The weekend and today - from Bob

Weekend of 12/12 & 12/13
It was a great weekend. Christopher slept over on Saturday night. Life felt normal again for a little while. Michele and I spent most of the afternoon finishing up Christmas shopping and buying my Mom a birthday present. I was really tired afterwards. The smallest bit of walking still wears me out. I'm going to start on the bike tomorrow and doing some light resistance training with thera bands. I'll outline my needs and goals tomorrow. After taking a couple of hour break, we picked up Chris and then headed to the Christmas light show with Michele's family. They had a small fair and we played some games, did some sand art, and he ate some cotton candy. The light show was okay, but really loud. My son doesn't like loud. He did okay and we made it thru most of the show before it was time to head out. On Sunday we woke up and Michele made us breakfast of pancakes and bacon. Chris LOVES bacon. We then watched some Ben 10. In the afternoon we went to my parents house to celebrate my Mom's birthday. Chris, my Dad, and I watched some football. It was a great weekend.

Monday 12/14
Had my Oncologist this morning at 8. I didn't get a copy of my blood work, but everything was improved. I do know my platelets were up to 44,000. So, hopefully no more transfusions for me. I go back again on Thursday and should get my Picc line out then. I do have to have my next bone marrow aspiration sometime next week. This should confirm that I am cancer free and can get back to leading a normal life after I get back in shape.I'm going to spend the rest of the day laying around reading and watching TV. I'll pick Chris up after school and then just relax after I drop him off.

Thanks,
Bob

More from Bob 12/9, 12/10, 12/11

12/9-
Another lazy day of resting. We did have family dinner and that was fun. Other than that I pretty much just watched the idiot box.

12/10-
More blood work:
WBC-3.5
Gran: 52.4
RBC: 3.00
HGB: 8.8
PLT: 16,000

Everything went up except my platelets. So, to be on the safe side my oncologist had me get a unit of platelets transfused. This took up most of my day waiting for them to arrive and then getting the infusion. Luckily I have nothing to do, so it's no biggie. When I was done I went home, had a snack, and then took a nap.

12/11-
Again not much going on. I'm going to pick up Christopher from school and then go to my parents house. I'm sure we'll end up watching iCarly and Scooby Doo.Tomorrow Michele and I are going to pick up Christopher and he is going to sleep over for the first time in over 6 months. So, it's a big day for all of us. We are going to go with Michele's family to see a laser light Christmas show. It's at the Jupiter Hammer Heads stadium (single A baseball). They also have a bunch of other kids activities. This will also be our first time going out to an event like this. It feels really good to be starting to get life headed back to normal.

Bob

From Bob 12/6, 12/7, 12/8

12/6, 12/7, 12/8
I'm sure you are getting sick of me telling you I feel like crap and I'm tired. So, I won't. I'm going to show you my blood work. Basically chemotherapy is poison and it "re-starts" your bodies production of healthy blood. The problem is there is a lull until the re-start happens. This is a time where I am very immuno compromised and have little energy. Here are the normal ranges for a healthy persons blood work:

White Blood Cells (WBC): 4.1-10.9
Granulocytes (Gran): 37.0%-92.0%
Red Blood Cell (RBC): 4.20-6.30
Hemoglobin (HGB): 12.0-18.0
Platelet (PLT): 140-440

My Blood work on 12/7:
WBC: 1.3
Gran: 8.7%
RBC: 2.72
HGB: 8.0
PLT: 9.0

On this day I had to get 2 units of packed red blood and one unit of platelets transfused. So, I spent the day in the hospital getting blood.

Blood work on 12/8:
WBC: 1.0
Gran: 38.9%
RBC: 3.25
HGB: 9.3
PLT: 19.0

My blood work is starting to come around. My Oncologist thinks my body is starting to produce it's own healthy blood slowly now. So, I don't have to go to the doctor tomorrow. I go again on Thursday. I may even get my Picc Line taken out, which I have had for about four months now. I can't wait to get it out. You can Google Picc Line, but it's basically a central line that has three lines sticking out of my arm for IV attachment. I have to shower with my arm wrapped in plastic wrap until I get it out. I'll check in again tomorrow.

Bob

Today and this past weekend....

Family and Friends,

Bob is back in the hospital for the day receiving 2 units of blood and one unit of platelets. He also needed additional nupogen injections because his white count was very low. Here are the counts as of this morning:

WBC- 1.3
RBC- 2.72
Hemoglobin- 8.0
Platelets- 9,000

Bob is in good spirits, but not too happy he has to spend the whole day in the hospital.

