I feel better! Thank God! :)

Hello Everyone,

I am glad Tuesday is over! It was not fun. I started on time and received the Flavoripodol at 8:00 to 12:30. It is a powerful drug and causes cell death very quickly which can overload the kidneys, so, we monitor the potassium levels very closely. I never went high on my potassium because the doctors would not let me they intervened the moment it began to rise.

I first took medicine the causes diarrhea and then took medicine to cause urination and the combined drugs caused vomiting. So, I literally was going from all ends all day long. Needless to say I did not feel very well. My night was much better I took a sleeping pill and slept like a baby.

I feel much better today about 85% and was able to sit on the bike and pedal for 15 minutes to work it out a bit.

I should be getting checked out around noon and hopefully go shopping with Tammy for Christmas presents. We still need to remain in Columbus until tomorrow when I have to give one more blood draw. We expect to back home Thursday afternoon.

Here is the Good News:

- My WBC dropped in 1/2 from 7.7 to 3.2
- My visible lymph nodes under my arms shrunk to normal levels
- My other blood numbers look good with the exception of the pesky platelets which are now 27 (low)

Summary: The drug appears to be initially working as advertised! :)

Thanks for checking in,

Gary

Not Much Fun!

We now understand why Gary had to be hospitalized for this treatment- wow! He did not have any major drug reactions but lots of drug induced discomfort. We have lost count but in addition to the chemo drug he had at least 8 other drugs. If his blood levels are not where they want them to be (checked every few hours) they give him a drug to get them back in line. Sleep in the hospital is not easy so he is also very tired. He feels better this evening and plans to say "yes" to the sleeping pill tonight.

In the Hospital at OSU!

Hello Everyone,

We checked in to the hospital today at 2:00 pm and are sitting getting ready for the drugs tomorrow morning bright and early at 5:00 am.

You know how the devil is in the details, well, I am learning a whole lot more about this clinical trail process. Here is what I have learned so far:

Monday

• I am on the transplant floor and they measure everything that goes in and out of my body (literally... Not fun)
• 10:00 pm receive saline through Port (All Night: I will be peeing a lot)

Tuesday

• 5:00 am receive IV in arm for blood labs
• Receive drugs to lower potassium (makes you go #1 and #2) not fun :(
• Receive chemo at 8:00 am and 9:00 am (2 bags takes 4 1/2 hours)
• Blood Labs 5:00am, 8:30, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 1:00pm, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00, 7:00, 8:30

Wednesday

• Blood Labs 8:30 am,
• Discharge from Hospital
• Stay in Hotel Wednesday

Thursday

• Blood Labs 8:30 am
• Go Home!

Met with the doctors and nurses and all have been very nice and pleasant! I am very impressed with their attention to detail! I feel that I am in very good hands!

My platelets are still misbehaving so we need to deal with them! They are at 40 today! :(

All in all I am very comfortable and ready to begin the trail tomorrow! Tammy is right by my side and drilling the doctors and nurses with lots of questions! I love her!

Well, thanks for checking in. I will post again tomorrow to keep everyone up to date with what is happening.

Until tomorrow,

Gary

The Port Is In !

This is Tammy with a quick update. A double lumen port was installed in Gary's upper right chest yesterday. The day did not go smooth unfortunately. The darn platelets that we have been monitoring closely every week decided to take a significant dive (47 to 33) which is below the number required for a port to be installed. So Gary has first blood transfusion which consisted of a yellow bag of 5 different peoples platelets. He decided that he didn't like other people platelets in his body so he broke out in hives. Nothing alittle Benedryl and Tylenol couldn't take care of. He is back to work today but quite sore. If you see him this weekend please no friendly punches in the shoulder :) His mother comes to town on Saturday and we leave for Columbus on Monday to start treatment.

We made it back from OSU!

Hello Everyone,

Boy am I glad Monday is over.

Tammy and I took the kids down to Columbus on Sunday to see the Hospital and where I go when seeing the doctors. We hope it helps them understand more about the whole process.

On Monday, I had to be at the hospital at 9:00 AM

Here was my day

• Arrive at 9:00
• Check In & Wait
• Sign 20 page contract for clinical study & Wait
• Get IV & Wait
• Give 10 vials of blood & Wait
• Get a Bone Marrow Biopsy & Wait
• Drink barium (2 vanilla containers) & Wait
• Get CT Scan & Wait
• Drive Home with Family (Tammy Drove)

It was a full day and a lot of waiting!

