11/24/2009 - Round 3, Day 3

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

The extension of this round of chemo really worked out great for our family. I was concerned about the kids not being able to see me because of the CDC ruling, but it turned out better than I had expected. Katie and Ellie do not have school this week, so they were able to come visit me during the day, when it was still bright outside. We enjoyed feeding the fish again yesterday afternoon. I found out that the fish in the pond are koi fish. According to my sister, those fish can live over 100 years. There are over 50 adult fish and many more small ones. Yes, they will still be around long after all of us are gone. We also played with the floor chime in the rose garden. It reminded me of the oversized floor piano at FAO Schwartz in NY - remember Tom Hanks in Big? The chime is embedded on the ground, and we make different notes by stepping or jumping on them. We got creative and had a lot of fun - until Ellie slipped and scratched her elbow. We went to the nearest restroom at the Visitor Center to clean off the scratch.

Little did we know that we will be entering a historic building. The ceiling was beautifully painted almost 100 years ago. One of the walls had a mural that was last valued at $2.7M. It was painted by 2 young artists (Philip Goldstein/Guston and another artist) years ago. They have now become famous, thus the high price on the mural. There were many historic photographs of important people, like Eleanor Roosevelt, who went there. We got to chat with the manager of the place, who told us more interesting stories about the place and sent us away with some souvenirs and goodies - really nice lady. She also mentioned that Lamar Odom of the Lakers and his wife, Kloe Kardashian (reality show star) were there this afternoon to play basketball with the pediatric patients and signed autographs. I'm not a fan of either, but it was very nice of them to do it for the kids.

The chemo yesterday was uneventful. Thank you again for your prayers, and thank God! I slept a lot during and after the chemo. By the time I was alert enough to see my family, it was getting dark outside. So when Katie, Ellie and my sister came for a visit, we only spent time at the gift shop and ate at the bistro while I helped Katie with her school project. We also went to a nearby restaurant to buy dinner for the family. The kids like the spam musubi and Rob likes their loco moco at the Hawaiian barbecue joint. Shhh! Don't let my doctor or nurses know that I broke my parole. I may lose the privilege. :-) In case some of you got concerned, it was only a few blocks away, and the restaurant had only a few people there, so I did not take any big risks by going out. The biggest risk is writing about it - so no squealing please! Rob visited me last night, but was too tired to visit me tonight - no biggie.

The doctor gave the results of the cell match today - none of my 6 siblings is my cell match. Yep, not one. Oh, no! Maybe I WAS adopted! Or maybe it's true that they just found me in a trash can! Oh no, this may mean years of therapy! ha! ha! ha! All drama aside, it is not unusual not to have a cell match among siblings. I got a warning last week when the person I spoke with at my insurance company told me her husband had 10 siblings and none was a match. Now what? We don't know yet. I thought I could get away without a transplant if none of my siblings were a match, but God may have something else in mind. The doctor really wanted me to have the transplant because she's concerned about a relapse. Apparently, if I don't get a transplant, the relapse may happen in the next couple of years. The doctor looked at the national donor registry and she thinks we have a good chance of getting a 100% match from an unrelated donor. What do I do now? I will continue taking the last 2 rounds of chemo treatments unless we find a cell match. There's much to think about and more to pray about. Right now, we're just taking it a step at a time. Please pray that God will open the way, prepare our hearts, and make it obvious to us what our next steps should be.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and may God bless you and your family!