THIS IS WHAT LOVE IS ALL ABOUT

Auntie Mary Joan and her son, Lou walking her down the aisle

Auntie Mary Joan and Uncle Don taking their vows

Auntie Mary Joan and her daughter Shelly

The Newlyweds

Auntie Mary Joan, Uncle Don, Mark and Me

Love knows no time and it doesn't matter how old or young you are. When you are truly in love with someone, it is magical. I experienced that magic on Monday night. My Auntie Mary Joan and my new uncle Don married in a beautiful ceremony. On September 12th they will exchange vows again with all family and friends in attendance. It will be another beautiful moment!

Moments like these are what life is all about. Make the most of those moments!

Love,

Debbie

Weekend Moments

I had a wonderful weekend filled with memorable moments. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I watched my sons, Mark and Maxwell play ice hockey in the Snoopy Tournament. It was so much fun watching them and also seeing all my hockey families. The boys team won the championship.

Matthew drove up from Los Angeles and spent the entire weekend with us. So I was very happy to have all three sons here. We went to breakfast, watched TV and enjoy each other's company.

The fundraiser is going great! We have a total donations to date of $680.00. I am so excited and grateful to those who have donated for their kindness. The fundraiser is August 22, 2009, noon to whenever. Come and enjoy food, drinks, music and swimming. A minimum donation of $20.00 per family or more will be appreciated. If you cannot attend, donations may be sent to the Jazmin I Mitchell Memorial Fund, c/o Exchange Bank, 2201 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, Ca 95403. Please share this information with your family and friends. This means so much to me and will be a moment never to forget if we are able to purchase this headstone. I look forward to the day when I can go to the grave site and see this beautiful headstone there.

Today I have to bring Mia to the vet for her first shots. Oh no, I remember those first shots when the boys were babies. I hated it. I hope she will do ok. She is so cute and is a joy!

Tonight is Auntie Mary Joan and Don's wedding. This will be a happy moment. I plan to enjoy each and every one. I'm so happy for both of them. They are an example of how life should be lived. It's not the quantity but the quality. Make each moment count! I love you Auntie and Don and am so happy for both of you!

Have a wonderful day and remember make moments that take your breath away!

Love,
Debbie

Forgot the Most Important Post

No Amyloid in my new shared heart!!!

I am so blessed with a beautiful heart from my angel Jazmin Iris Mitchell. I will always be grateful to her family for this beautiful gift.

Love,

Debbie

Fundraiser

The fundraiser for Jazmin and Jamae is going great. We have raised a total of $650.00 so far. Thank you to those who have donated. I really appreciated your love and support.

For those of you who don't know about the fundraiser. It will be held on August 22, 2009, noon to whenever. Come and enjoy food, drink, music and swimming. Everyone is invited. We are hoping to raise a total of $2,850.00 to purchase a headstone for Jazmin and Jamae. The fundraiser will be at my house, 2015 Dennis Lane, Santa Rosa. If you have any questions, please call me at 707-569-9024. A minimum donation of $20.00 per family. Please help me to raise enough money to show our appreciation to Jazmin's family for the gift of life they gave me. I will always be grateful. If you cannot join us, donations may be sent to Exchange Bank, Jazmin Iris Mitchell Memorial Fund, 2201 Mendocino Avenue, Santa Rosa, Ca 95401.

Love,
Debbie

Fundraiser

Fundraiser

August 22, 2009

Noon - ?

2015 Dennis Lane

Santa Rosa

707-569-9024

Please join me in support of this fundraiser to raise money to purchase a headstone for Jazmin and Jamae Mitchell. Come and enjoy an afternoon of food, drink, music and swimming. Minimum donation of $20.00 per family. If you are unable to attend please send your donation to Debbie Douglas c/o Jazmin Iris Mitchell Memorial Fund, 2015 Dennis Lane, Santa Rosa, Ca 95403. This fundraiser is very important to me and I hope you will support this cause. It will be a way to express our heartfelt gratitude to Jazmin's family for the beautiful gift of life!

Love,

Debbie

Joey and Rachel's Wedding

It was a beautiful day!!!!