Here is Bob's blog from the last few days:

Friday 12/4
Still feeling tired. Went to my Oncologist to get my last Neupogen shot. The plateles from yesterday didn't do too much as my count were still very low. So, I needed 1 unit of platelets and one unit of packed red. I again had to wait around for the call from the hospital as I need those both to be irradiated. They got everything in at about 3, so I headed over. I got done about 6:15. I then ran to my parents house as we were taking Christopher to see some Christmas lights. One of the parks in the area puts up a cool light show that you drive thru. They even had special 3D glasses that Christopher thought was the coolest thing ever invented.

Saturday 12/5
I felt okay when I woke up. I got caught up on some laundry and other minor chores. In the afternoon we had to go to Toys'R'Us to get some of Christopher's presents. We also ran to Office Depot and the Post Office. For some reason this wiped me out. When we got home I was tremendously tired. I spent the rest of the day on the couch and went to bed early. Bama rolled over the Gators and Texas lucked into a win. Cograts to all of the Southside Barbell members who put up PRs at the Southern States. Great job!!!

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and Thanks,
Michele

Bob's blogs from the past few days

Family and friends,

Sorry I haven't written in the past few days. To make up for it, I'm attaching Bob's blog so that you can see exactly how he's feeling. Hope everyone is doing well.

Tuesday 12/1- Overall it has been an uneventful day. I received my Neupogen shot again. They hurt like heck going in. My joints are still killing me. Stairs are the worst for me. I did get outside and meander around a bit. The boredom of laying around is starting to get to me. I watched a couple of movies and read, but I cannot take much more of the captivity. The problem is my energy levels are still very low, so I cannot do much more than sit anyway. Oh well.

Monday 11/30- First of my follow ups with my oncologist this week. I have to go in everyday for Neupogen injectons all week. But, I'll meet with the doctor on Mon, Wed, and Thurs. The Neupogen hurts like hell and make your joints even more sore if possible. I was going to start working out a bit today too, but after my office visit decided to wait until next week. The plan is to monitor my blood all week. My counts usually start to near the bottom around Thursday. So, we're thinking I'll need a blood transfusion on Thursday or Friday. Then, my counts should begin to climb next week and I can start doing some light working out. I'll keep you filled in on my progress through the week.

Sunday 11/29- I had a great weekend. I was still pretty tired all the time, but it was awesome. Chris and I slept over my parents house Saturday as Michele was out of town at a wedding. We watching GI Joe the movie and a bunch of other cartoons, we ate like pigs, and had a burping contest. It was a blast. We hung out Sunday at my parents for most of the day and then went to my aunt and uncle's house for my Thanksgiving dinner. It was just a great weekend. I needed to stop and take a break a couple of times, but overall I was okay.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers. We are still awaiting the results of that specialized blood test. When Bob goes to see the oncologist we are hoping she'll have the results. So far no news is good news.

Love and thanks,
Michele

Bob out of hospital, hopefully for good!

Family and friends,
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and long weekend. I'm happy to report that Bob is finally out of the hospital as of 9:30am yesterday morning. He got home, took a shower, and spent the afternoon with his parents. Last night he picked up Christopher and they watched GI Joe and had a sleepover at grandma's house. Both of them really enjoyed themselves.
Today we are going over to Bob's aunt and uncle's house to re-create Thanksgiving dinner for him.

Finally, Bob should get the results of his specialized blood test tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed and please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and thanks,
Michele

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Thanksgiving

Family and friends,
We are so thankful to have family and friends like all of you. Thank you for all the love and support you have given Bob and I. I have attached a photo of Bob's Thanksgiving surprise from his son. Bob has been extremely tired and sore all day. He doesn't want me to bring him turkey until 7pm since he's still sleeping.

Here's his blog from today:
I was going to put this up last night, but felt like crap and was very tired. I watched the UConn vs LSU basketball game. Then, I got really nauseous. It sucked. I had my forth bag of chemo at 4:00am, so I didn't get much sleep. I was already tired to begin with and now I am exhausted. I'm going to spend the day napping and watching football. I did get my three walks in, but it wasn't easy. My knees were really sore. I'll report on today later.


Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 2 of last round of chemo

Family and friends,

Today was a super busy day for me. After work I brought Bob and Christopher McDonalds at the hospital. Did you know a double cheeseburger has 1,150mg of sodium? I'm sure that can't be good for Bob. I read that on the side of the happy meal box. That's scary. Anyway, Bob is sore and tired. He's excited to see what surprise his son has in store for him tomorrow. I'm sleeping at my parents' house tonight in order to help with prep early tomorrow. With Bob and my brother-in-laws family we will be about 25 people. That's alot of turkey!

