Pam Status

There's nothing like being away from home for over 3 months living in a studio apartment in the heart of Seattle to help us appreciate how wonderful it is to be home! It has been so good to sleep in our own bed and cook in our own kitchen and move about from room to room and go upstairs and downstairs and have 2 bathrooms! We're living the dream here you know!  I don't believe we realized that concept before. We don't have to go back to Seattle for one year. We'll go back to visit Eric's family but NOT for medical reasons. At this point I just have to visit the oncologist and get blood drawn once a week for 5 weeks and then every other week for another month or so and then periodically after that. I need to try to avoid crowds and sick people of course. I think most people would like to do the same though. I also have restrictions on plants (can't touch them) and can't work in the yard for one year. No leaf raking or weed pulling or anything of t...

At long last we have a date to come home. Friday, October 20th. I have labs in the morning and a clinic in the early afternoon. We will be packed and ready to go after that. Tomorrow I will have my hydration tested and I'm confident I will pass the test and we can start packing on Thursday. We are so ready to get back to our lives in Kennewick. These last few days are dragging but we are on the countdown! I expected to feel better EVERY day after transplant but I have good and not so good days. The best part is that it's over and I am healing. Thank you to EVERYONE for all your love and support while Dale and I have endured this difficult process. I probably shouldn't do this because I may forget someone but...I feel I must try.  I had taken pictures of each care package that I received but all was lost when I lost my phone. Thank you to Christine for taking such good care of our dog, Cid for 4 months!!! Thank you to Paula, Laura and Brenda for taking care of the ...

I am day 19 post transplant and each day is ever so slightly better than the last. My blistered esophagus (from the chemo) is finally recovering and I am able to eat without disasters above or below. My taste buds are skewed so most things just don't taste good. I can't bear anything sweet and everything else is suspect of being repugnant to me. I am eating but it's become a chore. Drinking is even worse. I NEED to drink at least 2 liters a day for them to let me go and it is the hardest thing ever! It makes no sense but I am continually thirsty and dry mouthed yet I despise drinking. It's quite a conundrum to be in. Poor Dale is continually trying to get me to eat and drink and tries a variety of strategies to make it happen. I am now recording my liquid intake to make me more accountable and it's working...sort of. Now for the reason for my blog title... Last Saturday I noticed one of the claves on the end of my Hickman Cathedar was missing. It's just a li...

There were certainly difficult times leading me up to this point but the next month will be by far my biggest challenge. My neutrophil count bottomed out yesterday. (Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fight against infection). This was expected but it means that I am now neutropenic. This happens 7-12 days after receiving high dose chemotherapy. I was on day 6.    I am the most susceptible to infection right now. My immune system is completely wiped out and I have no ability whatsoever to fight any virus or bacteria that comes my way. We are vigilant about sterilizing and hand washing. I must avoid all uncooked vegetables and fruits. I must avoid all salad bars and deli counters, consume only pasteurized dairy products, The list goes on but the reality is I can barely eat anything due to no appetite and the difficulty it is to swallow. My diet consists of an occasional protein shake, scrambled eggs, applesauce, broth, some canned soups and V-8 juice to help with ...

High Dose Chemo (Malphenlen) was administered on Tuesday.  My previous experience with this resulted in extreme nausea and vomiting non-stop for several hours. That was also the time my heart stopped for just a jiffy due my "Vasovagal syncope" That little episode resulted in a temporary pacemaker being installed and getting crazy infected within 5 days. This time I had nausea but they pulled out the big guns and were able to keep in under control thus far, Tuesday I arrived at the hospital, Day Two was chemo, day three day of rest battling the constant nausea. They 3 today...still nauseated but hanging in there. I was able receive my own stem cells back this afternoon It all went well without any hitches. It is a funny thing when you get your stem cells back, there is a big celebration. Half the staff squeezes in your room to sing Happy Birthday to you! I was presented with a card signed by the staff also. Christine and her hubby were visiting at that particular momen...

A visit to the Oncologist today and blood work revealed good liver numbers. The enzymes are where they should be at long last!  We are scheduled to return to Seattle on Sunday. Since my stem cells have been harvested I should be ready for my high dose chemotherapy, losing my lovely locks (temporarily), getting my stem cells returned to me through my Hickman Catheter (apheresis machine), losing my immune system (temporarily), getting monitored and monitored and monitored some more until given the green flag to return home, recover and carry on with my life. Being home for two weeks has been a dream come true for me.  I have rested deeply, spent time with  my adorable grandchildren, lunched with friends and my darling daughter, walked when the air quality wasn't dreadful, meditated, read and baked...ALMOST like a normal person sans a job and church responsibilities. Actually meditating isn't normal for me but it seems to be helping me relax and focus on what's most import...

