California Trip 2009

This year for Thanksgiving we decided to take a vacation.  We thought it would be fun to take Kim on a tour of California before she heads back to Germany next month.  Jer had never been to California either, so we knew it would be a lot of fun for everybody!  My nephew David joined us as well. 

Our first stop was San Francisco.  We stayed at the Omni Hotel near Union Square.  The location was perfect and the hotel was beautiful.  We met up with our friends Brett and Lena and they graciously showed us around the city.  They were the best tour guides ever!  We were able to take some fantastic pictures of the skyline and the famous bridges from ideal spots, thanks to their insider knowledge.  We visited Union Square, Downtown, Chinatown, Coit Tower, Haight-Ashbury, Japantown, Castro, the Bay Bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Our second day there, we took a cruise out of Fisherman's Wharf to Alcatraz.  The boat ride there was foggy, but once we arrived on the island the fog lifted and we were exposed to some ridiculously beautiful scenery.  We spent a couple of hours touring the island and learning about the prison.  If you are ever in San Francisco, I recommend taking this tour.  It was well worth the money.  Here are a few highlights from that part of the trip:

 

After spending two days in San Francisco, we headed down south to Hollywood.  Right when we drove up, the valet guy pointed out that Reggie Miller was across the street at Saffore's luxury grooming salon.  I snapped a quick photo of him, paparazzi style.  We stayed in a really cool suite at the Andaz West Hollywood Hotel on Sunset Boulevard.  It faced the strip and had an additional sunroom sitting area complete with chaise lounge, loveseat sofa, mini flat screen television, and floor-to-ceiling windows creating an unobstructed view.  It was an awesome place to sit and relax.  While in Hollywood, we checked out Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Walk of Fame, the Kodak Theater, Rodeo Drive, Mulholland Drive, the Grove, Melrose Avenue, the Beverly Center, and of course the famous Hollywood sign.  One day for lunch we dined at The Little Next Door Cafe and it was awesome!  The atmosphere was really neat and the food was great too.  One afternoon we took a drive out to Santa Monica to get our beach fix.  We strolled along the pier and walked down by the water.  Right before we left, we noticed a film crew and realized they were from the show Criminal Minds.  That was really cool to see!  Some of the main actors from the show were there, and we got to watch them film a scene.  Here are some photos from that portion of our trip:

 







After we departed Hollywood, we made stops in Seal Beach and Laguna Beach.  It was a whole different world in LB!  The weather was beautiful and we were extremely jealous of the people playing sand volleyball on the beach in late November!

From Laguna Beach, we traveled further south to San Diego and Coronado Island.  Coronado was a really fun place, with a beautiful beach.  We experienced an amazing sunset there.

  

In San Diego, we stayed at the Omni Hotel, right across from Petco Park.  The view from our room was of the San Diego Bay and the naval base.  While there, we visited the famous San Diego Zoo.  I'm an animal-lover, so of course I enjoyed this experience!  They have more exotic animals than my local zoo, and more of each species.  It was cool to see the panda bears, the koala bears, and the polar bears.  There was a neat viewing area where you could watch the polar bears play underwater, and we were treated to a hilarious wrestling match from two of the playful bears.  On Thanksgiving, we found a restaurant serving a traditional turkey dinner so that Kim could still experience at least a little of an American Thanksgiving!  We ate at Suite & Tender and really enjoyed it.  It's a really fancy, schmancy restaurant, but it was worth it since it was a special occasion!  On our last day of vacation, we ventured into Tijuana, Mexico.  That was an interesting expedition!  We walked across the border with no trouble, and took a taxi into the heart of the city.  We were hounded by shop owners and restaurant owners, but it didn't bother us too much.  We tried a taco from a little road-side stand and it was probably the best one I've ever eaten!  We spent a couple hours there, and then decided to head back into the US to catch our flight home.  While we were waiting in the line to get through Customs, a guy walked along selling passports and driver's licenses.  Interesting.  We politely declined, and made our way across the border.  I think we all breathed a sigh of relief once we were back on American soil!  All in all, our trip to California was a blast and I'm so glad we went!

