Counts R Up

Thursday's lab results indicated that Martha's platelet counts doubled since last week taking them from 38 to 80. That is terrific news. Her ANC, which is basically her total blood count, was over 4,700. That is what any old normal person could expect to have on a random blood test. All is looking good. She is feeling good. We return to the oncology clinic next Thursday, June 1st.

Hope you're having a marvelous Memorial Day weekend. Don't forget to thank a vet, remember a loved one and pray for our past and present U.S. forces who are at home and all over the world.

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Grad Night - Girlfriends - Grandma - Goodbye

Martha walked the stage last night with style and pride! She is now what we in Oklahoma call GRADUMECATED. She celebrated the evening with a fantastic cheering section that included her Grandma, several girlfriends, family and other friends. Her homebound instructor, Mr. Dieble, who is also a guidance counselor at Nathan Hale, announced all the graduates names as they each crossed the stage, but there was extra pride and bravado in his voice when Martha went across. A very special thanks goes to Paul for his camera and hopefully some extra good close-up shots of Martha crossing the stage.

Now that Martha has accomplished her major goals for 2006 there is just not as much to update you on as the days roll by. Thank goodness we are slowly moving back to normal family life. Each Thursday will bring lab results and with these I will update y'all weekly. Otherwise, please consider us all well and good and living life. So Goodbye until next week.

P.S. Martha is still too close to her transplant to participate in many activities or return to work. So because of that she can't take part in the Relay for Life Team (American Cancer Society) or Light the Night Team (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). Since she can't walk this year ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WALK for her! Just ask your family and friends to sponsor your efforts. Both of these events are coming up this summer. Hope Martha inspires you just half as much as she does me.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts for remembering us, praying, and communicating your love in the many ways you each have.

What a party Martha started!

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GRAD NIGHT - Tomorrow Night!

For all of those attending Martha's Graduation Ceremony, here's the SCOOP

You know it's at the Pavillion at 8:00 P.M. Someone will be waiting for everybody to gather by our van in the parking lot until as late as 7:45. The van is decorated for the occasion so it shouldn't be hard to spot. EVERYONE in this group better be there to hoot N holler for our girl who worked harder than anyone there to be there. So let's all be sure to make a major shout-out when she walks that stage. Hope we all connect sometime - somewhere so that we can form one large WEEZER cheer section together.

Hale Rangers ~ Hale Razers ~ Kiss this Class Goodbye ~ Seniors 2006

Think Positive - BE NEGATIVE!

The results from Saint Jude testing regarding Martha's blood counts are looking very hopeful so far. Thursday's labs indicated that her platelet count was up by five. I am just happy that there was an up and no more down. Her bone marrow and spinal fluid slides came back negative and the complicated molecular study on the bone marrow biopsy that was done May 9th also came back with negative results. So Far So Good!

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Fearless First Flight

Martha's first flight had the perfect weather. There were just enough scattered clouds to know we were above them, but not enough to block the view. In fact, Martha watched outside the window for almost the entire flight. As expected, she truly enjoyed the ride and the landing was as smooth as could be which was a great thing for a first-time flyer. We're back at the beloved Grizzlies House, although Martha is heading to the hospital to visit a friend who just had surgery yesterday. Here's the view from our window, no we did not get transported to Africa, it's just the Memphis Pyramid against the sunset.

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Prom Queen Goes to the Clinic

The clinic promised Martha a mini prom if she didn't get to the real deal. But today everyone there was very happy to celebrate her status as Prom Queen instead. What a GREAT visit, here's Martha and Dr. K, they're both all dressed up to party! The labwork at the clinic indicated that her platelets are still dropping. They're at 38 - the preferred range is at least over 150.

Tomorrow Martha takes her first airline flight ever in order to return to Saint Jude's for her next chemo session. She is not happy about the flight and not too happy about having a spinal tap. But Martha will find a way to enjoy herself regardless of all the other problems. She always does.

~ Watch this Site & Pray for Platelets ~

Mother's Day with My Kids

Picnic and football with all my kids! What a great Mother's Day. YES - Mark counts as a kid. Sometimes he's more trouble than the teenagers are. Hope YOU had a great weekend, just like ours.

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Military Ball

Tonight was the Military Ball at the Embassy Suites and before Martha left we grabbed some quick photos again. This of course is the dress we raced to Tulsa for and we're sure glad we did. She looks fantastic! We had a few laughs at the ceremony and watched a slide show of their many acti vities. I know I sound like a whiner, but it just reminded me of everything Martha missed at school this year. Which leads towards ticking me off and making me mad because cancer really does SUCK. Now Martha on the other hand, had a wonderful time tonight and just called home to let us know she'll be back home around 4 AM - she's out with her friends until then. Thank you Brad for having her home at a decent hour last night ~ I'm not sure what I have to say about tonight's escort. 'watch this site'

Prom Pics

The Prom Queen Gets Her Wish!

The long awaited day arrived and I don't mean just the Senior Prom either. Martha finally got a date with dreamy "BRAD R." and as an added highlight to her long-awaited wish, she was nominated 2006~Prom Queen! This must also mean that Brad is the Prom King. Since it was Brad's first Prom ever we hope he was just as delighted as Martha to share in the "coronation." I guess we have all considered her The Queen for quite some time now, haven't we? It's good to see everbody is making this distinction, also.

My camera batteries died tonight, but not until all the Prom dress pictures were taken. So I promise I will have photos posted by Saturday! They are beautiful - you're gonna love 'em!

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Somewhat Back to Normal?