Here's Bob's blog:
Day 2 went without event. No nausea yet. Not much too good on TV. I am starting to feel more tired than usual. I did do my three laps around the floor again. My joints are still killing me, especially my knees. My son, Christopher, came over for a visit. He made the Honor Roll at school and had a really good report card. I was very proud of him. We played on the computer for a while and thumb wrestled. We finalized our plans for Saturday. We are going to sleep over my parents house. Michele will be out of town at her cousin's wedding. So, I figured I should stay at my parents to make sure I'm doing okay after a week of chemo. We are planning on watching GI Joe the movie. Christopher is VERY excited to see it. Talk to yopu tomorrow.

PS. I'm really looking forward to Sons of Anarchy tonight. It's one of the few TV shows I watch on a weekly basis.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love and thanks,
Michele


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 1 of last round of Chemo

Family and friends,
I'm going to let you read from Bob's blog first and then I'll tell you what the doctor said regarding the blood abnormalities...


From Bob's Blog:


Day One of chemo...
I arrived today at the Bethesda Memorial at 9:30. I was in my room by 10:30, not bad by hospital standards. They did the usual panel of blood work. I received my first IV bag of chemo at 2:00pm. I'll get the next one at 2:00am. so, not much sleep tonight. How consolidation chemo works is you get chemo twice on days 1, 3, and 5. You are off on days 2 and 4. If all goes well, I should be released sometime Saturday morning.My Oncologist told me they found some abnormalities in my blood cells while doing their review. She thinks it is due to some of the drugs she has me taking to aid in white blood cell formation. She's not too worried, but she is going to do further testing to verify that he cancer is not back. I should get the results in 3 days. I have gotten semi used to stuff like this and just try and roll with it. But, it's always in the back of your mind that you could be sick again.The chemo doesn't really make me feel worse for a couple of days. I feel fine right now. Well, fine for being on round 5 of chemo. I'm still tired most of the time and my joints are killing me. For exercise I took three walks around the whole floor. I would guess the distance to be 1/8th of a mile. I don't have much stamina right now. I'm hoping to improve that once I get this last round of chemo done.


Michele- Okay, Bob is in good spirits today. Bob's doctor called me yesterday and wanted to fill me in on the blood abnormalities. She first wanted to start off by saying that she was very happy that Bob's counts had recovered so quickly. His hemoglobin was at 11.1, platelets at 244,000 and white cells within normal ranges. The problem was that when they did the initial blood test they found that Bob had 1% blasts in his blood. The definition of "Blasts" is the following:

Blasts: Immature blood cells. Leukemic blasts do not grow and age normally; they proliferate wildly and fail to mature.

Bob's oncologist said first that everyone has blasts in their body, but that most likely Bob's could be due to the fact that because his counts recovered so quickly the blood cells didn't have time to mature, or because of the Nupogen injections this could possibly cause the increase in blast cells. She is sending his blood off for full spectrum testing but that it could take as long as week to get the results back (although she has expedited them). She had originally thought to ask Bob if he wanted to go back home and wait for the results because in the off chance that it comes back positive for the Leukemia (which she does not think is the case) Bob would unfortunately need to have re induction chemo again and it would be time to consider a stem cell transplant. Bob is very positive and knows that this is just an anomaly and wants to continue with his last round of consolidation chemotherapy so that he can finally be done. I cannot blame him. 6 months of this is tiring for me, I cannot even begin to think how hard it must be for Bob.

So now we just sit and wait for the results. Both the doctor, Bob and myself feel that it is not the Leukemia coming back.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers and I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

Love and thanks,
Michele

Bob is back at Elitefts.com and answering questions...

Family and friends,

Bob made his first public apperance yesterday at my neice's 1st birthday party. His white blood counts were high enough that he could fight off infection of 25 germy 2-5 year olds. Everyone was thrilled to see him and alot of people didn't recognize him with hair and long sideburns. (The picture I'm posting does not do him justice).

Bob is back in the hospital this morning for his last round of chemotherapy. He was very anxious to get there just to be over and done with it all. (I can't blame him). 6 months of this fiasco and I'd be anxious to get it over too! Anyway, as most of you know Bob is very active in the powerlifting community and for the last 7 years or so has been a fixture on the Q&A and logs at elitefts.com. Bob is finally strong enough to reintroduce his log. Here is a brief exerpt:

"Hi Everyone!For those who don't know I was diagnosed with leukemia in June of this year. I have been under going chemotherapy for the previous 5 months. During that time there have been some complications. To the point where I was read my last rights and my family was told twice I wouldn't make it through the night. My fiance, Michele, has been keeping a blog from the start of this and it can be found at:Bob Youngs - Cancer Blog The reason I am doing a log now is in an effort to promote the Lift Strong line of clothing Elite Fitness Systems is offering. I am going to chronicle my last week of chemo and then my rehab. I am hoping to bring more awerness to the EFS community."