Jeff and Christine's Wedding in Lake Tahoe

Neighbors

Steve having too much fun!


Jeff and Christine

Jeff and Christine's wedding in Lake Tahoe was beautiful and so much fun. It was great having all our neighbors there to share this special day. Congratulations to Jeff and Christine!

A Great Weekend In Lake Tahoe

I was on the top of the world!

Emerald Bay

I had a wonderful relaxing weekend in Lake Tahoe. I drove to Emerald Bay on Saturday and took these beautiful pictures. I felt like I was on the top of the world!

I Finally Have a Little Girl

Mia

She is so sweet and lovable!

A Big Thank You

A Big Thank You to

David Codding and My Sister Mary Ann

for the generous donation to the fundraiser.

My heart is so grateful for this gift!

Thank you so very much!

Fundraiser Date Change Again

Sorry for the change in the date again for the fundraiser. Just found out that Auntie Mary Joan and Don will be having their wedding celebration that day and I will not miss that.

So the fundraiser will now be on August 22nd, same time and same place. This is very important to me and I hope you will support me.

On Sunday, I visited the grave site with Jazmin's Mom. It was very sad to see a "postcard size" piece of paper in the ground with their names and the dates they were born and passed away. I want to honor them by making this dream come true for Jazmin. Jazmin picked out the headstone for her sister, not knowing that a year and half later she would passed away. Please help support this beautiful gift.

love,

Debbie

Fundraiser

FUNDRAISER DATE HAS CHANGED TO AUGUST 22, 2009

PLEASE JOIN THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF

DEBBIE DOUGLAS

IN A FUNDRAISER FOR

JAZMIN AND JAMAE MITCHELL

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2009

NOON - ?

2015 DENNIS LANE

SANTA ROSA

707-569-9024

www.debbiedouglas.blogspot.com

Jazmin’s heart beats a new life in our friend Debbie Douglas. The family and friends of Debbie are so grateful to Jazmin’s family and their amazing gift of life! Jazmin was preceded in death by her twin sister Jamae. Together Jazmin and Jamae lay in rest together in peace just as they did so many short childhood years ago. Jazmin’s family is unable to afford the cost of a headstone marking their daughters beautiful lives. We as family and friends are having this fundraiser to raise $2,800.00 necessary to purchase the headstone for Jazmin and Jamae. Your small donation of at least $20.00 per family will help us raise the money in support of our heartful appreciation to Jazmin’s family. Come and enjoy an afternoon of food, drink, and music. If you cannot attend and would like to donate, please send checks to Debbie Douglas c/o Jazmin Iris Mitchell Memorial Fund, 2015 Dennis Lane, Santa Rosa, Ca 95403.

Doctor's Appointments Kaiser and Stanford

Yesterday was a long and busy day. My day started at 6:00AM driving to Santa Clara for my 8:00AM appointment for heart biopsy. As I waited for over an hour in the waiting room they finally came and said they were running late and to go to the clinic first. I went to clinic where I had an echo. The echo went well and Dr. Parak said the heart looked great. All functions were perfect. Next was the doctor's visit to go over medicines and any problems I was having. That's when things went bad.

I found out that my Lambha light chain count after the stem cell transplant did not go down but up from 190 to 215. As you know, that is the number to judge the progression of my disease, Amyloidosis. I was hoping the number would drop. So now Stanford wants me back on Decadron and Velcade again. I hate Decadron so much. It makes me feel so sore and I gain weight too. I was so depressed. It's hard staying positive when you go through a horrible experience like stem cell transplant and it doesn't work. The doctors really don't know why and can't say whether the numbers will drop as time goes on. This disease is just so mysterious. Each patient responses differently and that is why it is so hard to treat. I realize now that my life forever will be doctors, appointments, drugs, biopsy etc. I wanted complete or partial response to take a break from all this but it's not going to happen. I will keep fighting but it's getting harder each time.

Today I wait for the results of my heart biopsy. I should know by the afternoon the results and will let everyone know. I'm hoping to get good news. I could sure use it!

