 to 44,000. Even crazier, the sores she developed in her mouth were gone before lunch! It is likely that she will need the second and last unit of Mike's platelets by the end of the week, which only have a 7-10 day shelf life. Mike is very excited that he was able to help his mom, and will likely be called on again in the near future.

Kenny and Kathy Winkler came by today for a really nice visit, and they brought a bag filled with activities to pass the time. It included coloring books, UNO, playing cards and a dice game. What great friends!

Speaking of old friends, Judge Ward stopped by the house last week and gave Papa 2 photo albums from his summer trip to Africa to share with Nonnie. Judge Ward is a long-time family friend and is the person who Papa credits his photo album expertise to. Nonnie told me she spent 2 days looking at all of the beautiful pictures and it helped take her mind elsewhere.

Nonnie has had continual support and encouragement from the staff, in fact, they have been giving her the "thumbs up" indicating that they heard about the successful platelet transfusion.

Calling All Platelets!

Last week, Nonnie and Papa were in the waiting mode, watching her counts drop throughout the week. They did not have to wait long...... on Thursday, she received her first blood transfusion, which she did not have any negative reaction to. Starting on Friday, she has received platelets daily through Sunday. Unfortunately, the donor platelets are only slowly raising her levels. The staff has put in a request to the blood bank to find the same compatible donor from last time.

Mike went up to UCLA on Friday morning to give platelets. This is a 2 hour procedure that takes the donor blood and filters the platelets, then re-infuses the blood back into the donor. I hear the time actually goes by pretty quick, because they set Mike up with a movie to watch during the procedure! Papa also sat with Mike and donated his blood that will be used for someone else in the future. What a team!

They plan on using the platelets from Mike as soon as tomorrow, and they generally know within a day how compatible they will be. Lisa is tentatively scheduled to do the same later in the week. For now, Nonnie is feeling quite well and her only complaint are the uncomfortable mouth sores called "Petechia". These are small broken capillary blood vessels caused from low platelet counts.

Nonnie and Papa spent Halloween in the hospital, but the weekend was topped off by a nice visit from the whole Asam clan!