 | 3/1 - Well, Jeri gave me a big surprise this morning.
She took a few steps without crutches and said that her sprained foot is
feeling much better. I like those kinds of surprises! We took a field trip
to the med center today to drop off the paperwork for her Vegas trip. We
also dropped off some of the California pictures to the Make-A-Wish
office. Then, it was on to lunch at King
Fish Market (a yummy place to go and stick to your diet!). Tomorrow,
Brit will be back and I am sure that he is just as anxious to be home as we
are to have him here. |
| 3/2 - I made it home today in time to see Jeri's good
news before she took went to physical therapy. She showed me that her foot
was healing enough to take a few steps without crutches. That was nice to
see. Here's a link for the Sunshine Kids
for those wanting to know about it. Those that follow baseball have probably
seen the yellow pin that Craig
Biggio wears on his cap for some of the publicity shots. It's from the Sunshine Kids. |
| 3/3 - It's the weekend. That means sleeping late for
Jeri. She's taken it easy today. No retail therapy, no school and no
worries. She managed to work in a bit of physical therapy but didn't want to
overdo it. It is the weekend after all. |
| 3/4 - It started out like another weekend day. Jeri
slept late once again. However, she showed a bit more energy today. She
played games this afternoon with Randi and her friend Chris. She went to the
gym with Virginia and spent time on the cross trainer machine. I'm not sure
what it does but Virginia says that Jeri had to work it with her legs
without using her arms. That sounds like good exercise to me. She went with
Randi to Religious Education class this evening. Oh yes, she's also starting
to show hair on that pretty head of hers. We finally finished the trip log
for the Make-A-Wish
trip. It's at www..stickyshoe.com/wish/
or you can use the links on the home page of this
web site. |
| 3/5 - Well, it isn't the weekend anymore, but that
didn't keep Jeri from sleeping in until noon. She got up in time to
eat a bite and then study with her home school teacher at 1. After
that, she just goofed off...her favorite kind of day. We did get more
info on the Las Vegas trip for next week. She will be traveling with a
pediatric oncology nurse and two other teenagers from Texas
Children's. There will be cancer kids from all across the US in Las
Vegas. They are staying in the Hard Rock Hotel there. Jeri is
ready to go! (Virg) |
| 3/6 - I woke Jeri up at 11:30 this morning. No
more sleeping until noon for this chick. (the girls don't call me mean
mom for nothing!) Since we had a free day today (no tennis for me or
physical therapy, school or clinic for Jeri), we went to a movie. We
saw Castaway and enjoyed it very much. That was about all that was
accomplished today. (Virg) |
| 3/7 - Despite the fact that Jeri had to get out of bed
this morning much before she wanted to, she had a really good physical
therapy session. Since her foot is getting better, she is back to
practicing with her cane. She feels like the foot is good enough that
she will not need to bring her wheelchair with her to Vegas - just her
crutches. (Virg) |
| 3/8 - No school today but Jeri had homework. She
baked cookies this evening as part of the homework. That's the kind of
homework I liked. She showed me how her walking is progressing when I
got home this evening. She's also standing while putting the sugar on
her cookies. I think they are Mexican Wedding Cookies. |
| 3/9 - It's the last day of school before Spring
Break. Yes, Jeri gets Spring Break too. Actually, I think it's
more for her teacher. She thinks she got a good grade on the cookies
she baked last night. Hope her teacher gave her as good a grade as I
did. Of course, I graded with my taste buds. The other event for
the day was physical therapy. Jeri stretched a bit today. One of
her exercises is to step over some cardboard boxes (about 3 inches high)
while using her cane. She managed to do that and kicked over the last
one. She says that it's a rule that one is supposed to kick over the
last one. This may not be the exact story but it should be
close. Jeri decided to show her therapist that she was making
improvement so she walked over the boxes without the cane. Virginia
says it was a toss-up to see who more shocked, her therapist or her
mother. I was also surprised when I heard. Now I've turned up
the pressure on Jeri to spend less time on the crutches and more time with
the cane. I also decided to motivate her with retail therapy
funding. Yes, I know that parents shouldn't motivate their kids that
way but so what. Jeri likes to shop and if that's what motivates her,
I'll be happy to use it. The deal is that she has to walk 50 yards in
a straight line with no cane, no stopping and pick up a $50 bill at the end
of the walk. I'll be responsible for measuring the course and
supplying the funding. There's no time limit other that what the
judge, me, believes is appropriate. Should be interesting. Maybe
this will give her the motivation to work harder. I'm open for
suggestions........ |
| 3/10 - Turns out that Jeri is quite the
sandbagger. We went outside this afternoon and measured a
course. She walked it very easily. That tells me that she's been
sandbagging. Ok, sandbagging since her foot healed. Her physical
therapy went up at least enough to match the hole that was left in my
pocketbook. She's not got new spending money for the trip to Las
Vegas. The prospect of additional retail therapy should get her even
more excited than she already is. |
| 3/11 - Jeri left for Las Vegas today on her trip with
the Sunshine Kids. She's
excited about this last vacation before getting back to the grind of
treatment. I think that applies to the rest of us as well. It's
easy to forget what's inside her body when she's feeling as well as she is
right not. Hope she enjoys the vacation. There may not be many
updates until she returns. I guess it all depends on how often she
calls to report the days events. |
| 3/12 - Jeri called in last night to say that they
arrived safely and that their hotel, The Hard Rock Hotel, is really cool and
that the view from their room is great. She called in today and added
that they had spent lots of time in the Circus Circus theme
park. She
rode lots of rides (except for the roller coaster). Tonight they are
going to Excalibur for a medieval dinner and show. She has already
managed to squeeze in some retail therapy too. The girl is good! |
| 3/15 - Jeri returns home tomorrow. We're looking
forward to having her back home. She's been having lots of fun but I'm
sure she'll be ready to get home. We pick her up at the airport
tomorrow afternoon. |
| 3/16 - Jeri's plane arrived right on time. She
was ready to go out to eat but said no buffets. She had plenty of
those in Las Vegas. We were all glad to see her and noticed that her
hair is continuing to grow. We'll have to get her debriefed and find
out the story of her trip. She wanted real TexMex food but the rest of
us had already decided that it was our turn to overeat. We chose the Monument
Inn and agreed to do TexMex later this weekend. |
| 3/17 - Rest was the order of the day for Jeri.
