An Update from Home

Since the last update, everything has gone according to plan, thankfully.

My last few days in the hospital were uneventful and predictible. With all of the down time, Mom and I completed three puzzles, we tried a new pizza restaurant - Robert's Pizza and Dough Company, and revisited a few other restaurants to try new items (most notably, Gotham Bagel). Mom walked to Navy Pier two days in a row as well.

Dad drove back to Chicago on Monday, July 27th, arriving just ahead of a powerful thunderstorm over the noon hour. Later that afternoon, the sky darkened as if it was night as another devastating storm rolled through. My nurse was a bit shaken - she said she had never seen horizontal rain racing past the hospital windows before! Several suburban areas sustained terrible damage, flooding, and power outages. First the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, and now this day of storms - I witnessed some historic weather-related events while in the Windy City!

I was discharged from Northwestern on Tuesday, July 28th, after my infusion chemo ended and with instructions to continue taking the chemo pill at home. The discharge process took longer than we expected, but in the end, some medically-related things were taken care of and coordinated for my time at home which has been appreciated. Thanks to another pro tip from my friend Judith, we discovered The Old Route 66 Family Restaurant in Dwight, IL, on our way home - I think we will be stopping there much more in the future!

It has been wonderful to be home - I feel energetic and very much "myself." I spent a couple days catching up on laundry and personal business. I have been able to do a few "social" things and got my hair cut quite short (if you knew me when I was in 5th grade, you can picture my current hairstyle!). I have returned to regular Monday & Thursday blood draws - last Friday I received platelets and tomorrow I will receive more platelets plus a unit of blood. I have to keep reminding myself that my blood counts are very, very low - there are definitely little signs and symptoms which have returned as a result, but I think the exercise and caloric intake I have been maintaining since being home has made all the difference in how I feel. I am grateful that three of the five prayer requests I made in my last update have been answered: We returned from Chicago safely, I've had mild side effects to the chemo, and I have felt better than "okay-ish" thus far since returning home.

On Wednesday (August 5th), I will return to Chicago ahead of several procedures which are scheduled for Thursday, August 6th. I will have blood drawn and my PICC line dressing will be changed. I will have another bone marrow biopsy. I will also have a procedure which is similar to a breathing treatment to administer Pentamadine - this is a preventative measure performed once a month to protect my lungs against a specific type of pneumonia.

The results of the biopsy will determine my return to Northwestern the following week. If the biopsy shows less than 5% or ideally zero leukemia blasts, then the transplant can take place. If the leukemia blasts are above 5%, then I would endure another round of chemo. I believe that the leukemia blast percentage can be determined within a few days of the biopsy being performed - this means that early next week I should find out what direction life will take!

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for safe travels to and from Chicago this week.

• Please pray that the upcoming biopsy isn't as painful and uncomfortable for me as the last one. (I'll request pain meds beforehand!)

• Please pray the biopsy shows this current round of chemo has reduced the leukemia blasts to a low enough percentage so that the stem cell transplant can take place!

Here are a few photos I'd like to share...and thanks, again, for your interest, love, support, and prayers!

I meant to share this photo with the last update (which contained a lot of food content). This is the All American breakfast available at the hospital. As you can see, even the hospital food is really good in Chicago!

This was the third and final puzzle which Mom and I put together. It is entitled "Stained Glass" and took considerably longer than the other two we assembled.

Robert's Pizza - pepperoni, mozzerella, and mushrooms! According to actor Bill Murray, Robert's serves the best pizza in the city!