Everything went fine and I am doing good!

Next Up: Port install on Thursday!

Thanks for checking in,

Gary

Check out My Neighbors Christmas Lights!

Everyone,

I just got done taken pictures of Jeff and Carol's Christmas lights! (Across the street neighbors.) They do such a wonderful job on their display! Tammy and I are going to enter them into a local Christmas lights contest!

Stop over and check out the lights!

Gary

Back to OSU we Go!

Hello Everyone,

I thought I would give an update to what is going on here at camp Latham! We are traveling down to Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, Nov. 30 to spend an evening with the kids at the Marriott. We are going to show them where I go when visiting the doctors. On Monday, I will be getting a bone marrow biopsy and CT Scan to get a baseline where I am at. We will be returning home Monday after the tests are completed.

Next Thursday, Dec. 4 I will be getting the port put in and my mother is coming in town on Saturday to watch the kids the following week when Tammy and I go back to OSU for the 1st round of treatment.

You might remember that this time I am getting the experimental drugs and have to stay in the hospital for three days in case I grow an extra eye or something.

It is a lot of precaution for hopefully a whole lot of nothing when it comes to side effects.

My spirits are good and I am ready to get this portion of the treatment process done so we can move on to transplant.

It has been nice being home the last few days and I especially like spending time with the kids.

We will keep you posted as to the progress of the treatments.

Thanks

Gary

It's late and I can't sleep!

Hello Everyone,

It is 12:50 am and I can't sleep. I keep thinking about the upcoming treatments and eventually the long awaited stem cell transplant.

It is funny when your up late and have the house to yourself and hearing all the various noises you never hear when the kids are awake and the house is rocking.

Anyways, I wanted to let you know some of the things I have to do before I start the treatments. The first was to get a procedure call EGD, this is when they put a scope down your throat looking for problems. Did that last Tuesday and I still don't feel like myself.

The next procedure is a bone marrow biopsy followed by the CT scan and to wrap it up they now want to insert a "port" (a line that is put into my chest that taps into my main arteries). I will only have this in for about 9 months. :)

I have do all this before I start treatments!

I tell you this because it sucks! I don't like any of it and I am a bit tired of having to put up with it!

But, now that I have vented a bit, I am happy I have options! :)

We all have to do things we don't want to at some point in our lives! Ex. Going off to war, Putting up with a bad boss, dealing with cancer, etc.

What I have learned is I can do one of two things:
1) Feel sorry for myself and complain and make the ones I love feel pity for me
or
2) Man Up and walk with God as I face the challenge.

I choose #2!

I'm going to bed now!

Take care,

Gary

It seems I can't get enough!

Hello Again Everyone,

Sorry, I have taken a few weeks off updating the blog. I was enjoying everyday life! Well, enough of that it seems I can't get enough of the Leukemia stuff.

The leukemia is back and my doctors and I have decided to attack it this time with a clinical triaal which is currently only offered at Ohio State University. I will begin the clinical trial in December.

The clinical trial should help me to get into a remission. The downside is that I have to go to OSU for the treatments. The schedule is fairly aggressive and will require some time away from home while receiving the chemo. The treatment will last up to six months.

We are still planning to do the Stem Cell Transplant using cord blood but will wait until 1) I am in a good remission and 2) the BMT clinical trial is available (paper work issue).

Physically, I still feel fine and am not experiencing any difficulties.

I will still be able to work and do most of my normal activities while going through treatments. I will be more immune suppressed, so, shaking hands and kissing babies will have to stop.

I am almost to the transplant finish line, but have to get myself back into a remission.

I appreciate all the prayers and well wishes, so, keep them coming they really do help!

Take care,

Gary

Happy Birthday!!

It's Tammy.....the blog has not been updated in a long time so I thought I would let you know that Gary turned 42 today!! He celebrated by eating a giant hamburger cake.

Craig is missing in the photo because he is in Washington DC on an 8th grade school trip. He just called for our nightly update and sounds pretty tired- he is seeing lots of sights.

Scott's football team made it to the Superbowl (the championship game) The game is tomorrow afternoon...Go Bobcats!

Hannah has her first volleyball game tomorrow. She was just chosen as student of the month in gym class.

Gary is feeling pretty good. He has noticed some of his lymph nodes starting to swell. We travel to OSU on Monday. On Tuesday he is going to have a EGD procedure to enlarge his narrow esophagus. It is supposed to be a simple procedure which he has avoided the last forty years.

That's enough news for now.

Tammy