Schedule of Events
 | 11/1 - The month is new. The effects of the
chemo are getting old. Jeri's easily fatigued and will stay that way
for a few more days. She ate a bit better today which will help her
regain her stamina. She spent most of the day in the chair doing
schoolwork when she wasn't watching TV. Sometimes she was doing
both. She really wants to get back to school and regain a more normal
life. She's not going to openly say that so I'll say it for her.
We keep hearing from people who have found out about Jeri and are adding her
to their prayer lists. Thanks to all of you, especially those who have
kept vigil with us for several months now. |
| 11/2 - Quiet day again today. Jeri had blood
drawn by the home health care nurse. She told the nurse that her skin
was sensitive to touch and that she should be careful. The nurse
asked if there was anything else hurting. Jeri told her that her
"chirpy" mom was painful. That's been a running joke when
Jeri is feeling down. Her mom is always a happy (chirpy) morning
person and that can be tough on those of us that start the day slowly.
OK, I'm filling space. There's really not much happening except daily G-CSF
shots until the clinic visits begin again next week. |
| 11/3 - The counts from yesterday's blood draw are in. They are
dropping as expected. Jeri had school today. She did well on her
test for Charles
Dickens' book, "Great Expectations." I'm sure we all
remember that one...or follow the link and you too, can say you remember
that one (Here's a link to various
resources, some of which are no longer active.). Jeri's grades are
still doing well. She also had physical therapy today. She still
tires but that could be the transition where the chemo starts to wear off
but the blood counts are hitting bottom. She will likely receive
platelets and/or whole blood next week. That always gives her a
boost. Here are the counts:
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
7.6 |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
25,000 |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
500 |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
Not given |
|
| 11/4 - Today would have been Jeri's first homecoming at
Cypress Creek High School. It
was kind of tough for her to be left behind. Every once and a while
there are events that remind us how isolated Jeri has been since last
February. She did pretty good until right after her older sister and
her friends left for dinner and the dance. Other than that, it's been
a lazy day at home. |
| 11/5 - Today was another lazy day. Nothing new to
report. |
| 11/6 - Well, Brit is gone for a few days so the rest of
us will have to update in his absence. Virg and Jeri are headed
to clinic in the morning. It is liable to be a long day since it looks
like (a guess from the last blood counts) that Jeri might need both blood
and platelets. Jeri has already planned to dress up for tomorrow so
that we can go somewhere "nice" for lunch. |
| 11/7 - Jeri and I had a premonition that the clinic
might be busy this morning when we pulled into the first parking garage only
to find that there were absolutely no parking places. We were going to
try the valet parking at the Feigin Center where the clinic is located but
that was backed up twenty cars deep. So, we tried a different parking
garage and lucked out when someone pulled out of a spot just as we got
there. The trip from our home to the medical center took less time
than it did to find a parking place. But I digress... When we
arrived in the clinic it was standing room only in the waiting room.
We settled down for a long wait. It took about 45 minutes before they
drew Jeri's labs and it was another hour before we made it back to an exam
room. We decided that there are just too many children with
cancer!! The good news was that even though Jeri's counts were not
anything to write home about, Dr. Murali
decided that she didn't need any
transfusions today. We were free to go! So, we headed out to
lunch at Brennan's. This was another yummy choice on Jeri's
part. We were home by 3:30. Jeri's next chest CT-scan
is scheduled
for November 14. If it shows improvement like the last scan did, Jeri
will receive two more courses of chemo with the Ifosfamide
and the Etoposide (VP16). Jeri pleaded her case about not being in the hospital for chemo
over Thanksgiving week and got a quick assent from Dr. Murali. Counts
for the day are:
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
7.1 |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
20,000 |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
8,500 |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
6,200 |
|
| 11/8 - Well, it was a nice quiet day at home.
Jeri slept late in accompaniment to the raindrops hitting the window.