I finally had my stem cell extraction process last Sunday. I was hooked up to the apheresis machine for 5 hours. I didn't have the bountiful harvest I had 9 years ago but I had a sufficient amount for a transplant. Unfortunately my liver started acting up. The normal ALT and AST numbers for the liver range from 7-56 units/liter and 10-40 units/liters for AST. I started at 25 which is great. Then it raised up over 100, then 300, then 500 and the next day my counts were over 1000. YIKES! I had two liver ultra sounds one yesterday and one today. The ultra sound tech told me my liver was perfect and beautiful! It is functioning fine but until these mysterious high counts go down I am stuck here at the hospital. They have not idea what's causing this. It could possibly the shots I received to stimulate stem cell growth...but they have never seen this particular side effect before. I am an enigma as usual. I may need a liver biopsy tomorrow but I pray not. They want to go through...

It's been 7 days at the University of Washington Medical Center and I'm going a bit stir crazy. Day 1 the Hickman Line was placed. Day 2 I became nauseous and threw up a bit and had a slight heart episode so Day 3 I was switched to the ICU floor and a pacemaker was placed. I've had 2 days of complete bed rest requiring a hideous bed pan which never works well though I became quite adept towards the end. The nurses remarked they had never seen anyone do so well with one,  I'm not thinking that is something to be proud of but I suppose I'll take what I can get, given the circumstances. Dale spends all day every day with me. He comes in the morning and brings his lunch. Sometimes he walks the 3+miles to the hospital and takes the shuttle home for dinner and drives back then leaves between 9:00 and 10:00. Repeat...Repeat...Repeat... almost like Ground Hog Day....(The movie) Every day at 9:00 a.m. and at 9:00 p.m.  I get two spikes jabbed into my stomach. Some would cal...

Yesterday I was wheeled down the frigid hallways of the University of Washington hospital on a cold metal gurney to have a permanent pacemaker installed in my poor innocent chest. Just because I had a little heart rhythm problem the night before due to a slight vomiting episode. I am not pleased with this outcome but it is probably for the best....Hospital personnel seem to overreact to everything. This is what my precious looks like. It was installed right above my heart.. Oh fine....so I have a pacemaker. Big deal!  I hope my heart can now function like a champ so I can get the transplant back on schedule! One strange thing that happened during my surgery.....I had pants on because they told me I could wear pants...I awoke from surgery without them.....very strange...I'm still trying to figure out why that was necessary. When I returned to my room and used the bathroom...I was peeing acid.  Yikes!!! I'm feeling better now but the question still remains......W...

Blog 3     August 13th    Sunday/Rough Night Dale and I had a wonderful two days off exploring the Olympic Peninsula. We went on some short day hikes, explored Rialto beach at low tide and were rewarded with starfish galore and sea anemones. We even saw a pod of whales very close to the shore. Very exciting!  We stayed in Forks for one night at a very old motel and ate at the greasiest spoon ever. Oh the memories! We did eat at Frugals in Port Angeles along the way and THEY make a great burger! I had my Hickman catheter placed yesterday morning at the University of Washington hospital.. Last night I threw up twice. Both times my heart monitor flat-lined briefly and had the entire medical staff in my room to monitor me. "What happened?"  "What were you doing?"   they all kept asking I got up to use restroom was all that I did! That event set off a series of unprecedented events.   I had seve...

The Halgren's are back in Seattle after a wonderful long weekend home! We took the scenic route up Chinook Pass and enjoyed majestic view of Mount Rainier amid the smoky backdrop of haze from Canadian forest fires. The flowers were spectacular and it was well worth the stop. Only two appointments for Monday. Genecology and a mammogram. Though necessary, I despise them both. We are skipping appointments tomorrow (just two caregiver classes) Caregiver 101 and such. We have taken them before and will take them again later on. No appointments on Wednesday, so we are taking the ferry to Bremerton and driving to Forks to enjoy the Olympic Mountains, Hoh Rainforest and the West side of the Olympic Peninsula. We'll be doing some day hikes and exploring around. We decided we might as well have some fun before the onslaught of chemo and the restrictions resulting from the demolition of my immune system. Our address is 525 Minor Ave. North Apt. #609 Seattle,  WA 981...

I'm excited to blog round TWO of the stem cell transplant experience! I might as well be excited since I have no choice but to forge through and make the best of it. I have Dale by my side so no matter what happens, I will be able to tolerate it and pull through better than before. We moved to Seattle two weeks ago. We started at the SCCA (Seattle Cancer Care Alliance) House. It is an extended stay hotel for cancer patients. The apartments are small and have shared kitchen and laundry facilities. We ultimately wanted a place with our own kitchen and laundry. The following week we moved into the Pete Gross House which is an apartment complex for cancer patients. We had been on the waiting list and were able to move in more quickly than we had anticipated. It was great except for the two very low budget make shift twin beds. We purchased a memory foam mattress topper from Costco and with some 2x4 blocks to hoist up the lower bed and by pushing the two together we now have a quite c...