Seven months is a long time to spend in Neutropenia. Even with all the adventure and interesting surprises, I am ready to say farewell. Where is this? It is a beautiful place overlooking the Baltic Sea, just off the coast of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. This is where people walk around in masks and where Count Dracula probably got his hankering for blood. It is also the capital of Leukemia. :-)
Seriously, neutropenia is a medical condition in which the bone marrow is not able to produce enough neutrophils (a kind of white blood cell) to protect the body from infections. This is a common condition among leukemia patients and people undergoing chemotherapy. I will surely not miss being neutropenic. I no longer need to be super-paranoid about catching an infection. I have scurried around in supermarkets just to avoid people who sneezed or coughed, replaced hugs and kisses with air kisses when greeting friends, stopped eating some of my favorite foods, and even hid my true identity by wearing a mask all the time! I can now reveal my true identity. The mask can now come off. I can also stop being Wonderwoman - you know, wondering how much I can do each day before I get really tired. :-)
The last three blood tests have been progressively better. It shows that my body is definitely on the road to recovery. The neutrophil count and platelets are still low, but now within normal range. The white blood count and hemoglobin are close to being normal. This means I will not need platelet or blood transfusions anymore!
The doctor has reduced my check-ups from twice a week to once a week. She expects me to get back to normal in the coming weeks. I will have a bone marrow biopsy on April 23. If it comes out clean, that will be the final and official marker that I am truly in remission!
I expect the biopsy to come out clean, and that I will be allowed to go back to work in May. This means I barely have a month left to finish everything on my to-do list: taking care of medical billing errors (grrr!), following-up on insurance payments (ayayay!), preparing for our celebration in San Diego (yippee!), filing our taxes (ugh!), learning more about living a healthier lifestyle (yes!) and other minor things in keeping house that sometimes drive us up the wall.
The doctors still recommend that I have a bone marrow transplant, but they also understand why I would choose not to do it. After much reflection and prayer about it, Robert and I have decided that having a bone marrow transplant is not for me. I do not have peace about having a BMT. It does not seem like a worthy trade-off, especially if I will not have a relapse. As one of my friends who is a doctor said, having a transplant is like replacing one sickness for another. If I will not have a relapse in the future, wouldn't a BMT just give me a sickness where none existed?
We have prayed that if I truly need a BMT, that a perfect match be found, especially from one of my siblings. No perfect match has been found so far. We have also prayed for the Lord to take away my leukemia cells now and forever. On more than one occasion when I was praying, I have this peace that He has granted my request. Now, what I need is the faith to believe and proceed accordingly. It may not be what the doctor recommended, but I believe this is another one of those instances where faith will overcome the odds. There have been other times in my life when God has asked me to take the path with the odds stacked against me. They did not sound logical to me at the time, but disobedience was not an option. Each time, God has not let me down, but has shown me how great and faithful He is. I have been blessed to witness many of His miracles in the past and also through this journey. Our God is greater than any sickness or statistics! I have not told the BMT doctor about our final decision yet, but it should not come as a surprise to her.
My hair is growing back! I no longer need to cover my head when I go out. Perfect timing, since the weather in Southern CA is starting to warm up. It still looks a little funny, but we are all getting used to it. I used to look like a troll after a shower. My hair would all stand up, and I would have to apply some oil for it to come down. Remember how babies' hair would stand up after giving them a bath? Cute, no? Yes, them, not me. :-( There was also a time when I would look at the mirror and be reminded of the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jung Il. Yes, his hair was ugly, and so was mine. Hats to the rescue! My hair is slightly curly now. It naturally flips out, so I look kinda sassy with my short hair. I still make it a point to wear big earrings so nobody will mistake me for a butch.
Well, that is all the update for now. Sorry for not updating my blog more often. I am still fighting an uphill battle with my to-do list, and I do get lazy sometimes. Then, when the kids come home, it is all about them - snacks, homework, dinner prep, dinner, bathtime, then bedtime. Thank God I now have the energy for all that. My life is getting back to normal. Yay!
Thank you all very much for all your prayers and may God bless you and your family!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
3/17/2010 - Almost over
The last 2 blood tests showed that my body is recovering from the last chemotherapy. As expected, my blood count got worse and the body got weaker for a couple of weeks after the chemo. Last week was when it started to show signs of moving up. I had another blood transfusion on Friday. Hopefully, it will be the last one. I am still neutropenic, but that is also improving.
The doctor is going to schedule another bone marrow biopsy to see if there are any leukemia cells left. If she finds any, I will have no choice but undergo a bone marrow transplant. If the biopsy comes out clean, then I will be done! My prayer is that the biopsy will come out clean. I have been praying a lot about the biopsy, and I think I do not need to go through it anymore. There is no perfect match found, and I just have this feeling that God has cured me already. Thanks to all your prayers, the journey is almost over!
This calls for a celebration! Before diving back into life as we know it, I am spending time planning our upcoming celebrations. Our family is not much into parties, but my kids and I love to travel. Rob is less enthusiastic about it. Katie says she got her travel bug from me - so true! After going through a near death experience, I realized that I have subconsciously been coming up with my bucket list - mostly of places I would still like to visit and things to do before I go to the ultimate place for the ultimate vacation!