I look forward to the weekend when I get to go to Lake Tahoe. My neighbor friends Jeff and Christine are getting married there. All the neighbors are going and it will be so much fun. The weather will be perfect too. On Sunday, I will be meeting Evelyn, Jazmin's Mom. She is taking me to the cemetery so I can put flowers on Jazmin and Jamae's grave site for their birthday. I wish the beautiful headstone was there already but I know that the fundraiser will be successful and they will have a beautiful headstone. Oh by the way the fundraiser date will have to be changed to September sometime because Evelyn's little girls are in a wedding on the 29th of August and I want them there. So look for the future date soon. I need to check out some things before I decide on the date.

Have a wonderful day and make those moments count.

Love,
Debbie

A Special Day

A special prayer to my donor Jazmin and her sister Jamae today on their birthday.

My love to them both always,

Debbie

This is what it is all about!

Views from the Highway 29

Relaxing! This is what it is all about!

The trailer on the lake.

Views from the lawn area.

I had a wonderful 3 days at the lake. This is what life is all about! Enjoying each and every moment.

I got to the lake on Friday at noon. Cindy Keyes was there and we spent the next 7 hours sitting on the lawn area talking, eating, drinking (no alcohol) and reading. The weather was perfect! That evening Bob fixed us a wonderful dinner and I went to bed early. I now have a TV in my little bedroom so each night I would get in bed and watch the news before falling to sleep. In the morning I would wake up at 7:00AM, make my coffee and jump back in bed to watch TV and have my morning coffee until 9:00AM. It was so relaxing.

Saturday Bob and Cindy had to leave to go back home but Linda and Scott came up. I got a surprise because Linda brought her grand kids, Kennedy and Kiley to play at the lake. We had such a wonderful time. The girls are sooooo cute and sweet. Kiley kept looking at me funny with my cap on and finally asked where my hair went. I told her that I was sick and that the doctor gave me some medicine to make me feel better but it took my hair away. She then asked to touch the top of my head to feel the new hair growing. It was so cute and made me cry! We had another wonderful day playing with the girls (although I couldn't do much but watched) it was relaxing. That night we sat on their deck talking with friends until 11:00PM. Wow I was so surprised I stayed up that long. Scott walked me up to my trailer and I slept great that night.

Sunday morning I did the same sat in bed with my coffee watching the food network shows. I got up and made breakfast and started organizing things in the trailer. I haven't been there for over a year and there were things I wanted to clean up and organize. I love my little trailer so much. This was the first time I have been able to stay there by myself and enjoy the quiet time. I have a CD of the songs from "Dirty Dancing" and played that so loud while I cleaned. I like to sing and listen to my music. I left the lake around 2:30PM with sadness. Don't get me wrong I love my home but being there is like "heaven". Look at the pictures above and decide for yourself. Can't wait to go back up again!

Today I am going to rest because I have a very big day tomorrow. I called Charlene at the heart transplant center to look up my results of the light chain count. I will let everyone know my count once she calls back. This is very important to see the progression of my disease and whether or not the stem cell transplant stopped the progression. I'm confident it did but need confirmation. I also have a heart biopsy but feel good about that because my shared heart is doing just fine. The fatigue I feel is mostly from the stem cell transplant and is very common. I will continue resting and gaining strength. I'm hoping to start walking again too.

I will be posting the invitation to the fundraiser for my donor, Jazmin on August 29th. It will be a celebration of my recovery and my heartful gratitude to Jazmin. I'm hoping to raise enough money to purchase the headstone form Jazmin and her sister Jamae. Look for the invitation coming soon!

Have a wonderful day and make it a memorable one too.

Love,

Debbie

Going to the Lake

Today I will be leaving to go the trailer on Clear Lake. I'm excited because it is so peaceful and beautiful there. My friends Bob and Cindy Keyes will be there so it will be fun. I'm hoping Linda and Scott will come up tomorrow but I'm not sure yet. Mark has a bachelor party for Jeff on Saturday night so I don't want to be here at home for that.

I'm feeling good. Still tired but getting stronger each day. I still have problems eating dinner at night (nausea). I eat cream of wheat to get my heart pills down. Other than that I'm doing great.

I have my doctor appointment Tuesday with the Amyloidosis doctor to discuss the results of the stem cell transplant. I'm hoping my light chain count is down and it was successful. I have to be positive.