She left the wheelchair at home so she spent the week on crutches.
That was the longest stretch to date but she said that it left her leg a bit
sore and tired. All she wanted to do was catch up on her rest. |
| 3/18 - Jeri says that she is two time zones off and
needs to sleep later to catch up. I'm fairly slow but that surely
sounds like an excuse to stay up late and sleep late. Wonder how long
it will take to adjust. I'll need a reference for the next long trip I
take. Anyway, not much going on today. We had lunch with some
friends who are here while one of them is receiving treatment from
M.
D. Anderson Cancer Center. We went to Escalante's
so that Jeri could get that TexMex fix. |
| 3/19 - Today, Jeri had an appointment at 10am with Dr.
Berg, the experimental procedures Dr. We got there early (didn't
figure on light traffic) so we went over to the hospital and Jeri visited
with some of her favorite oncology nurses. They all exclaimed at how
tall she was and how long her hair is getting. (They never get to see
how tall she is when she is in for treatment since she is always in
bed!) Then it was back to the clinic for a quick exam and then the
conference. After discussing a couple of possible treatments, Jeri
gave some blood which will be used for some kind of liver test. If she
passes that test, we will try the protocol using a drug called ET374.
This will still keep our options open for the other protocol. Jeri
will have the option to change treatments at any time if the side effects
prove to be too awful. The good news about these treatments as far as
Jeri is concerned is that they will not require hospitalization. They
will be given on an outpatient basis. After we were finished in
clinic, we sent Brit off to the airport to catch his flight to Bartlesville
and we dashed over to diagnostic imaging for Jeri's CT-scan
of her
chest. We should get the results of that test in the morning. We
pray that the tumors have not gone out of control during this chemo-less
period. Jeri continues to feel good and look great. Thanks to
all of you for the prayers and good wishes that you are constantly sending
this direction. Y'all are a constant source of support! - Virg |
| 3/20 - Well, the results of the CT-scan
are in and there are
no big surprises. The existing tumors are larger and there are
approximately 10 new tumor nodules. The growth of the cancer on this
scan is proportional to the growth of the tumor on the last scan.
Jeri's blood work shows that her kidney and liver functions are all
normal. Her platelets are at 197,000 and her hemoglobin is at
11.4...all in the normal range. Unfortunately, her ANC (absolute Neutrophil
count), the number that measures her infection fighting ability, is only
1200. This number will have to reach 1500 before Jeri can start
treatments again. Blood work will be drawn again on Thursday to see if
this number was an anomaly. We may have to boost her ANC with G-CSF
injections again, but the Dr. would rather see them come up on their own for
Jeri's safety. It will be four to five days before we find out
the results of the specialized liver test that is needed for the first
protocol. Meanwhile, Jeri is planning a rigorous schedule of retail
and dining therapy (just to keep her dad on his toes!) - Virg |
| 3/21 - Jeri had physical therapy today. Virginia
told the therapist the tale of the 50 yard challenge and agreed that Jeri
should negotiate for easier trials. The therapist agreed and gave Jeri
a good workout. Jeri says she's still tired from using crutches during
last weeks trip. I don't think she was serious. The report is
that she did well in physical therapy. |
| 3/22 - Jeri participated in a big event this
evening. The Make-A-Wish
Foundation found a sponsor for Jeri's  wish.
