Dear friends -

It's been a while since a post .... for many reasons, but mostly because life goes on and has been quite enjoyable. But as we gear around for more treatments and transplant, we've been asked to please keep this updated.

So
as some of you know, in Nov., I had a biopsy to my liver that showed Hodgkin present. While it had gone away in some areas, it appeared in others. The transplant is not considered to have not worked. It just did not create enough graft vs. tumor to rid the cancer. Therefore, we went ahead with two cycles of chemo starting in Jan. and talked of a DLI to follow (donor lymphocyte injection - a "booster" of cells from the donor). The chemo was a breeze (meant to be), no side effects. That particular kind is not known for it. So business as usual. Worked, volunteered, played hard, worked out and skied often. Unfortunately the day after I finished my last chemo dose, I broke my leg skiing!! A whole other issue to deal with ....

Full leg cast for 5 weeks (off April 1st), then a below the leg cast for three more. No driving is probably the biggest adjustment, but after being home for two weeks, I have accomodated with rides, a wheelchair to return to work, and a husband who does it all! The most frustrating thing however is the fact of not being able to play and do as I normally do.

Now ... next step.
Monday, March 1st I had a PET scan that showed significant reduction to the nodules
in my lungs. Very minimal disease present. I had responded well to the chemo. Dr. Meehan would decide the best course of action.
So,
because I had an unheard of 5 perfect matches for donors (when searched last year), we are NOT going ahead with the DLI (which really is only a temporary fix to another transplant). Instead, we are going ahead with a transplant from one of these other four matches, and if all lines up with out glitches, in the next 4-6 weeks. Although this news came quickly, we are ready to go and very relieved we don't have to wait 3-4 months for a search. This leg work has all been done, and we're WAY ahead of the game.

So our journey continues, but as everyone touched by cancer knows, it's not as straight forward as one would hope. One does not get diagnosed, treated, cured, back to normal. Instead, one (and ALL those involved) learns to LIVE with cancer and life's new normalcy, whether it's active or in remission.

I or we, will update the blog once in a while, but most likely not in any kind of uniform time frame. So, check back when you want, but feel free to just ask us "hey, how's it going? Where you at?" at ANY time. This is NO black sheep.

Be well and enjoy each day!
Love - Pam