Have a wonderful weekend. Make those moments count.

Love,
Debbie

Doctor's Appointment At Stanford

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Aeria, Bone Marrow Transplant. I did my lab work before meeting with Dr. Aeria. All blood work was perfect. White blood cell count is now up to 9.2, platelets are at 357 and Hemocrit was at 32.9. Dr. Aeria was very pleased with my blood work results and said everything is going along fine. I have another appointment with her on the 20th.

Next week on the 14th, will be a busy day with heart biopsy at 8:00AM, support group meeting at noon and then at 3:40PM appointment with Dr. Schrier at Stanford. Dr. Schrier is the Amyloidosis specialist at Stanford. I will do my blood work this week for light chain count before my appointment with Dr. Schrier. This test will determine where my counts are after the bone marrow transplant. I'm hoping we see a decrease and that my disease has stopped. I have been told it could take up to one year before they know for sure the true numbers and whether or not the bone marrow transplant was successful. Time will only tell. I have to stay positive especially after all I have been through.

My sister Kathy met someone this weekend who gave her a great quote that I want to share with you. "DREAM BIG ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE". That is what I do each and every day. I hope you do too!

Today is a rest day. Yesterday traveling to Stanford and waiting for results and doctor makes for a long day. I took Mom to lunch at Angelino's in Sausalito. We had a wonderful lunch with capriese salad and gnocchi. The weather was beautiful and the views of San Francisco was awesome. There was a beautiful yacht sitting in the Sausalito bay. Talk about big dreams. I thought what fun it would be to cruise around the world in a beautiful yacht like that. I saw beautiful yachts in Monte Carlo but this one was huge! Remember "Dream Big Anything is Possible"!

Have a wonderful day!

Love,
Debbie

Special Moments in the Making

I had a wonderful weekend. I can't say it any other way but "God, I'm so glad to have these moments". I spent the entire weekend at my trailer on Clear Lake. The weather was hot and it caused a little swelling of ankles but each morning it was gone.

Our friends, Todd and Sherri Schapmire stayed with us on Thursday night. Todd cooked a wonderful dinner of salmon and steak. Yum, it was good and I ate it. Matter of fact I ate three meals a day which is more than what I have been eating. We stayed at the trailer all day Friday just talking and laughing about all the years of traveling with the boys when they played hockey together. It brought back so many wonderful memories. I enjoy their company so much.

Saturday night Scott and Linda had a luau at their trailer. We all dressed up in Hawaiian clothes and ate great food. There were about 30 of our friends from the trailer park there. It was alot of fun. Konacti had fireworks on the lake. I was too tired to go out on the lake to watch. Our friends Jim and Pricella have a patio boat and took everyone out. It would have been fun but I can't push it. I went back to the trailer with my kids, Mark, Erin and Maxwell. We had a wonderful evening. I fell asleep watching TV on my new little TV in my bedroom and slept till 8:00AM. It felt so good.

Big Mark wanted to leave by 1:00PM but I refused. Mom said Santa Rosa was all cloudy and cold. I told him "NO", I'm not going. We stayed until 3:30PM and then came home. I get so sad when I have to leave there. It is like paradise to me. So quiet with beautiful trees everywhere, the water and the birds. I love getting up before anyone, making my coffee and sitting down by the lake watching the sun come up. It is a beautiful site and a moment that takes my breath away, especially now. I'm going up again this coming weekend on Friday and I hope Mom will come with me. Just the two of us. It will be so fun!

I have a special request from ALL family and friends and hope you will do this one thing for me. I am planning a fundraiser for my beautiful angel, Jazmin on August 29th. I'm going to celebrate my life and the life of Jazmin and Jamae. The fundraiser is for a headstone for the girls. They don't have one and I want all of us to work together to make it happen. Mark and I will have the biggest party at our house that day and I hope all my friends and family will be here to help celebrate this beautiful moment. Invitation will be posted on my blog soon with details. Look for it!

Well I have been going on and on. It's getting late and I should go to bed. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too. Just remember to make those moments that take your breath away. I made lots this weekend.

Love,
Debbie