Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Jazmin and Jamae's Headstone is Ordered

SAMPLE OF WHAT THE HEADSTONE LOOKS LIKE


I am so happy to let everyone who donated that the headstone is ordered and will be here sometime in April. Evelyn and I have had such an ordeal trying to order the headstone. Jazmin bless her heart had a dream of a headstone with a heart and two angels hugging the heart on each side. The problem was the grave site is not big enough for a headstone that size. So then we had to find another headstone that would fit on the grave site. We went to several companies but either they didn't have what we wanted or the biggest problem was they wouldn't install in the cemetery in Vacaville. Wow I learned alot.
On Saturday, I spent the day with Evelyn and her daughter Jessika. Jessika is Jazmin and Jamae's younger sister. She is beautiful and such a wonderful young lady. I really enjoyed my time with her. She was such an inspiration helping us to design and order the headstone. I'm so happy she was apart of this special day.
The headstone is basically just like the one above with some minor changes. The angel is in a soft gray color with highlights of white. The roses will be yellow with green stems. The lettering will be in white but a special font. On the back Evelyn wrote "In God's loving arms". It will be so beautiful and I'm happy it will be here soon. I know Jazmin was smiling down on us that day. I could feel her spirit was with us.
It will be a moment that takes my breath away the day the headstone is placed. I know it will be hard for Evelyn and her family but I hope she knows how much her beautiful daughters deserve to have a beautiful headstone on their resting place. I was there on Saturday and it hurts my heart to see these little green names plates with their information on it. It really made me mad to see how the landscapers just run their lawnmowers over the plates and they are all scratch up. I hope they are more careful with an expensive headstone.
Well the New Year is almost here. I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Be safe too! We will be spending our New Year at the trailer with friends. I'm really looking forward to it. It's been a few weeks since I have been there and I miss it. Hopefully, 2010 will bring good health and happiness to all! I'm really praying for the good health. 2008 was a year of diagnosis and eventually my heart transplant. 2009 was the stem cell transplant. So during 2010 I hope there will be no major treatments, just continuing with my weekly chemo and watch my numbers go down!!!!
Happy New Year!
Love,
Debbie

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

GOOD NEWS!!!!!

LAMBHA LIGHT CHAIN COUNT
119
Another drop in last month in my light chain count. Dr. Akthar was very pleased with the results. He said that as long as the numbers keep dropping, I will hit a plateau and then he will consider going on a maintenance program and off chemo for a while. That would be a blessing!
The normal range is 26, so I still have a long way to go but my wish is 2010 I will reach normal range and stay there. I keep praying to God each day to help me get healthy again. I'm feeling great except for the cold. My new shared heart is strong and helps me to do my weekly workout with my trainer. I still have some extra things to do to maintain my health such as walking or riding my bike and eating better. It's so frustrating being on these drugs because I'm hungry all the time. The steroids put weight on fast. I lost alot after stem cell transplant but thanks to Decadron its all back on again. So all millions of us say each year "I'll start eating and exercising more in 2010". For me that is so important, because I realized after heart transplant how being in shape really helped in my recovery.
Well if this week gets crazy and want to wish everyone a blessed Christmas! Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. Live by those words because you never know what lies ahead. I want to live each moment to the fullest.
I'm going on a cruise in May to Alaska. It's not Seabourn (DARN!! but Holland America. This will be my first cruise on a big ship, 1800 passengers compare to Seabourn at 200. I don't think my little guy with the spray bottle will be coming around and spraying me to keep cool, HAHA. Well in Alaska that won't happen. Maybe in 2011 I will be able to go back to Italy on Seabourn. I wanted to stay close to the US in case of any emergency. It will be fun to see the beautiful scenery, animals and of course make those moments that take my breath away.
Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
love to all,
Debbie

GOOD NEWS!!!!!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Time Does Go By Fast!

Wow I can't believe how fast time goes by. I haven't blogged since December 1st. So here it goes.

December 4th Weekend

I spent the last weekend in Beverly Hills with Mom, Gary and Debbie. Oh and Mia came too! We had such a great time. The hotel is so beautiful. It felt just like home. We had a wonderful room complete with a little bed for Mia and her own silver feeding dishes. She roamed the halls of the hotel like it was her own palace. She became so protected of her space especially when other dogs were around. It was funny to watch her.


