2 year cancerversary!

Hello!

So yesterday my immune system turned 2 years old! I can't believe that 2 years has already gone by since my stem cell transplant. I was bald, had gone through 3 rounds of chemotherapy and was about to go through the roughest months of my life. But I am thankful to say that even through the bad patches, weak days, low blood pressure, sick stomach, no taste buds (which then made everything taste horrible), no muscles, dry eyes and mouth, night sweats, menopause, hot flashes, brown hair and lots and lots of pills...I made it out alive, healthy and well. I now have new and stronger friendships, a finace, a puppy, and a closer family because of it. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Cassidy and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate my "birthday". We went to a nice restaurant called Kincaid's knowing that a friend of mine is usually working there. She was able to hook us up with two free appetizers (crab and artichoke dip and panko fried brie...nom nom nom) and $10 off the bill. We probably should've got appetizers for our meals since by the time we actually got our food (pasta for me, steak for cassidy) we only ate like...maybe half haha. It was a good night :)

My dad informed me yesterday that a friend of his died yesterday from AML. He was in his mid 60's and was diagnosed August 1st, 2013. After trying chemotherapy the doctor told him that his cancer was not responding and he never got into remission. Due to his immune system being down from the illness and chemotherapy he developed pneumonia that would never go away, thus disqualifying from any clinical trial or stem cell transplant. I feel for his family and friends and I hope that he passed away peacefully. It makes me realize how lucky I am that things went so well for me. I got into remission after the first round of chemotherapy. My brother was my match for my stem cell transplant. I didn't get infections. I didn't have any GVHD problems. This story reminds me that things could have gone a different way and I am thankful to have had the people around me to help me get through it. With Cassidy bringing me to the hospital to my mom being my caregiver and my brother donating his stem cells, I have had amazing support and I will forever be thankful and in your debt. Never take advantage of those around you...because you never know when life is going to get in the way and make you jump over obstacles.


I am still continuing my hormones and after talking to my doctor he agreed to not do the immunosuppressants since the hormones seem to be doing so well. I still plan to go back to Houston in January to see him and hopefully he will be suffice with how I'm doing and not prescribe me tacrolimus :) I have been taking my supplements to help with my Vitamin D and Calicum intake so I'm sure next year when I have another bone density scan I will see only good results across the board.


Here is a picture of me getting my stem cells. Thank you mom for taking this picture...I know I was resistant to it but now I wish I had taken more!

I am holding up the tube that has the stem cells going into my port in my chest. They are a light red/orangey color.

Me being embarrassed in front of the 10 doctors/interns that were in my room...luckily it only lasted 15ish minutes. 

Here is my doctor and a couple of the nurses/interns/doctors/team that were all in my little room to stare at me while I got my stem cells. Not. Awkward. At. All. O_O

Here is my mom attempting to extract Travy's stem cells with a GIANT needle =P

And here is Travis actually getting his stem cells taken out! Since he had one arm getting blood out of it (and then the white blood cells/stem cells are then filtered out) and the other one getting his blood put back in....we attacked him with super hero gear and announced to the world that this is STEM CELL MAN! Thanks Travy for everything and letting us dress you up while you couldn't move =D

More pictures to come...

Love you all,

Savy

RESULTS!

Hey everyone!

School is back in session and I have survived my first week of classes! I am taking a swimming class (which I am enjoying so far!), lower extremity assessment, management strategies in athletic training (boring -_-), first aid/CPR training, and Principles of Kinesiology (a class I should have already taken in my second year but was unable to until now...). So not a big load (no science classes and labs!) so I think I'll do just fine for my last semester as an undergraduate! Aside from my classes being EXTREMELY COLD (literally had jeans, a tank top, long sleeve, jacket and a scarf on and I was still freexing my buns off) it looks like it'll be a good semester :)

So I've been waiting for a phone call for over a week now from MD Anderson to tell me my results for my bone marrow biopsy. Since I never got a call (under the assumption that no news is good news) I went onto My MDAnderson to email my doctor when I remembered that they put all their reports on My MDAnderson! DUH!

So...I looked up my reports for all the tests I had while I was in Houston! Here is what I got...

 BONE DENSITY EXAM


FULL RESULT:
Examination:  Bone Mineral Density, 08/20/2013 

Clinical History:  A 24-year-old female with AML.

Indication:  Evaluation of bone mineral density.

Comparison:  09/25/2012

Technique:  Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and bilateral hips was obtained using Hologic dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.

Findings: 


Bone Density:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Region     Exam Date   BMD      T-        Z-     Classification
                                     g/cm2  Score  Score
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
AP Spine (L1-L4)
                 08/20/2013  0.929   -1.1     -1.0     Osteopenia
Femoral Neck (Left)
                 08/20/2013  0.859    0.1      0.1     Normal
Total Hip (Left)
                 08/20/2013  0.881   -0.5     -0.5     Normal
Femoral Neck (Right)
                 08/20/2013  0.857    0.1      0.1     Normal
Total Hip (Right)
                 08/20/2013  0.862   -0.7     -0.7     Normal
-----------------------------------------------------------------

World Health Organization criteria for BMD interpretation classify patients
as: Normal (T-score at or above -1.0), Osteopenia (T-score between -1.0 and 
-2.5), or Osteoporosis (T-score at or below -2.5).