She did have school today and then did a great job at physical
therapy. We decided that it was a Pappasito's
day. Her appetite is
definitely improving. Tomorrow is another clinic day. |
| 11/9 - It was a long day at the clinic for Jeri and
Virginia. They were there at 7:30am to have Jeri's blood work
done. Tuesday's counts were close so they figured it would be better
to have her come in, just in case she needed platelets or blood. She
did. They left for breakfast and were to be back by 12:30pm. The
blood transfusion didn't get started until 2pm. They made it home
around 8pm. I returned from Bartlesville, OK, this afternoon and beat
them home. They had also hoped to see Dr.
Johnson since this was his day to be in the clinic. We were
wanting to see if Jeri could get the "go ahead" to start more
aggressive physical therapy for her leg. They didn't. He had not
arrived by the time they left for breakfast and was gone by the time they
returned. Oh well. We'll just have to make an appointment to go
to his office. The good news is that Jeri gets to stop the daily G-CSF
shots. The white counts have gone off the charts. Here are the
counts:
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
6.7˜ |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
29,000— |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
High - off the chart— |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
10,000+— |
|
| 11/10 - Physical therapy went very well for
Jeri. Yesterday's blood transfusion gave her extra energy. She
also did well with school this morning. Nice to see her feeling so
much better. |
| 11/11 - It's been pretty quiet today. Jeri did a
bit of physical therapy and a bit of shopping with her mom....mostly
groceries. We're counting down to the next CT-scan.
If it shows improvement similar to last time, she will continue with the
same chemo regimen for two more courses If not, well, we aren't even
thinking about that right now. |
| 11/12 - Jeri went to the movies with one of her
friends. Afterward, I went to pick them up and we all had ice cream at
Marble Slab. It was nice to
see her felling good and wanting to get out. She seems to be working
at reestablishing herself with some of her friends. That's
good. |
| 11/13 - Jeri had a good day today. She had her
school lessons and practiced walking with her crutches as often as she could
(without maternal nagging.) We are headed to clinic in the morning and
she will also have her chest CT. We are praying that it will show
continued improvement. |
| 11/14 - Jeri had her CT-scan
today. We were surprised to get the results back this quickly. I
guess they knew exactly where to look. The results continued the
"cautiously optimistic" progress that was evident in the last CT-scan.
More details are in the "I need a
stiff drink" section. It was so much so that they want to
start the next chemotherapy just as soon as Jeri's blood counts will
allow. They will check her blood counts on Friday and admit her to TCH
if all goes well. The good news is that she should be out by
Thanksgiving. The bad news is that she won't feel very good that
day. That's a small price to pay if this treatment is on the right
track. Here are today's blood counts. Note that the ANC and
White Cells dropped significantly. That's expected since Jeri
discontinued the G-CSF
injections.
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
9.6— |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
41,000— |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
1,200˜ |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
528˜ |
|
| 11/15 - Another strong day for Jeri. She had a great session
with physical therapy. Virginia heard from Dr.
Johnson's assistant and learned that Jeri can put full weight on her
left leg, ride a stationery bicycle and lift light weights. That means
that Sgt. Dad will press the program a little harder. It's not near as
dramatic as yesterday's news but it's great news nonetheless. With the
specter of more chemo on the way, Jeri is indulging herself in a facial
tomorrow. She's got to look good for that stay at TCH. |
| 11/16 - Jeri's starting to get adjusted to the
possibility of starting the next round of chemo tomorrow. Her last
fling at retail therapy was to get a facial. We'll go to the clinic in
the morning and get her blood checked. Hope everything is where it
needs to be so this thing can continue to be attacked while it appears to be
on the run. |
| 11/17 - Jeri and I started out early this morning to
get to the clinic to have her blood levels checked. It was the two of
us rather than Virginia and Jeri as is normal. Virginia is at a USTA
tennis tournament in Tucson, AZ. Good for her. Her mixed doubles
team won the Texas 7.0 division and are now at the sectionals. It's
nice that she has a chance to get away and I was more than happy to take
over the clinic duties. Anyway, we got to the clinic and had blood
drawn while we anxiously awaited the result. The counts were too
low. Oh well, we'll try again in a few days. Jeri and I were
looking forward to several days up close and personal. We also were
looking forward to hammering the "big C" as soon as
possible. Physical therapy was interesting this afternoon.