We're keeping it local for this year. The doctor already gave me the okay to go to San Diego with the kids for their spring break. We always enjoy our visits to San Diego. Katie wants to visit Legoland again and Ellie wants to bond with our relatives at the zoo and Wild Animal Park. :-) Of course, we'll also spend some time on the beach and try to catch some hermit crabs.
More health tips and discoveries:
1) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables to keep the body alkalized. Too much acidity in the body can lead to cancer. If you cannot eat the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, try having the green and red food powders. Some of them combine green and red, as well as mushrooms and probiotics - all good for us.
2) Try to reduce the amount of red meat. It usually has a high amount of saturated fat and it also adds to the acidity of the body.
3) I am getting rid of my microwave oven. I found out that most microwave ovens leak to some extent. With my condition, I do not need any more radiation in my body (radiation causes leukemia). In addition, cooking with microwave has been shown to reduce the nutritional content of the food more than other forms of cooking.
4) I am also getting rid of most of my teflon-coated pots and pans. Teflon, when heated to a high temperature, gives out a fume that is carcinogenic when inhaled. I have replaced them with stainless steel waterless and greaseless pans. I am pleasantly surprised to find out that they are not as expensive as they used to be. And thanks to the generosity of my sister, we got it as a gift - even better!
5) Cooking oils. I have been using Canola oil for a long time now, but since the jury is still out regarding its safety, I have been using mostly extra virgin olive oil and grapeseed oil for cooking. They have higher smoking point than canola oil. I also use peanut oil for deep frying because it has a higher smoking point. Smoking point is when the oil releases chemicals that are not good for the body.
Lastly, as we go through Lent, we are reminded of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. All our sufferings in this world pale in comparison to His suffering. God came in the form of man, which in itself is already a great suffering. On top of that, He endured all His earthly suffering without even one complaint! Only God can do that. Most of us cannot even tolerate some discomfort without whining about it - think about the hottest day of summer or the coldest day in winter - ah, the symphony of whining! No wonder it takes more than a lifetime for us to learn to be more like Christ!
That's all for now. Thank you again for all your prayers and may God continue to bless you and your family!
The doctor is going to schedule another bone marrow biopsy to see if there are any leukemia cells left. If she finds any, I will have no choice but undergo a bone marrow transplant. If the biopsy comes out clean, then I will be done! My prayer is that the biopsy will come out clean. I have been praying a lot about the biopsy, and I think I do not need to go through it anymore. There is no perfect match found, and I just have this feeling that God has cured me already. Thanks to all your prayers, the journey is almost over!
This calls for a celebration! Before diving back into life as we know it, I am spending time planning our upcoming celebrations. Our family is not much into parties, but my kids and I love to travel. Rob is less enthusiastic about it. Katie says she got her travel bug from me - so true! After going through a near death experience, I realized that I have subconsciously been coming up with my bucket list - mostly of places I would still like to visit and things to do before I go to the ultimate place for the ultimate vacation!
We're keeping it local for this year. The doctor already gave me the okay to go to San Diego with the kids for their spring break. We always enjoy our visits to San Diego. Katie wants to visit Legoland again and Ellie wants to bond with our relatives at the zoo and Wild Animal Park. :-) Of course, we'll also spend some time on the beach and try to catch some hermit crabs.
More health tips and discoveries:
1) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables to keep the body alkalized. Too much acidity in the body can lead to cancer. If you cannot eat the recommended 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, try having the green and red food powders. Some of them combine green and red, as well as mushrooms and probiotics - all good for us.
2) Try to reduce the amount of red meat. It usually has a high amount of saturated fat and it also adds to the acidity of the body.
3) I am getting rid of my microwave oven. I found out that most microwave ovens leak to some extent. With my condition, I do not need any more radiation in my body (radiation causes leukemia). In addition, cooking with microwave has been shown to reduce the nutritional content of the food more than other forms of cooking.
4) I am also getting rid of most of my teflon-coated pots and pans. Teflon, when heated to a high temperature, gives out a fume that is carcinogenic when inhaled. I have replaced them with stainless steel waterless and greaseless pans. I am pleasantly surprised to find out that they are not as expensive as they used to be. And thanks to the generosity of my sister, we got it as a gift - even better!
5) Cooking oils. I have been using Canola oil for a long time now, but since the jury is still out regarding its safety, I have been using mostly extra virgin olive oil and grapeseed oil for cooking. They have higher smoking point than canola oil. I also use peanut oil for deep frying because it has a higher smoking point. Smoking point is when the oil releases chemicals that are not good for the body.
Lastly, as we go through Lent, we are reminded of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. All our sufferings in this world pale in comparison to His suffering. God came in the form of man, which in itself is already a great suffering. On top of that, He endured all His earthly suffering without even one complaint! Only God can do that. Most of us cannot even tolerate some discomfort without whining about it - think about the hottest day of summer or the coldest day in winter - ah, the symphony of whining! No wonder it takes more than a lifetime for us to learn to be more like Christ!
That's all for now. Thank you again for all your prayers and may God continue to bless you and your family!
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