Month: May 2004

Today I walked a few laps around the track at the high school for the ACS Relay for Life. I took along my niece and nephew and their mom, my sister. It was a hot, sunny day. I forgot to sign the banner before I left, but they’ll be there until 10 tonight! I can go back and do that later on.

It was a good event. Lots of local people turned up to show their support. The Southern Pines Fire Department was there with a truck. I was sure my nephew would love to sit in the truck, but he got scared and shy! Maybe next year! My niece did get up into the truck, put on a helmet, and had a great time.

I’m crashing a bit from dex, so I’m tired!

All I want to do is just say that I hate having numb feet!

This is a response to a question I asked:

Dear Beth:

I did see it and had mentioned it in my e-mail, but I guess it was a
little buried in with the other stuff. The M-spike was too small to
quantify from this recent visit, which is what these days we call a
near-CR, but since it seems to be dropping maybe a CR is in sight as
well!

RO

I’ve been worried about some abnormal lab results. Usually I don’t have any abnormals except for the MM. This time I have elevated calcium, phosphorus, LDH, WBC and abs neuts. The WBC and neuts are from the dexamethasone. I didn’t know about the LDH, so I asked my dcotor, and his response was:

“As for the LDH, this is a very non-specific test, and can be elevated for any of a number of reasons, with myeloma being only one of them. Since your protein level was too low to quantify on the SPEP, however, I would not be worried about that.”

The calcium, he said would be dealt with by the Zometa infusiuon. I never had high calcium before, and it has only started being that way since I began taking a daily calcium +D supplement. I have stopped that as of yesterday!

I will be seeing an endocrinologist on June 2nd. He can help me with calcium levels, the glucose intolerance I have on dex days and the hormone levels that must be messed up from dex! I know there must be some, because I have amenorrhea. Aside from the obvious, amenorrhea is nice because my RBC and HGB are waaaaay up! Check my labs and you’ll see. In Jan last year, my HGB was 13.0 and RBC was 3.96. A few days ago, they were 15.6 and 4.84. A little lower in May, but Aunt Flo was here last week for the first time since last summer.

It’s a dex night and I am up at 2:00 am. I have to take a sleep aid and get to bed!!

Start date and time
5/29/2004 10:00AM

End date and time
5/29/2004 10:00PM

Agenda
A opening ceremony at the beginning of the event with the survivor lap immediately following. Luminaria ceremony is at dusk and then the closing ceremony is about 10 pm that night.

Additional Information
A luminaria is a sand-filled bag with a lighted candle which is placed around the track in honor of someone who has or has had cancer or in memory of someone who has died of cancer. They can be purchased before or during the event for $10.00 each.

Appropriate attire
Casual

Location and Contact Information

Location
Pine Crest High School
HWY 15/501
Southern Pines, NC 28388

Contact
Amy Millard

Phone
(910) 949-2599

Email
ahmmeow@mindspring.com

I adopted a dog named Buddy a few months ago, and he is a wonderful dog. He’s 5 years old, and full of energy. Over the weekennd, he stole a stick of butter from the counter top, so I’ve started calling him “Budder.” I’m assuming he ate the butter and paper, because there’s no evidence of it anywhere. He and I have been going to obedience class the last 3 weeks. He’s doing pretty well. He’s a smart dog, and is older than the rest of the dogs in the class.

A while back I posted a URL for a site we created and hosted for a young lady named Amber, who was suffering from osteosarcoma. Amber succumbed to her disease a few days ago, after a long struggle and much suffering. Her family asked that donations be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in her name.

Now that there are blog spammers, all comments submitted will have to be approved by me before they’ll appear. I’m pretty quick at approving during waking hours.