Interesting for me. Not so much so for Jeri. This was the first
time with full weight bearing on her left leg. She did well. The
assisted stretching was difficult. She used a can to walk and it was
also difficult. She worked at it. I'm sure it will get easier as
she works at it. Here are the counts:
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
8.6˜ |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
26,000˜ |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
1,400— |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
700— |
|
| 11/19 - Not much to report from yesterday.
Today was generally more of the same. Jeri and I worked on the
stretching and walking. She's a bit leery to let me be her personal
drill sergeant but it's ok once we get going. She works hard when
someone works with her. She spent the day watching TV and working on
the computer (and playing a few games) when we weren't doing physical
therapy. Virg gets back from her tennis tournament this evening.
They had a good time but didn't get out of the sectionals. Oh well. |
| 11/20 - Jeri worked hard on her physical therapy
today. She's feeling good, eating good and exercising good. OK,
OK, bad grammar but a good triplet. Anyway, it must be time to be
admitted to TCH. She will try
again on Tuesday. We're anxious to get this chemo going and confirm the
indications of success from this treatment regimen (see roadmap
#3). |
| 11/21 - The blood counts are still too low for Jeri to
be admitted to TCH. Jeri's ANC
needs to be at least 1,000 (see Blood
Counts Explained). That left only one thing to do.....well two
things.....lunch and retail therapy. It will be Monday when they check
again. That means that Jeri, and the rest of us by extension, get to
stay home for the Thanksgiving holiday. That's ok but getting Jeri
well is more important. Here are the counts:
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
9— |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
84,000— |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
not given |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
480˜ |
|
| 11/22 - Jeri went outside today and walked,
assisted with her crutches, around our cul-de-sac. She is getting much
stronger at walking with the crutches. The cane is still a bit of a
problem. The crutches allow her to distribute her weight a little
easier. It wasn't that long ago that she could barely take 2 steps
with the crutches so she's gaining strength. The cane will come and
then walking without assistance will come. She have to take advantage
of the times between chemo when she regains her energy and a bit of
stamina. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we'll say thanks at our house to
everyone who continues to remember Jeri in their hearts and prayers.
We'll say thanks to everyone who has helped or offered to help, to all the
doctors and nurses who have worked so hard, to our friends and co-workers
who understand our need to be flexible, and to our families for all their
support. We'll say thanks for the positive signs that the chemo is
beginning to show. And we'll thank God for all the time we've had as a
family and cherish every day we have going forward. |
| 11/24 - We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home
yesterday. Today was equally as quiet. Jeri and Randi went to a
movie this evening. They went to see "The
Grinch." They both liked it. It's nice to see them
spending time together. We're pretty sure that Jeri will be admitted
to TCH on Monday. That means that
the rest of this weekend will probably include a bit of retail therapy and
eating out. Perhaps I can be a bit of Grinch myself and save a few
bucks for the Christmas budget. OK, I can try but I'll probably not be
able to withstand the onslaught if pressed on the matter. Oh yes, I
have to include another of those proud parent moments. Randi received
notice today that she has been accepted at Texas
A&M. It wouldn't have been my choice. Actually, it
wasn't my choice when I matriculated. It was Randi's though and we're
all happy for her. |
| 11/25 - This is a Virg update and Brit was saved from
the retail therapy and dining out therapy today but tomorrow is yet another
day. Jeri is just taking life easy until the clinic visit on Monday. |
| 11/26 - We made it through the day with no retail
therapy. Dining out finally caught up to us though. Jeri said it
was her last meal before chemo and we always go out for the last meal before
chemo. It was hard to argue. I tried to suggest that we had
tried this at least two other times but my plea fell on deaf ears since
Jeri, Virg and Randi all wanted to go out. We went to Pappasito's
since it was close and hopefully, fairly quick on a Sunday evening. We
put some Christmas lights out earlier today. Everyone had a job.
Jeri was the light tester since that could be done sitting down. We
have an unusual display in front of the house. Here's a link to a picture
from last year with Jeri standing beside it, if anyone is interested. |
| 11/27 - Jeri went to the
clinic this afternoon with the intention of verifying blood counts and
getting admitted to TCH.