We had dinner at E'Baldi on Friday night. Wonderful food but soooo noisy inside. It is the place to be seen. It's funny to watch the people in Beverly Hills. I can only say one word, "plastic". The hotel staff is wonderful and they are good down to earth people but the people visit the hotel can be alittle fake or should I say alot of fake. On Saturday night we had dinner in the Montage Kitchen with our own private executive chef, John. This was fabulous! We had 8 courses including wine parings (which I didn't have cause of the drugs) but everyone enjoyed it. The food was wonderful. Little portions but so rich!! Mom enjoyed herself so much. I love to see her smile from ear to ear to experience these wonderful things. And of course this could not have happen without the generosity of Debbie and Gary. They are truly dear friends. The things I have been able to see and do I will never be able to say enough thank yous. This weekend was filled with many moments that took my breath away.


I spent time with Matthew and I'm sooooo happy to say he is moving home to the Bay Area. I want him closer to us. He got his old job back in Oakland and will start on the 4th of January. He will stay with us for a few weeks and then move in with his friend Laura. It will be a fresh start for him and less stress. Los Angeles is very expensive to live there and he would have to get two jobs in order to stay there. He is waiting for a test date to take the radiology test to take x rays. I'm just happy he will be coming home.


I need to do some catching up in time on my blog. The week of December7th I spent at home sick. Mark came home from Pittsburg with a bad cold and of course by Wednesday I was sick. I was soooo sick I couldn't attend the company party on Saturday. Monday was the worst and I had to take blood tests to check for low white cell count. Thankfully, white cell count was good but I was so sick. I still have the cough.

This past week I had a doctor's appointment at Stanford with Dr. Schrier. It was the first time in over a year that I could see in his eyes how happy he was with my treatment. My numbers have been going down and he walked into the exam room pumping his arms in the air with a big smile on his face. He was so happy. My numbers have come down from 341 to 130. I will get my results for this past month tomorrow. Hopefully another decrease. He wants me to continue with the same treatment which is Decadron Monday night and Tuesday infusion of Velcade. My numbers have to get down to 26 or close to that. I have a heart biopsy scheduled for January 12th and I will have to do a test for Amyloid in my new shared heart.

This weekend I spent at the trailer. Another relaxing and restful weekend. Christine and I took a ride yesterday to Lucerne to visit her friends. It was a nice ride around the lake. I finished hanging my curtains in the trailer. It looks so good. We ordered the new windows and hopefully Scottie can put them in next month. That will really help with the cold drafts I feel when we are there. It should make a difference. I felt so stressed leaving on Friday night. I had Matthew's dog Cassie staying with us and I couldn't bring her too to the trailer becasue the park only allows one dog. I left Cassie with our neighbor Jane for the night until Matthew came on Saturday night. I felt bad leaving her. Once we were driving to the trailer I felt the stress leave my body.
It is so amazing how much being up there makes me feel so good. We will go up again for the New Year. Our neighbors, Jane and Steve will be staying at Konocti Casino in the RV park. We are going to spend New Year's Eve at the Casino and at their trailer. Another fun weekend to come!

This week is Christmas week. I can't believe this year is almost over. Where did the time go. I brought a beautiful picture with the quote I live by "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but the number of moments that take your breath away". I hung it in the trailer and I love reading the quote everytime I'm there. I am so grateful to spend another Christmas with my family and look forward to next year when my little grand son will be here. I will have many moments that take my breath away when he is here. I can't wait!

I wish everyone a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,
Debbie

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Busy, Busy and Busy!!!