If you are interested in either reading Bob's blog or asking him a question on the Q&A you can do so by going to http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/training-logs.asp?tid=61&__N=Bob%20Youngs

Bob will be missing Thanksgiving this year because he will be in the hospital but everyone is going to come and visit him and he's expecting an extra special dinner prepared by his son Christopher. Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and thanks,

Michele

Bob has kicked the cold and is in good spirits...

Family and Friends,

Thankfully Bob has kicked his cold with minimal issues, the ZPac worked! In addition he's been in good spirits and we spent some time with Christopher over the weekend. He and Bob played Star Wars and Bob's voice is coming back. His voice has improved by leaps and bounds and he's letting his hair grow out. I swear I think he gained hair during the chemotherapy!! He's got sideburns that are funny as heck. I'll try to post a photo later. Bob goes back into the hospital for his final round of chemotherapy on Monday November 23rd (during the week of Thanksgiving) and then he's done. He is very anxious to get it all over with and I can't blame him.

Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele

Bob has a cold... and blog reflections

Family and Friends,

Bob got out of the hospital late Tuesday but yesterday started showing signs of coming down with a cold. I was very worried last night because Bob's immune system is so weakened that any little thing can progress very quickly into something large and life threatening. So we went to the doctor this morning and his oncologist prescribed him a ZPac and either Sudafed or Mucinex and said as long as he doesn't get a fever he should be okay. The good thing is that Bob's levels are starting to slowly go up on their own. His hemoglobin this morning was 9.9 and platelets at 29,000 so he won't need any transfusions today. We just have to monitor him closely for any signs of fever, but so far he hasn't had any.

That being said, I'd like to stop for a minute and say something about this blog. I write this blog for all of our family and friends to keep everyone up to date regarding Bob's progress. I know at times I can be a little harsh about what's going on, but because I have an iPhone I have the ability to write from anywhere and usually right as everything is happening. So the majority of my posts are uncensored and mostly stream of conciousness, and I usually don't take time to sit down and reflect before writing them. I know at times I can be hard on both the doctor's and the nurses that are providing care for Bob, but I feel it's my obligation to be thorough because Bob's life is at stake. That being said, I would like to say that for the most part I have been very impressed with the care that Bob has received at Bethesda as well as with his oncologist. She is a good doctor and I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone. I realize that everyone is human and sometimes things just slip through the cracks, but I am confident that she has Bob's best interests in mind. She has gone out of her way to be there for both Bob and myself throughout this process, and has been patient and has answered all of our questions. I realize that sometimes I should stop and say a few good things in this blog as well and going forward I will do more of this.

Finally, I met with the people from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society yesterday morning regarding "Woman of the Year" fundraising event for next April that Bob's doctor recommended me for. I have decided that I will participate and try to give back to a cause that has deeply affected Bob's family. I will post more about this at a later date.

Thanks for all the recent emails and phone calls about Bob. I read all the comments posted on this blog as well and even though I may not respond to all of them, they are all very much appreciated. Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele

Veteran's Day and Bob out of hospital...

Family and friends,

Bob was released from the hospital around 9:30pm last night. His hemoglobin was 8.5 and platelets at 25,000. These are still pretty low but he will go back to the oncologist Thursday and will more than likely need additional transfusions. Both myself and Christopher have the day off today so we are going to bake cupcakes with grandma and possibly go in the pool and have a cookout with Bob's aunt April and uncle Tom if the weather holds up. Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers and have a great Veteran's Day.

Love and thanks,
Michele


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bob still in hospital... Needs more blood still

Family and friends,

Bob is still in the hospital. He received 2 units of platelets and 2 units of packed red blood cells yesterday. He also received an additional unit of blood this morning. Unfortunately his counts are still low- hemoglobin at 7.2 and platelets at 26,000 so he will remain in the hospital today and get two more units of blood, then they will reassess. I have attached a photo of Bob's foot to give you an idea of peticulae - what happens when you have low platelets. The peticulae itself is not life threatening. We hope Bob will be released from the hospital early tomorrow morning if all goes well. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele


-- Posted from my iPhone

Emergency admit to hospital...

