Day 5 round 2

January 29, 2011

Today has been a good day! But why wouldn't it be RIGHT!?!?! Keith came up today to spend the day with me and Satin. Mom went home to clean and such. I started my 5th bag of chemo tonight at 8:30pm... ONE MORE TO GO THIS ROUND!

My family and I are hosting a Blood Drive on March 5, 2011. We are also planning a Bowling tournament that day also! My family loves to bowl and we hope to raise some money to help defray my medical costs. My hubby's band Rock-A-Licious will also be playing that day! Its going to FUN FUN FUN! Oh yeah we will have over 25 different prizes for a raffle also!
Cant wait to see everybody there! If you want more info just drop me a comment or e mail me jonnsatsmom@yahoo.com

Love and Peace to all!
See ya on the FINAL day of my hospital stay!

Day 4 round 2

January 28, 2011

Hey y'all! Well it's day four and all is GREAT! I had my fourth bag of chemo this morning and it went fine. Dr Luskey came in and said I could go HOME on Sunday afternoon if I wanted or I could stay til Monday.. Guess what I chose SUNDAY~~~~ I cant imagine wanting to stay here another night! I'm still feeling pretty good, but I can tell I'm getting a little tired. Yesterday I walked a lot and didn't get tired. Today I didn't walk as much (but I did walk a couple times), but I have been a little tired.

Satin is spending the weekend up here with me. Man can that kid eat! She has been downstairs 3 times in the last 4 hours. lol

Well folks its bedtime!

Love and peace to ALL!

Day 3 round 2

January 27, 2010

HEY!!!! Man did I sleep good last night. When my alarm went off for me to call and wake up Keith and the kids i wanted to go back to bed. lol I did sleep a couple emore hours but don't tell them...

So today Dr Luskey came in and said my blood was still normal even after two bags of chemo! Im telling you its a GOD THING! :-) Today they unhooked all my fluid lines today and I got a good long HOT shower and put my street clothes on... I feel better when I am in regualr clothes and Mom and I took a LONG stroll!

We went down to the community blood bank here at Memorial and I registered as a receipiant. Now when anyone goes to the comminuty blood banks in Georgia and Florida and donates blood in my name I get credit :-). We also got all the information we needed to get a Blood drive set up (more info to come I'm super excited about this). Not only did we walk around the hospital I snuck out to the car and rode around from the emergency room side to the front parking area... I dont guess I was supposed to do that but it's ok I cause I did not leave campus :-)

Now the time is 8:30pm and Bag 3 of chemo just started... Ready to ROCK this! People are simply amazed when they find out I am taking chemo. I havent felt sick or anything and I continue to pray that I wont!

I will update ya tomorrow!

Love and Peace to all!

Day 2 Round 2

Today is Wednesday, January 26, 2011



Well the chemo I am taking is Ara-C. I'm getting very Strong doses. The dosing schedule is 6 doses over 5 days. IE... I got a dose at midnight last night and I will get a dose at noon today. I will skip tomorrow and get a dose Midnight on Thursday and then noon on Friday and so on and so on. Dr Luskey just came in and said that all my blood work was still looking good. You know what is funny to me... My blood is good and now they are going to bring all my levels down. CRAZY! But whatever I need to do is what I will do!

So its now noon and my second bag of chemo just started.. No problems at all with this bag either.. i keep telling everyone I'm gonna ROCK this Chemo just like I did last time.

Over all Wednesday for an uneventful day just like I like...

The kids went to Church last night with Michelle Peterson. It was a great service from what I hear. Prophet Foote was there. He prophesied over Jonathan. He said in a nut shell that Jonathan would pull down strongholds and witness to his friends at an early age. He said that Jonathan would declare Gods word and walk in to nations. The doorways will open for Jonathan and Jonathan would have a calm and cool spirit. And that there is an outpouring of the spirit all around him. AMAZING!!!! I just wish I could have been there!

Day 3 is just around the corner... I'm going to leave you with a Bible Verse. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you!!!

PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL!!

Day One of Chemo Round 2!

So Mom and I arrived at Memorial Medical University Hospital today, January 25, 2011, at 8am... I saw Dr Luskey around 10am and was sent for blood work. He told me that I would be getting a PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line today (oh joy!) I was sent admitting and I sat there for 6 hours in a little room no bigger than a bathroom.. (no fun!)

Finally in a room! WOO HOO! I have the one of the same nurses I had in November, so all is well right now :-)

All is still well here at Memorial and the time is now 9:30pm I just got my PICC line so that my chemo and any blood products can be administered. It did not hurt at all! That was a blessing in itself. X ray looked good of the PICC line...

I'm waiting on the steroid eye drops that I have to take while I'm taking chemo...