 

 

Bone Marrow Donation Update 2

I spoke with the NMDP today, and they informed me that the results of my physical were good.  That means the donation is happening!  We set the date for Friday, January 15th.  I should be checking into the hospital really early that morning, and then getting released that evening.  I believe they are telling the boy and his family very soon since we just got the all clear.  Up to this point, they had no idea the doctor even found a potential match in the registry.  Hopefully their Christmas is a little more joyful knowing he's about to receive a transplant.
 
Right before my donation, the boy will receive high doses of chemotherapy and possibly radiation therapy. It will destroy the diseased cells in his body, destroy the blood-forming cells in his bone marrow to make room for new cells and destroy his immune system so it cannot attack the donated cells after the transplant. The doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy are much higher than would be used to treat the same disease in a patient who was not getting a transplant, and they may last four to ten days.  Upon completion of the preparatory treatment, he will receive my bone marrow within one to two days.
 
Keep him in your thoughts the few days before my donation, because I'm sure it will be a stressful experience for him and his family.  I am very much looking forward to January 15th, though, and I hope everything goes as planned.

Bone Marrow Donation Update

I spoke with the National Marrow Donor Program again, and was given a little more information. They test 6 antigens and I matched all 6 with a 10 year old boy with leukemia. They call this a "perfect" match. I went in last Thursday for a one hour information session, followed by a physical. They drew more blood, did an extensive health history, urinalysis, EKG, and chest Xray. (There was no cost to me for any of this). After evaluating the results of those, and assuming I'm healthy enough for the process, they'll schedule a donation date. Tentatively we are shooting for mid-January.

There are two ways to donate - a bone marrow donation or a PBSC donation. The patient's doctor has requested a bone marrow donation, but ultimately it is my decision. I've read their materials, watched a video, and asked a lot of questions, and I think the bone marrow donation is the route I will take. I will make the final decision after the results of my physical are known. The bone marrow donation involves anesthesia and it is a surgical procedure. It typically lasts less than 2 hours, and the donor can usually go home the same day. Soreness and fatigue will usually occur, and may last weeks. The PBSC donation requires that you get injections of a drug called filgrastim for five days preceding the donation date. Your blood is then removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to you through the other arm. This process is similar to donating plasma. Depending on the amount they need to extract, it can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, and might be separated out into two days. There is no soreness, but you may experience headache or bone or muscle aches for several days before collection, a side effect of the filgrastim injections. These effects disappear shortly after collection.

With everything I know right now, I think the best and least scary/uncomfortable situation for me would actually be doing the anesthesia and getting it over with in less than 2 hours. I already fainted the first time I tried to give my blood samples, and started to feel a little queasy the second time I gave my samples, so I just think 4 - 8 hours hooked up to needles in my arms would be torture. I would hate to get hooked up and then faint and then not be able to complete the process (and possibly have it happen repeatedly). I'm a little scared about the actual donation, but I'm not wavering in my commitment to go through with it. Survival rates after getting a transplant range from 30 to 60%. Without a transplant, 0 to 15%.

More to come....

Headache-free and Happy Now!

About three months ago I started getting debilitating headaches daily. They would almost always hit in the afternoon, and they'd last a few hours at a time. Some days they made working (or any other activity) pretty unbearable. A few times they would last longer than a few hours and I'd just go straight to bed after work because I couldn't handle them. In the beginning I would take two Excedrin migraine, and that would help. As one month of this turned into two, however, the Excedrin stopped being effective. Some days I had to resort to Hydrocodone to bear the pain. It was a miserable feeling knowing that every single afternoon I was probably going to get a headache. A couple times I actually had to miss an important event or activity because of my horrible headaches.

I first thought it might have to do with staring at a computer screen for hours every day at work, but I was getting the headaches on the weekends too. I had heard before that some people would get headaches if they went a couple hours without caffeine because they had built up an "addiction" to it. I didn't think this applied to me, because I was drinking sodas constantly and doubted it was withdrawal. But, this did raise another possibilty - maybe my constant caffeine intake was causing the headaches. I had increased my Sonic visits over the past few months, either stopping for a drink before work or during lunch most every day. I decided it was worth a shot to give up caffeinated drinks to see what would happen. The first few days were typical - still headaches in the afternoon. I was taking Excedrin to alleviate them, before realizing that Excedrin has a pretty high level of caffeine also. I stopped doing that and switched to a pain reliever without caffeine. A couple more days went by and the headaches were still pretty bad. I think those days might've been me experiencing withdrawal. After about 9 days of this, I had a day without a headache. It was amazing!  I had forgotten what those days felt like.  And then, another day and another day. After 5 days in a row of no headaches, I almost cried from joy. I can't believe I suffered through months of  unnecessary pain, but I'm so thankful it was an "easy" fix. Now I strictly drink decaffeinated sodas, or water if none are available. It's kinda crazy to think about the harmful effects I was experiencing from something as "tame" as a diet soda. I'm just glad I figured this out and cured myself!