Wow lots of things have been going on the past few weeks. First, I have been spending at least every weekend at the trailer. It has been so relaxing! Some days I never even get out of my pjs and sit and watch movies all day. I love it! We found a great little restaurant called the Sports Stop. We go there every Sunday morning for breakfast and watch football. The owner, Mike is so nice to us and we have alot of fun. Mark and I have done some things to the trailer to make it more homely. We brought furniture from home up there and replace curtains. It feels like home! The other day I saw these pictures a few months back at this little shop next to us. So Christine and I went there to look at the pictures again. I walked in and went to the little room where they displayed the pictures but they only had ones saying "lake house" or some other stupid sayings. I remember when I walked in there was one sitting in the main store and I looked up and couldn't believe what I was reading. It is the saying I live by and here it is again for all of you to live by:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away!
So this is how I choose to live my life now. I live for the moments I make each and every day. I hope you will too!!!
Tonight was sad. I attend a rosary for my Uncle Sammy. My cousins, Angie, Michael, Sandy and Vince were very close to me growing up. We lived only blocks away and I went to school with Angie. Uncle Sammy died on Saturday after a 9 month battle with heart disease and other complications. He was 85 years old and lived a good life. I was happy to be able to attend tonight and see my cousins, aunts and uncles.
This weekend I will be leaving for Beverly Hills. Nana is coming with me and she is so excited. It will be her first trip to the Montage hotel and she is really looking forward to it. We will go to E'Baldi Italian restaurant, my favorite, on Friday night for dinner. Saturday night we will have dinner in the kitchen at the Montage with our private chef. I'm so excited for Mom to experience it because she loves to cook and she will be able to ask questions about cooking tips. We did it a few months ago and it was such a great experience. We will have late check out on Sunday so we can enjoy our beautiful room. I get to take Mia with me too. I'm didn't want to leave her for 3 days. The Montage accommodates animals and the general manager, Mr. Kaski said it was perfectly fine for me to bring her. I will visit Matthew on Saturday and take him to Costco for a Costco run. He needs food and Mom is the only one that can give him what he needs. Big Mark leaves on Thursday morning for Pittsburg to see his Pittsburg Penguins and the Steelers play. He is so excited. So we both will have a great weekend. Talk about moments that will take my breath away. I get to bring my Mom and see how much she appreciates these special little moments. She will be smiling from ear to ear and I get to savor the moment. That is what life is all about.
I wanted everyone to know the update on the headstone. We have chosen a few patterns but having trouble with the color - yellow. The online company has the color but I'm a little nervous about ordering from an online company for something so special like that. We found a place in Napa who agreed to install (another big problem ordering on line finding someone to agreed to install) and there is another company in Hayward who we are looking at to order the headstone from. I thought this process would be simple but it wasn't. Either the headstone we pick is too big for the gravesite, no one will install it or it doesn't come in the color we want. It has been so frustrating. Hopefully soon we will have it ordered and I can breathe a sign of relief that finally Jazmin will get her dream. I have been communicating and saw Evelyn a few times. The girls are doing great but poor Evelyn has been sick with the flu for weeks. She is just now getting better and that's why I haven't seen her. We talk often and I love her very much. She has always shown me her love and support and I am grateful to have her in my life.
Now as for my health. Things are going well. My lambha count went down last week to 130 from 137. Not a big jump down but it was down. Normal range is 26 so I have a long way to go. I was hoping it would be below 100 this time but the doctors say it will plateau and then I will have to look at other treatments. We will cross that bridge when we come to it but for now it's working. Thank God! I have been working out with my trainer every Wednesday. I'm up to 205 on the leg press and Tim is so happy with my progress. I am too! It makes me feel normal. My hair is growing back about 1-2 inches and full of curls. I don't know where the curls came from but it's cute. The weight is coming on again due to the steroid Decadron. My appetite is back and I'm always hungry. Oh well I have other things to worry about. I do need to start walking again and hopefully soon. It will help with my bones and of course weight gain. For now I will continue taking chemo each week and hopefully my numbers continue to come down. No other big procedures until January when I go back for heart biopsy. The heart is doing great. No complications and I just have to say healthy and away from anyone who is sick.
Well its almost 11:30PM and I have a big day tomorrow. I work out with Tim and then I have my first teeth cleaning since stem cell transplant. The high dose chemo did damage on my gums and I was not able to brush with a regular brush or floss for two months after. So you can imagine I will not have a good time. I'm going to tell Karen to take it easy this time especially because I don't want any problems this weekend. I want to do it every month for a few months until the problem is cured.
Have a wonderful weekend and remember go out and make moments that take your breath away!
Love,
Debbie

Busy, Busy and Busy!!!