Next stop CHEMO! and believe it or not it will start tonight :-)

I will update tomorrow!!

PEACE AND LOVE TO ALL!!!

After the First Round of Chemo

Where to begin...

I got out the hospital on December 22, 2010 and I went home and decorated the Christmas tree with my kids. Their Dad picked them up that evening and was supposed to bring them home on Christmas Day at 2pm. I felt really good when I came home. A little tired but over all I felt fine. I cooked a big dinner and Keith and I were waiting on the kids and my family to arrive. I called and made sure my ex hubby was going to be on time with the kids and he said he was. THEN... Much to my surprise in walked my Mom and she told me to get changed and to get ready we had to meet the ex with my Jonathan at Memorial hospital. WOW my heart dropped right there. I was reminded of the last time i got this call from my ex and Jonathan had almost lost his arm in a go kart accident. I was scared.. I got ready and grabbed my mask and hand sanitizer and out the door we went. We arrived at the ER and Jonathan was crying in pain and he had a broken radial in his right arm right above his wrist. It had to be reduced and we were sent home a short time later with an appointment to get a cast the following Monday. It was kind of ironic I was able to be home for Christmas, but spent Christmas day at the hospital... Jonathan did fine with his cast and one more reduction later he is healing well now. :-)

My appointment to have blood work done was on Wednesday December 29th. I arrived at the Dr and they took my blood. I was a little nervous to see the results BUT I had no reason to be. My blood levels were ALL normal! I felt GREAT~~~ I went to the Dr again on January 5th and my blood levels were still normal. My Dr was astonished at how good I looked and how good I felt. We discussed making a trip to Emory Hospital in Atlanta to see if I was a candidate for Stem Cell transplant.

My appointment in Atlanta at Emory was on Monday January 10th. We left the afternoon on the ninth because a big snow/ice storm was going to hit. The snow was beautiful and I wished that I had brought my kids to see it! Mom, Dad, Marlene, Larry (my sister and brother in law) and I were amazed at how fast the snow was coming down. They were closing schools and offices left and right. They had actually closed Emory, but my Dr was kind enough to see me anyways. She said that my best bet for complete remission was a Stem Cell Transplant. I had blood drawn that day and She got my brothers names to send them test kits to have their blood tested as well. We are still waiting on these results. We traveled home in the snow and ice and to say the least it was an adventure.

I had another Bone Biopsy done and GUESS WHAT! NO LEUKEMIA!!! I am in remission and getting ready to start consolidation Chemo on January 25th..

I will try to keep everyone updated through out my hospital stay! Memorial Here We Come AGAIN!

31 Days at Memorial Hospital

Let me start by saying that this entry maybe a little long, but I am going to sum up 31 days as easy as I can...
On Sunday, November 21, 2010, my blood levels were crazy. My hemoglobin was 6.7 and and my white blood cells were 27,000. No wonder i was so tired and couldn't even walk the yard check at work or take the dogs without giving out and having to stop and rest. The white blood count was a little more than double the normal.
On Monday, November 22, 2010, I met my Oncologist. His name is Dr. Barry Luskey. He is a very straight forward man and I like that. The nurses on the oncology floor say that if you want to know how bad things are or how good things are getting he is the doctor you would want. He doesn't pull any punches, he tells it like it is. Dr Luskey had me moved to the Oncology wing of the hospital today. My family is very familiar with this wing of the hospital. Nana spent a lot of time in 2010 there. Much to everyones surprise I was put in room 437. Nana's room that she spent a lot of time in during August 2010. This was hard for some of my family, but to me it was a blessing. I could feel Nana's spirit in there with me and it was very comforting.
Monday the 22 was a day full of blood work and i also got two units of blood. Tuesday, November 23 Dr luskey ordered a Hickman 3 point catheter to be placed in my chest. This will allow blood work and chemo to be done more easily. The process of inserting the catheter was pretty simple and quick. But my body rejected the catheter and we had to "baby" the catheter so that it could stay in. I got an infection around the catheter site and I the infectious doctor had to be called in. His name was Dr Roth. He was a miracle worker. He put me on 5 different types of antibiotics and they helped the catheter port to heal. One night I ran a fever so high that I had to have ice packs placed under my arms and between my legs.
On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, Dr Luskey ordered a bone biopsy. I can remember Nana having a bone biopsy done , but couldn't remember the process. My biopsy was done in my breast bone. This was a very painful procedure, but one that had to be done to see the leukemic cells that had formed and to check to see what type of Leukemia I had. I have AML (acute myeloid leukemia).
I also began Chemo that evening. I took two types of chemo over a period of a week. Daunorubicin is the "red" bag of chemo. I had three doses of it over a 45 minutes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This is the type chemo that will cause you to lose your hair. Keith says that as soon as the red dye hit my blood stream i was checking to see if my hair was falling out. The other Chemo drug was Ara-C. This chemo was taken continuously for a week. This is a very strong leukemia drug. The only side effect I had with the chemo other than losing my hair was a headache with sensitivity to light. I couldn't stand the lights to be on and I did not want talking or the TV on. I am sure this was tough on my visitors. Some of my visitors during the first week I was there I don't even remember seeing them and I apologize for that. Just know that I love and appreciate all of my family and friends.
Like I said Chemo seemed to be pretty easy on me. I never got nauseated like everyone said I would. All the nurses were amazed! All I can say is that it is a "GOD THING" . God was there with me throughout it all and He proved to be my healer and my provider. I give Him all the praise! The nurses kept telling me that days 14-21 were going to be my worse days. and to everyones disbelief my days 14-21 were even better than days 7-14. I was beginning to feel really good and I was getting cabin fever! I had to go walking and get out of the room. My nurses were all standing in the hallway amazed that I was up and out!
On day 14 Dr. Luskey did another bone biopsy. the results of this one would tell us if the chemo kicked the leukemia in the butt. and Guess what NO LEUKEMIC CELLS! Those were the greatest word to ever hear! No one could believe how good I was doing. But see I am determined to beat this and I will not give up. I have way too much to live for. And with all the prayers from people around the world I knew I was going to be OK!
Sometime during the first week or two I was there Dr. Luskey said that I had a strange pattern in my chromosomes. He said that this could mean we may need to look for a stem cell transplant sooner than later. He go the ball rolling for me to Visit Emory Hospital in Atlanta after i get discharged.
During my 31 day stay as an inpatient, I received 12 units of blood and 6 units of platelets. By the time I was discharged on December 22, 2010 my platelets were up in the three hundred thousands and my hemoglobin was up to 9.4. Which was awesome compared to what they were when I arrived in the Emergency Room.
While in the hospital i did all my Christmas shopping online. I was determined to be home for Christmas and I was! Other than a lack of energy I felt fine!

