A Year Ending in a Hairy Situation

Wow, what a year! This past January, Pam was getting a brief respite from doctors and hospitals after 4 rounds of chemo, 3 (or was it 4?) trips to the ER and hospitalizations, God knows how many blood and platelet transfusions in 2012.  Then, in February, she was able to get the treatment regimen actually aimed at a cure: six total body radiation treatments, one more big blast of chemo, and, finally; her stem cell transplant, on Feb. 13th, 311 days ago. Unfortunately, her transplant was followed by six more weeks isolated in her room at OHSU with the flu.

But, fortunately, things could not have gone much better since.The rest of 2013 has been relatively uneventful by contrast.  Lots of doctor's appointments and lots of drugs, but only 2 ER visits and only one brief hospitalization since getting out of OHSU after the transplant. Improvement is slow and relatively steady. This is truly a marathon, not a sprint.

Next up: this February she will get another bone marrow biopsy and she will start getting all of her "baby shots": measles, mumps, rubella, etc.

Hairy Situation

Many of you know that her hair has grown in dark and curly.  She went to the hairdresser earlier this week to get it cut and styled. It looked terrible.  And, of course, she asked me how I liked it.  I stuttered and stammered; tried to avoid answering, and finally had to admit that I hated it.  It looked like an old lady hairdo suitable for a Prison Matron. She went back to have it re-done yesterday and it looks great.

Merry Christmas
The Snow is Fake

Doing Next to Nothing

As for me, I am taking a few days off, and am going to do my best to do very little. I am going to do some bike riding and catch up on reading. I just finished The Sisters Brothers on recommendation of Matt Harrison, just started How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams who is the creator of Dilbert.

I took this picture on the way back from Starbucks and, somehow, my camera phone added an animated gif of snow falling. I have no idea how that happened.  Probably some minor Christmas miracle.

Mark, Roller Coasters and Killer Turkey

We Will Miss Mark

I am sure that many of you may have heard that Pam's brother, Mark, passed away last week.  Here is a link to his obituary: Mark's Obit.  Unfortunately, Pam was sick, and she couldn't attend the funeral yesterday, but really wanted me to go.  So I did.  She also wanted me to say a few words about her recent memories of Mark. So I did.  As you all know, I am a pretty emotional person and have grown to accept it. I knew that when I got up to speak at the funeral I would cry and be embarrassed. And I did. And I was. Oh well.  

As I explained to someone at the funeral, unlike most people, I don't have a fear of speaking in public, but I am working on conquering my fear of crying in public.

I never really understood Mark. I knew he was a talented, gentle, sensitive, quirky person, but I had a hard time relating to him on a personal level and I never really felt like we got to the level that we were friends. I think that was true with almost everyone who knew him. One of the few exceptions is Pam. I believe that she is one of the few people on this earth who truly knew Mark, and really understood him. I wish I had more time with him. I would have liked being his friend.

Roller Coaster

As luck would have it in the roller coaster that is Pam's health, she has had a rough couple of weeks that coincided with Mark's death.

Last week, just after we learned Mark died, she started complaining of more fatigue and nausea.  I initially attributed it to the stress of Mark's death.  But by last Friday, she finally got to the point she couldn't keep anything down, including her medications. We called the Bone Marrow Transplant team at OHSU, and they had us take her to her family doctor's office.  We spent some quality time at the Family Doc's office, and then we were ushered to one of our old haunts, the ER at Good Sam; where Pam's whole health care journey began in July of 2012.  After some tests, it was discovered she had a bladder infection and she was prescribed some antibiotics.  She was much better by the next day.  But, she started sliding again earlier this week, and we went back to OHSU yesterday after Mark's funeral. She was given a liter of fluid, and, again, much better today. She has another appointment at OHSU on Monday, so we will find out what is up.

Thanksgiving

My Sisters, Chelle and TC
My Mom, Rochelle

We were able to score two dinners on Thanksgiving: One at our good friend Mort and Tina's, and another with the Eidem Clan. It was great to see everyone.

My little sisters and my folks were all able to get together for Thanksgiving in Denver. I wish we could have joined them.  Here is a pic.

Hate to Brag .... 

The only problem with eating Thanksgiving somewhere else, is that you don't get turkey leftovers.  So, I decided to cook a turkey just for us. Hate to brag (not true, but that is something one is supposed to say before they brag), but my turkey was great.  Made a paste out of fresh basil, rosemary, garlic and olive oil and rubbed it under the skin of the breast.  Here is the recipe.

Killer Turkey

We have been having turkey quesadillas with some smoked pepper jack cheese courtesy of Jason.

Again... hate to brag.... but they are really good.

Discouragement

Pam is a little discouraged at the moment. She is tired of being tired and sick of feeling sick. We have to remind ourselves about how far she has come and how far she has to go. We remain thankful for her progress and the support of all of our friends and family.