It was Cantoni, a very nice furniture
store here in Houston. They adopted Make-A-Wish
as a charity and Jeri's wish in particular. They had a reception this
evening and invited Jeri to make an appearance and assist in a drawing for a
$3,000 shopping spree. She was more than happy to assist. On the
way, Jeri and Virginia stopped by TCH to
see Jeri's friend, Kristina. Kristina is 17 years old and has Ewing's
Sarcoma. That is similar to the Osteosarcoma
that Jeri has. Kristina is back in chemo. Virginia said it was
hard to separate the two girls. She did and they made it to Cantoni
a little after me. It was a very nice event in a very nice
store. The store Manager, Jeff Levine, was very nice to Jeri. He
and Jeri had several pictures taken, including video by our local affiliate of the
WB Network, the network of .7th
Heaven. Cantoni is now our
favorite furniture store. I told Virginia that I was glad we weren't eligible
for the prize because I couldn't afford to win. That $3,000 shopping spree
would have been twice that. But I digress........ Thanks to Mr.
Levine, Cantoni and the other sponsors
of this evening's event. Oh yes, the local WB
Network news comes on early and was in progress when we made it
home. We were just in time to see Jeri and Mr. Levine smiling for the
camera but too late to get a videotape loaded. Maybe next time. |
| 3/23 - Physical therapy went well today. Jeri
didn't try to negotiate easy stuff. She increased time and resistance
on her activities. She'll be spending lots of time using the cane
instead of crutches this weekend. The blood test results were a
different matter. Yesterday's blood draw showed an Absolute
Neutrophil Count (ANC) of 800 which was down from 1,200 on Monday.
(See 3/20 for minimum requirements information.)
That means she can't start the new therapy on Monday. Her liver test
was normal. That was good news. It means she qualifies for the
therapy if she can get her ANC to 1,500. The doctors said that the ANC
count indicated that she should be sick. She isn't. Therefore,
they think it may be possible that the last blood test was tainted.
She will try again on Thursday of next week. The liver test
qualification is date sensitive. She'll have to have it run again if
the blood count data is ok. In any event, it means that things are
delayed at best, until the first week of April. And so it
goes.......... |
| 3/24 - One of Jeri's friends came by and spent most of
the afternoon. I got a haircut today so Jeri's hair is now officially
longer than mine. |
| 3/25 - Sunday was to be Jeri's day of rest. She
got a bit of rest but her father caught up with her. The first
question was, "where's the cane?" I caught her using the
crutches downstairs. She explained that she didn't have any shoes on
and needed them to use the cane. That was quickly remedied.
Later during the day, she took the cane outside and walked around our
cul-de-sac. That will become a daily thing for a while. It will
also get longer every few days. I've still got to get my $50
worth. (see 3/20) |
| 3/26 - Jeri made it around the cul-de-sac today with
only one stop. She's amazing. She'll sometimes protest a bit but
she always does the work and gives it her best. She also made Creme
Brulee. I'm going to have mine tomorrow. Everyone else said they
were good. Not much else going on today. |
| 3/27 - Well, it was raining too hard today to do the
tour of the cul-de-sac, so we loaded the crutches into the car and took
off. Jeri and I had lunch at Rudi Lechner's today. Yummy German
food! Then, it was off to the Galleria. Jeri got lots of
exercise walking the mall. We did mostly looking today. The only
purchase was some fun eye shadows from Sephora for Jeri and she used her own
money for that. Brit was saved! |
| 3/28 - Jeri graduated from the four-legged cane to the
single-legged cane in Physical Therapy today. She is needing less and
less to lean on as she walks. She practiced quite a bit with the new
cane and is already quite comfortable with it. I think she might want
to show off for her dad when he returns tomorrow night. Her teacher
came to the house for lessons today. Jeri had tests in several
subjects and did great on all of them. Afterwards, Cherry, her
teacher, got to sample the last creme brulee. Jeri got high marks for
that as well. |
| 3/29 - Jeri and Virginia went to the clinic this
morning to try again with the blood test and get a bone scan. We don't
have the results of the bone scan. The blood test showed an ANC of
1,150. She needs 1,500 plus a normal liver test to begin the planned
chemo. The liver test is time sensitive so there was no need to have
it run. Dr.
Berg was out of town today so we won't get a chance to discuss next
steps until perhaps tomorrow. She may put Jeri on G-CSF
to increase her white blood count and therefore, her ANC. We shall
see. On another note, Jeri showed me how well she could use the new
cane. She did well. She's making progress every day. |
| 3/30 - Someone from the clinic called today and said
that Dr.
Berg had seen Jeri's blood test results. She was pleased tat the
ANC was going up from the last measurement. Nothing was said about the
time before being an anomaly and that this one was a bit lower than the last
clinic test. That about sums up our relationship so far with Dr.
Berg. Jeri had physical therapy this afternoon. I took her
rather than Virg. Jeri tried to negotiate for easier things. She
quickly discovered that with Dad, the only negotiation was how many more
repetitions or how much more weight she could do. That didn't work out
the way she had planned. She did well, anyway. Her strength is
improving each day. This evening, Jeri went with some friends to one
of the local High Schools to see several team's present their one act
plays. I don't think this was a competition but more of an exhibition
of the plays that they used in the state competitions. She said she
enjoyed it a lot. |
| 3/31 - March went out with a whimper. Jeri
relaxed most of the day. A bit of light shopping but nothing
purchased. Now we'll see what April brings. |