November 21, 2010.....

Do you know what you were doing on November 21, 2010? I do! It was the day my life changed forever. No, I did not get married or have a baby... I found out I had Leukemia...



This Sunday started out like any other Sunday. We woke up to get ready for Church, but I was coughing really bad. I decided to take some cough medicine and lay back down instead of interrupting Church. I slept for a couple hours and thought I was feeling better so I got up and decided to take a shower. I can remember getting in the shower and starting to wash my hair. I remember the water running down onto my hair and I began to feel sick. I told my husband Keith that I felt like I was about to pass out. He got up from the bed and before he could get to the bathroom I passed out right there.



He called 911 and I came to. I remember waking up and he was sitting next to me on the phone. I was able to get myself up and get to the bed. My daughter, Satin was home at the time (My son, Jonathan had spent the night with my brothers Kevin and Chris). She helped Keith find me some clothes and they helped me get dressed. I can remember wanting my Mom. (as many of you reading this blog know the Mom that raised and adopted me passed away in September, but this time I wanted my Biological Mom). Keith called her and she beat the ambulance to my house. The ambulance arrived and they checked me out. My BP was 124 over 76 and my blood sugar was 146 (a little higher than normal because i had drank a glass of orange juice). The EMT's said I seemed fine and there was no reason to go the hospital. But Keith and my Mom insisted that I go anyways. (Thank Goodness). Upon arrival to the hospital they did blood work and a ct scan of my lungs. No blood clot YAY... But the ER doctor said that my white blood count was elevated and that he believed I had a Leukemia or Lymphoma.



My heart sank right then.. I just lost Nana to Cancer and I lost my Pop to cancer also 18 years ago) How could this happen to me???? I was never the SICK one I never needed to go to the Dr.. What was I going to do? My kids had been through so much with Nana... How were they gonna handle it? Things had just started to look up for Keith and me and now BOOM! Right back down......



My first reaction was fear, then it moved quickly to fear. Pretty quickly (I would say with in minutes) I was ready to fight! I have way too much to live for! I serve a God who is in the healing business.. I told Keith immediately that God would never put more on us than we could handle and he said my shoulders are getting weak... I assured him that this was just another stepping stone in our Journey of life and we would get through it! God did not bring us to it to leave us, but He brought us to it and He will bring us through it!



Keiths reaction at first was to cry. I told him I cant cry I have to fight and I needed him to fight with me. I decided right then we couldn't tell the kids until they were out of school for Thanksgiving. My mom said she would stay with me for as long as I needed her to. I kissed Keith bye and I was admitted to the hospital that day and stayed there for 31 days.. My next posts will take us through the 31 days...



So this begins my journey with Leukemia!