Martha was delighted to return to Nurse Ginny today for her labs and wise advise. There is a plummeting platelet count that has me worried, but we're going to wait it out and see what the tests continue to indicate. Martha as always ~ has no worries!

I returned to work today which was pretty hard to do after getting the lower platelet counts back this morning and of course not being at work for 2 whole months. But after biting the bullet and getting back to business as usual I am greeted by an avalanche of balloons. Talk about having your desk covered! This was crazy! I have never been so surprised inmy LIFE! and I really didn't know there was that much hot air at work, without me around.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH MRS. BOOTH - THAT WAS A FANTASTIC IDEA - I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Thanks to all the blowers and knotters, too.

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Home

We got to Oklahoma about 7PM Tuesday evening and that's good enough for us! It was however, even better to pull-up in the driveway and walk in the door.

Yesterday held one awful disappointment. When Martha went to have her Hickman removed, the nurse told her that they did not want to do it before she was through having treatments. She said this so casually, we thought she was joking - when I realized she wasn't joking, there was hell to pay. Ultimately, Dr. Kasow was called over to the surgical clinic and she consulted with Martha and me and the surgical technician who was advising against the removal. The decision came down to Martha (since she's an adult) and Martha decided to leave the line in until July 13th when she has her last dose of chemotherapy. The technician said there could be times when Martha's veins are too hard to access for an IV and that occasionally the Propofol (which is the drug that sedates you) will burn when being administered in a peripheral vein.

You can be assured that I LET THEM HAVE IT! Martha had been really "sweatin'-it" for the previous five days knowing that they were going to pull the line. It takes a lot of energy to focus on mind over matter and prepare to have a tube that is approximately 12 inches long pulled-out from inside your chest while you are completely awake and aware of what's happening. I can't say Martha is disappointed, because she negotiated a deal that allows them to pull the line at the end of her last procedure before she is fully awake. That way she won't really be aware of the procedure happening. My biggest problem with this situation is that it is absolutely WRONG for one department of the hospital to be unable to communicate with a physician prior to the day of the procedure (it was scheduled 5 days before she went to have it removed). The PATIENT has too many disappointments that arise because of the disease alone, lack of communication between caregivers should never add to their disappointments. ARRGHH!

Well we're home now, and we might go back next week for her next treatment, but before that there are two formals to attend, Mexican food to eat and people to see. So WATCH THIS SITE!

We are SO OUT OF HERE!

Martha will be getting her Hickman Line removed tomorrow. Then she has a photography session for her Senior Pictures. As soon as all that's over, WE ARE HEADED HOME. All lab results look excellent and Martha is feeling fantastic. We will be returning here next week for overnight only. The remainder of her follow-up visits are scheduled once monthly for the next two months.

WOW - we are so excited it's hard to think! We've spent the last two hours packing for home. Once we return home, I'm sure my brain will slow down enough to reflect on everything that Martha has overcome and accomplished here in Memphis. The photo is of Martha's transplant physician Kim Kasow, D.O. on the right and her nurse practioner Natalie on the left. These women are Martha's primary caregivers here at Saint Jude, but there were so many more that were involved in her treatment.

Don't leave us yet - keep watchin' this site - there's still lots more to see & do.

Thank YOU for being along for the ride!

Bone Marrow Biopsy and Spinal Tap Day!

Doesn't that sound like fun! Here's Martha waiting for someone to knock her out and then stab her in the back, not just once, but twice! She even makes it look like fun, doesn't she?

Martha breezed through these procedures just fine! And as always we went out to eat afterwards, since she is not allowed food beforehand. Olive Garden - but you probably guessed that. Her hip is sore, but she has pain medications to help with that and unfortuately it's also something Martha has dealt with many times before. Next week some initial biopsy results will be returned, but not the complicated molecular study that they do at Saint Jude.

Dr. Kasow released her for the prom weekend, but only temporarily and we will have to return shortly after that event, I don't know if it will be before or after graduation. Most likely, Martha will have the Hickman Line removed on Tuesday, May 9th. That means she won't have a GIANT gauze pad covering her cleavage when she wears her formal gowns next weekend. I know some of you Dads out there think that would actually be a good thing, but not us momz & girlz, so get over it. AND.....

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Tulsa Oncology Clinic Harbors Saint Jude Fugitive

Yes, this is how we got a little carried away with the shopping trip! We knew exactly where we could get that extra ball gown, but it happened to be at a store called ITEMS at 61st Street and South Sheridan in Tulsa! And yes we were correct they had the perfect dress, Martha picked it out immediately. She also took her Prom dress to be altered because of her weight loss.

This all occurred yesterday and we left at 3AM today to get back to Memphis for her lab appointment at 9:45 AM. Since we didn't run any of this by her transplant doc, we decided that a visit to our Tulsa healthcare team was in order. Sorry we missed Kathy and Dr. Hum, but it was great seeing everyone else. Best of all on this whirlwind was sleeping in our own beds, seeing Mark & Michael and last but not least petting Waldo!

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Monday Morning

Sitting here waiting to finish our day already - and it just started! This week includes a bone marrow biopsy, but otherwise not a whole lot left to do here, except get better. And actually, it's going to be a short day of appointments, which probably makes the time go slower. If the rain doesn't hold us back - we intend to go shopping for yet another Ball Gown today. It seems that Martha is being seated at the head table for the Military Ball, so a girlz gotta do whatta girlz gotta do and that means SHOPPING! Okay! So we went a little crazy with the shopping trip, but we're sure they'll understand.

More on that laterz!