The Rock

The day has come that all of us have been waiting for.....Nonnie came home from UCLA yesterday afternoon from her last treatment. As you can imagine, she is extremely happy to be home, and our family is looking forward to a new year. As I understand it, she will be required to go to the clinic for a check-up every 3 months.

This has been an incredibly emotional and challenging ordeal, and Nonnie wants to thank all of her friends and family for their prayers and support. In addition, a huge thank you to the Doctors, Nurses, Care Partners and staff at UCLA. They always treated her with the utmost respect, compassion and professionalism.

Nonnie is, and always will be the "Rock" of our family and we are so proud of her for her strength and positive attitude. All of us that have been following this blog have witnessed something very special. The power of prayer.......... it really works!

Getting Closer

As I sit here writing this post, I can't help but to be thankful for all of the blessings and answered prayers in our life. I spoke with Nonnie this morning, and she told me that she started making her own platelets last night! This means that her bone marrow is working properly, and the chemotherapy did not do any damage. She will be getting some whole blood today and is expected to be home by the weekend.

The doctors are considering this to be her last treatment because there is no significant information available to suggest that another treatment would be beneficial. If fact, the potential for damage to the bone marrow could potentially increase with each treatment. For now, she is doing quite well and excited about the great news.

Fire Drill, HLA, Pizza and Friends

The last post mentioned that Charlotte was going to spend the night with Nonnie on Tuesday night. She did not know what she was bargaining for, because Nonnie spiked a fever that night. Charlotte witnessed first hand the "fire drill".

In the morning, and after the excitement, Nonnie received another unit of platelets. This time, they were able to do an "HLA match" to better predict the compatibility. Her counts went from 4,000 to 38,000! Now that her counts are up, she will finally be able to start taking her walks.

Yesterday was Brennen's 15th birthday. Papa and Blaine went to Woodcrest Christian High School, where all of the Freshmen had pizza and cake. Lisa and I took our kids to the beach at 15th street in Huntington Beach, and tied a card to a bunch of red (Brennen's favorite color) helium balloons. After a short prayer, we set them free and watched them rise up into the heavens.

Nonnie had a great visit today with Christie, Marcy, Carol and Miriam. These are the mothers of the kids who are best friends with Brennen, Blaine and Kylie. Afterwards, Chuck and Kathy Reid stopped by to spend time with Nonnie. Late in the afternoon, she mustered up the energy to take a walk around the floor. It sure must have been nice to get out of that bed!

Layin' Low

This week has been a game of "wait and see" on how Nonnie will respond to our platelets. Unfortunately, it looks like they are not as effective as we had hoped. The blood clinic is in the process of contacting the donor from September to check his/her availability to make another donation.

Dr. Paquette told Nonnie, "This will just have to be a week of laying low". Because of her severely low platelet counts, she is restricted to stay in her bed until her counts come up. Nonnie received 2 units of blood today and the last unit of directed platelets. She always feels so refreshed to get that fresh blood!

Nonnie told me that her Care Partner, Robert, hooked her up with a bucket of soapy water and washcloths at her bedside, so she could take a sponge bath. He also changed out her bed sheets and provided her with a clean change of clothes. He is the man!

The time is going by for Nonnie..... the hospital staff is very attentive, especially when they know Papa is not there. Derek and Tammy stopped by last night for a surprise visit, and Charlotte just arrived to spend the night when I was on the phone with Nonnie tonight. As you can see, our support group is doing a great job!

Nice Break

After being home for almost a week, Nonnie went back to the hospital yesterday morning. Blaine spent the weekend with his buddy Will and Kylie came down to our house. Papa stayed with Nonnie and even snuck in a movie while she was resting!

Lisa and I gave a "directed donation" of platelets on Thursday. This means that they are intended for a specific person. The platelets have a 5 day shelf life, 3 of which are spent processing and typing them for the recipient. If they are not a match, the donated platelets go into the system for another person. Even after this process is done, you still do not know how patients' body will respond until after they are given.

Nonnie's counts were low as expected, and she received whole blood and platelets in the afternoon. We are not sure whose they were, and the blood counts are not in as of this morning. She will likely get the other platelets today, and we hope that she responds well to one of our platelets.

Last night, Nonnie woke up around midnight to a very high fever. This prompted another "fire drill" and they were able to break her fever by this morning. She usually does this on day 14 post chemotherapy, but this time, it was on day 7. Hopefully, this means she is ahead of the game and she will be home a week sooner!

Her new room is #6153 and the direct phone is 310-267-6156.

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

757 Westwood Plaza

C/O Linda Asam, Room 6153

Los Angeles, CA 90095

Momentary Break

On Saturday, Papa and Lisa took the kids up to visit Nonnie for the day. When they went out to lunch in Westlake Village, the girls talked Papa into getting them a UCLA sweatshirt. They both sported their new gear around the hospital and gained a ton of fanfare from the students and staff!

Papa spent the night at the hospital with Nonnie as she completed her last chemotherapy treatment that evening. The kids all came back to our house and rented some movies for their sleepover. In the morning, Papa had a huge surprise for the kids.... Nonnie was discharged to go home for a few days until her counts begin to drop.

She has a home health nurse coming by each day to take blood and monitor her status. She will likely return back to UCLA later in the week until her counts are at a desirable level. At this point, she is still in remission as confirmed by the recent bone marrow biopsy done last week. Praise God for the miracle He is working!

Happy New Year

Today marks the 5th day for Nonnie being in the hospital. Later tonight, she will get her last chemotherapy treatment. She is feeling well and began her walking routine this morning with her friend Tammy.

Nonnie has been reading a really good book that deals with the grieving process, and is encouraged that in time, the healing process will begin. Papa, Lisa and I are very excited, because we are taking the kids to UCLA in the morning to visit Nonnie!

Her levels are slowly beginning to drop, and will drop steadily through the end of next week. Lisa is bulking up on her iron intake, and has been eating her daily "Cream of Wheat" so she can give platelets once needed.