Lumbar Punctures with Dr. Hum

Wednesday one last lumbar puncture for chemotherapy and testing is scheduled. They used to call this a spinal tap, but they felt this term sounded too scary. We prefer this term 'cause it IS scary having general anesthesia and a big needle stuck in your spine, YUK. Dr. Hum is absolutely the best at this procedure. With all the practice on Martha, she knows right where to stick her every time, which eliminates a lot of the pain. This time, in honor of her talents, Martha is bringing her a new Learn to Knit Kit with even BIGGER needles and an instructional DVD. Dr. Hum said she wanted to learn how, and with her lumbar puncture skills, we're sure she'll have a new sweater in no time.

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love sam & weezer

Homework & HEROES

This is Martha's senior year. She has worked so hard to get to this year. She spent the summer of 2004 completing her sophmore year with homebound studies and a tutor, finished her junior year by attending regular classes and took two summer school classes last summer in order to have all the needed credits to graduate this year. During all of this time she took oral chemotherapy drugs daily. Stuff that wipes out energy and causes nausea and heartburn. She went to oncology appointments twice a month or more and was constantly having sticks for bloodwork. She started her senior year with NO MORE chemo and just sixty days into the year, she was back on homebound and back in the clinic everyday. We're proud to say she has a 3.4 gpa and is still on track with her credits. The big challenge came when we were faced with the necessity of moving to Memphis for her stem cell transplant. Then along came an opportunity that is new and never used at Tulsa Public Schools until this year - NovaNet. Then along came the question of how do we get her a laptop computer in order to do the work away from home.

Well thanks to the love of some very fantastic people - our heroes, that question was answered most generously and the computer need has VANISHED. What APPEARED was a brand new Compaq Presario Notebook with wireless connetivity, just exactly what the doctor ordered. We appreciate my friends and co-workers at The Salvation Army in Tulsa for this marvelous gift, it would not have happened without YOU! God bless.

Both kids, Martha & Michael, are going online to continue schoolwork with this pilot project that Tulsa schools is testing (NovaNet). Martha began her online studies this weekend. A problematic start included DOS software (what century are they in?) a time-out failure that logged her off and lost all her work and the software window measures only 4X6 inches which is very hard for her to see with the use of only one eye. BUT, she is still determined to graduate this year no matter what NovaNet throws at her. And she wouldn't think of letting any of you down, either.

A quick aside, to let you know that Michael is accompanying us to Memphis because Mark leaves for work at 4AM - returns at 4PM, and works 6 days a week. Not a lot of time for a son. So I am very thankful that these arrangements can be made for him. Michael is also an amazing caregiver and will help Martha if she needs it in the hospital or when she is outpatient. I don't think he would do it for anybody else but Weezer. So today, the picture is all about Michael, our biggest hero with the heart.

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The Adventure Awaits!

As of today Martha has a transplant schedule, what a relief to have a date set. Martha is having what is called an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. That means Martha's stem cells from her blood will be extracted through a process like donating blood and will be frozen and stored until she is treated for the transplant. Since Martha has accomplished a healthy, successful remission, this method is preferable to having a bone marrow donor because Graft/Versus Host Disease is a serious danger for every transplant patient. We travel to Memphis on Sunday, March 12th to begin preparations for her stem cell harvest at Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital. Preparations include one surgery to remove her implanted port and replace it with a Hickman Catheter, which is two IV-type tubes that will protrude from her chest. This new way of accessing her veins is necessary to prevent infections and to facilitate running more than one type of fluid at the same time, such as chemo and liquid nutrition. Martha will also be receiving a drug called Filgrastim (G-CSF) that forces stem cells to grow profusely and travel into her blood stream much more abundantly than normal. After she has several days of this drug she will be hooked-up to an apherisis machine. The machine will remove her blood, process the stem cells out for collection, and return the remainder of the blood back to her system. If all goes well and them stem cells are floating out like promised, she should be able to complete this harvest during one or two, 3-5 hour sessions. Several baseline tests will be conducted also: Echocardiogram, Lung/Chest X-ray, Ophthalmology, Brain/Head CT Scans, her favorite the pregnancy test, lots of blood work and who knows what else. These activities all occur OUTPATIENT with hopefully little discomfort for Martha, which will leave time for some sightseeing in Memphis. Graceland here we come! We'll let you know soon how the packing, planning and excitement of moving for 60 days is going. Best Marbles and Marvels to you all!