It didn't work out that way. Her white count and therefore, ANC was
still too low. It has to be over 1,000 (see chart). She will now
have to wait until Thursday and try again. Meanwhile, Dr. Murali
directed that Jeri begin G-CSF
shots again to stimulate white blood cell growth. That will ensure
that the counts are at the desired levels on Thursday. It's better to
avoid artificial stimulation of white blood cell and ANC growth but it's
more important that Jeri begin the next treatment before the tumor begins
growing. Here are the counts:
|
Category (see
link for definitions)
|
Normal |
Adequate / Acceptable |
Jeri |
| Hemoglobin |
12 |
8 |
9.5— |
| Platelets |
250,000 |
100,000 |
147,000— |
| White Cells |
4, 000 - 10,000 |
4,000 |
1,600— |
| ANC (Absolute Neutrophil
Count) |
1,500-5,000 |
1,000 |
640— |
|
| 11/29 - No update yesterday. It wasn't that
nothing happened. It was because I was doing other things and didn't
get it done before retiring for the evening. In fact, today's update
is going to be more about yesterday. The notable thing for today was
school. That's certainly notable. Here's what happened
yesterday. Jeri received a visit by representatives from the Make-A-Wish
Foundation. The appointment had been arranged for about a week so
Jeri had plenty of time to think about a wish. The Make-A-Wish
Foundation foundation grants special wishes to children under age 18
with life-threatening illnesses. Jeri was nominated by the doctors and
staff at the TCH Cancer Clinic.
They are truly an amazing organization. The wish counselors came and
discussed the program with us and Jeri's wish with her. They were a
very nice couple. Jeri discussed her wish and a backup, just in
case. We'll what happens and then let everyone know what it was,
although it will probably be obvious. The second thing for the day was
also exciting. Jeri was also nominated to participate in the 2000 Lombardi
Award ceremony. Here's a quote from their web site for non-sports
fans. "The Rotary Lombardi Award is hosted by the Rotary Club
of Houston and benefits the American Cancer Society. The Award was initiated
by the Rotary Club in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi to
cancer. The Rotary Lombardi Award goes annually to the college
football lineman -- offense or defense -- who, in addition to outstanding
performance and ability, best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi.
As the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, Lombardi first made a name
for himself as the smallest but toughest member of Fordham University's
"Seven Blocks of Granite," renowned in their day (1934-37) for
being the most unyielding line in college football."
The event is next week. They take 5 boys and 5 girls that are cancer
patients. They furnish tuxedos and evening gowns, a limousine ride,
plenty of health care professionals to look after the kids, and special
events with the dinner. Wow! Jeri isn't that much of a football
fan but she's gaining. She's definitely a fan of getting dressed up in
fancy clothes and going out to dinner. She's also starting to learn
more about football after watching several games with me at the
hospital. The dinner is just a few days after she should be released
from the next chemo. She says that this regimen is quite as bad as
some of the others and promises to eat while in the hospital. This is
all heady stuff. It really brings home all of the wonderful things
that people do for kids. It also reminds me that I need to do more and
I will when this ordeal is over. I've got to say though, as wonderful
as this is for Jeri, it means more to us to know that so many people are
keeping Jeri in their prayers. Getting Jeri through this will be the
best of all. |
| 11/30 - It's been an interesting day for Jeri and
Virginia. The went to the clinic this morning at 8:15am. It
wasn't long before they confirmed that Jeri's blood counts were high enough
to be admitted to TCH. They knew
the drill. Leave a phone number and wait for a call that a room was
available. They went to the shop for Jeri to select a dress for the Lombardi
Award ceremony. They had lunch. They went home. About
10pm this evening we learned that there were no beds available and that Jeri
was 4th on the list. They decided to get ready to bed and not worry
about it until tomorrow. There are a lot of kids being treated for
cancer....unfortunately. We know how it works. There may be
several released early in the morning. It's also a situation where a
day won't make much difference for Jeri's treatment. It may make a
difference on whether she feels good enough to attend the Lombardi
Award ceremony. We shall see. Anyway, the phone may ring
later this evening or late tomorrow. Either way, we'll be ready.
Flexibility is one thing we've all learned. |
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Brit: brit@stickyshoe.com
Virg: virg@stickyshoe.com
This page last updated:
August 10, 2001
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