Just a Reminder

Life can change in an instant. Cherish the time you have with the ones you love. Don't put off something you've always wanted to do.  Take that trip, run that marathon, paint that picture. 

Various people around me have received unsettling news lately, and while I am very hopeful and positive they will overcome their setbacks, I am reminded to not take anything for granted.  This is your friendly reminder to do the same. :)

 

The Komen 3 Day

The Komen 3 Day Race took place in Dallas this past weekend.  I didn't participate as a racer, but I helped in other ways!  The race path passed in front of my sister Jo's house on Saturday, so we set up shop outside to cheer on the racers.  Jo had an awesome spread available to the racers - bowls of candy, beads, kleenexes, anti-bacterial soap, and lawn chairs for breaks.  We cheered, took pictures, shouted words of encouragement, and thanked the walkers for being a part of something great.  Livy even participated too - she zonked out after an hour of cheering, so she napped on Jo's 3 Day T-shirt blanket and provided smiles for the racers. 

On Sunday, the racers made their way through Downtown on the path to Fair Park where the race finished.  Kim, Jo, my mom, and I all volunteered at Pit Stop 4 with Komen employees.  We handed out buttons, cheered the racers, replenished water bottles, answered questions, distributed snacks, and helped tear down the Pit Stop after it was over.  At that point, the racers had just 2.9 miles left on their 60 mile journey.  Many were tired, but their spirits were strong.  It's so fun to be a part of something like that, because the vibe is just so positive.  Everyone is hopeful for a cure, and knows they're playing a part in making it happen.  The most interesting part to me is just how grateful all of the participants were to us.  I hope they realize just how thankful we are for what they were doing.  Maybe next year I can be a racer instead of a volunteer. 

Be The Match - I Hope I Am!

A couple months back I joined the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, now called the Be The Match Registry.  It is a registry of people willing to make a bone marrow transplant to patients with leukemia or other life-threatening diseases.  After undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiation, a patient needs healthy blood-forming cells from a donor who is a close genetic match.  According to the website, seventy percent of patients needing a transplant do not have a donor in their family who is a close enough match.  This is where the Be The Match Registry steps in. 

Upon joining the registry online, you are sent a kit for collecting a swab of cheek cells.  You ship that back and your information is added to their database. Doctors query this database to try and find a match for a patient in need.  If you are identified as a potential match, you are called and asked to give a blood sample for more testing.  At this point, you are probably one of several people being tested to find the best possible match.  The chance of you being selected from here is 1 in 12.

If you do happen to be a close enough match to the patient, you are asked to attend an information session to make sure you are comfortable with the process.  A physical exam is also given to make sure you are healthy enough for a donation.  If all is well, you can donate through either a bone marrow donation, or a PBSC donation.  You can find out more about those here.  The patient's doctor chooses the method that is best for the patient.

When all is said and done, you will have participated in a life-saving transplant.  Think about that.  You saved a life.  Imagine if that person with leukemia were your parent, your sibling, or your child.  Imagine if no one in your family was able to donate, and the only option available for saving your family member was finding an unrelated donor.  Think of the impact it would make if YOU could be that person for another family.  That's what prompted me to join the registry.

As it turns out, I received a call last week that I was a potential match for a 10 year old with leukemia.  I went in to a bloodcare center and had blood withdrawn to be sent off for further testing.  Embarrassingly enough, I fainted halfway through the extraction process (I had 4 of 7 tubes filled), and couldn't complete the sample.  But that won't faze me!  I'm going back next week to finish the job and then it's a waiting game to find out if I'm a match.  It could take as little as a week or as long as 60 days to find out.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Yes, the process might be daunting and painful, but that pales in comparison to the reward.

Join the Registry and save a life.