Previous Exams:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Region  Exam  Age  BMD  T-score   BMD Change vs      
              Date           g/cm2             Baseline   Previous
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
AP Spine(L1-L4)
     08/20/2013  24  0.929    -1.1      -2.6%          -2.6%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.955    -0.8                              

Total Hip(Left)
     08/20/2013  24  0.881    -0.5      4.5%*          4.5%*    
     09/25/2012  23  0.843    -0.8                              

Femoral Neck(Left)
     08/20/2013  24  0.859     0.1      8.1%*          8.1%*    
     09/25/2012  23  0.795    -0.5                              

Trochanter(Left)
     08/20/2013  24  0.654    -0.5      6.6%*          6.6%*    
     09/25/2012  23  0.614    -0.9                              

Intertrochanteric(Left)
     08/20/2013  24  0.979    -0.8       4.0%           4.0%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.941    -1.0                              

Ward's(Left)
     08/20/2013  24  0.767     0.3       6.1%           6.1%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.723    -0.1                              

Total Hip(Right)
     08/20/2013  24  0.862    -0.7       1.7%           1.7%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.847    -0.8                              

Femoral Neck(Right)
     08/20/2013  24  0.857     0.1       4.4%           4.4%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.821    -0.3                              

Trochanter(Right)
     08/20/2013  24  0.633    -0.7       2.2%           2.2%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.619    -0.8                              

Intertrochanteric(Right)
     08/20/2013  24  0.969    -0.8       1.5%           1.5%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.955    -0.9                              

Ward's(Right)
     08/20/2013  24  0.726    -0.1       2.7%           2.7%    
     09/25/2012  23  0.707    -0.2                              
-----------------------------------------------------------------
*Denotes significance at 95% confidence level, site specific LSC for AP Spine
= 0.029 g/cm2,  site specific LSC for Total Hip = 0.033 g/cm2,  site specific
LSC for Total Hip = 0.033 g/cm2

IMPRESSION: 
1. The findings are within the range of osteopenia for the lumbar spine.  
2. The findings are within normal range for the bilateral total hips and femoral necks.
3. As compared to 09/25/2012, there has been a statistically significant increase in bone mineral density at the left total hip and left femoral neck.


**** Basically we want my numbers to be closer to 0 and NOT negative. Even though my spine density has decreased by 2.6% it is important to note that in my hips and femoral neck (head of your femur) the density has INCREASED. So to help my spine out I will be drinking more milk/soy milk and running more (and swimming) and doing more Pilates/weight training to help it out!


BONE MARROW ASPIRATION/BIOPSY

BONE MARROW DIAGNOSIS

Pathology Report

Bone marrow (left), aspirate smears, touch imprint, and clot and biopsy specimens:
Variably cellular bone marrow in which 90% of the specimen is acellular (<1%) and 10% of the specimen is cellular (40- 50%) with hematopoiesis
No morphologic evidence of acute leukemia

COMMENT
The patient has a history of acute myeloid leukemia with monocytic differentiation diagnosed in our department in June, 2011.
There is no morphologic evidence of acute myeloid leukemia in this specimen. Flow cytometry immunophenotypic analysis showed no increase of blasts.
We defer to the results of cytogenetic or molecular studies to exclude the presence of minimal residual disease. 

*** In other words....they found NO evidence of AML (or cancer cells)! :)

So, those were the most interesting results I have. My lung capacity did increase from last time which I am happy about too! At first I was kind of bummed that my bone density decreased a bit in my spine but now that I know that it also increased a bit in other areas I know that I am on the right track to keeping my bones healthy! I have also started taking a Vitamin D supplement to help my body absorb calcium into my bones. 




In other news...

Cassidy is in Sarasota, Florida to check up on his mom's house! He is getting together with my Bucha and some family and I wish I was there!! So jealous! His good friend James came down with him and together they hung out with Jame's grandmother too :) Cass found out that he has amazing tenants living in the house and they have been doing a wonderful job at maintaining the residence. Cass is going to work with them to help update the house a bit more (like painting). This was such good news to hear and I'm happy that we have great people who care about his property! Again...I wish I was there to see my family but I know that we will take a trip to Sarasota together soon...maybe next year! 

Okay, I need to read for my classes (yes..I have been procrastinating...but look! y'all got a blog update out of it :) ). I will keep you updated as the semester goes!

Love you all!

Savy

Look what I can do!!! It seems there are benefits to updating on an actual computer and not an iPad.... Now, my question is...would you like me to put images on each blog entry based on the time or should I just post a new blog entry of a time line of us (me, zoe, cass, family)? let me know please! I'll do whatever is easiest for y'all!

I expect you all to have gone "awww" :)
Love my Zoe!