Family and Friends,

I am beyond pissed off right now to the point of spitting nails. If you've been following the blog you know that last week I ranted about the fact that no one apparantly except for me feels it necessary about Bob's blood counts. On Friday Bob went to the doctor (and at that point should have gotten two units of blood). Well no one tested his blood counts on Friday because the doctor was moving her office. I was pissed. Fast forward to yesterday... Bob's face was broken out with peticlui (looks like measles). By this morning it had spread all over his body and when he woke up his tounge was twice it's normal size and fill with bloody postules. So needless to say we rush to the doctor, she says his low platelets are causing all of this and that he needs an emergency platelet transfusion. At this point it takes everything that I have to not start yelling because this whole damn thing could have been avoided if someone would have been proactive. So now here we sit, Bob and I at the hospital. It took an hour to get the blood results. His hemoglobin has dropped to 5.8 it's surprising to them he is still concious. Normal is between 12-16. His platelets are at 2. Seriously. They are supposed to be at 150,000-350,000. His white cells are non exisitant which means he has no immune system. I hope everyone can understand how frustrating this is because it all could have been prevented with some proactivity. So they are doing an emergency admittance into the hospital for Bob. I'll be here all day if you need me.
Please keep bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele


-- Posted from my iPhone

Surgery stitches removed, throat update...

Family and Friends,

Bob went by himself to the ENT surgeon this morning. He said that the doctor told him the wound was healing perfectly and his voice seems to be making progress. The stitches were removed. Time will tell if he needs further surgery or if his vocal cord will repair itself. After that he went to the oncologist. Bob has been getting Nupogen shots to bring up his white blood cell count this week. They are still low and so are his hemoglobin and platlets. I was very disappointed that his oncologist was not more proactive and would just give him 2 units of red blood cells and one unit of platlets. He's going to get to her office Monday morning and probably need 3 units of blood and 2 units of platlets and without being typed or crossed at the hospital he'll be at Bethesda ALL DAY and most likely all day Tuesday. I just don't get why doctors are reactive and not proactive. I'm in no way a doctor, but I can see the trend in Bob's bloodwork. How you could let anyone walk around with 50% of the blood in their body and not be proactive about it is beyond me. What if something happens to Bob over the weekend? I'm just saying...

It's annoying.

So, it looks like Bob doesn't qualify for unemployment benefits because he is unable to look for a job and from what the lady said Bob couldn't work at his last job so he technally wasn't laid off due to a lack of available work. Whatever. It's ridiculous. I'm just glad I got the long term disability straightened out. I'd recommend to anyone getting this insurance if it's available.

Please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers. He only has ONE MORE ROUND OF CHEMOTHERAPY LEFT!!! (Thanksgiving week)

Lots of Love and Thanks,

Michele

Bob out of hospital, doing well after surgery

Family and Friends,

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. As I said in my last post, Bob's surgery went well. That Friday I really noticed a difference in Bob's voice. He was speaking much deeper and not whispering at all. But then Saturday (most likely due to the fact that the swelling went down) Bob was back speaking in a hoarse whisper. He is going back to the ENT surgeon Thursday or Friday this week to have the stitches removed and once it's healed they will begin vocal testing to see the extent of the damage to his vocal cords. I am hoping things will get better with time.

As expected, Bob got out of the hospital on Saturday afternoon. He was in good spirits and insisted that he walk out of the hospital rather than get wheeled out. (He was very stubborn about this). In addition, he also insisted that I get him a costume for Halloween so that he could trick or treat with Christopher, Bob's uncle Tom, and myself. I went out and bought us matching pirate costumes and Bob was a real trooper. He walked his butt off and let me tell you it was hot as heck. Like 85 degrees, so hot that we had to bring poor Christopher home to change out of his polyester costume and into a RedSox t-shirt and shorts. We all had a fanstastic time on Halloween. I will post photos later.

Bob and I went to his oncologist this morning so that he could get a check up and a Nupogen shot. His counts are actually pretty good today and he didn't need any blood. He'll be going back every day this week for more shots and follow up. I also got a call from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Palm Beach wanting me to participate in their Woman of the Year. I have to call them back today. Bob's doctor was the one that nominated me and I was very honored that she'd think of me.

I will keep everyone posted of Bob's progress throughout the week. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and thanks,
Michele

Bob's surgery a success

Family and friends,

Bob's surgeon just came out to see me and said everything went well. The hole in his trachea was covered by muscle and he has 5 stitches that will need to be removed next week. He also looked at Bobs vocal chord and said the left one is "bowed out". At this time there is nothing they can do about it but wait until the stitches heal. Overall a success. Bob is in recovery and I'm hoping his voice is better. Thanks to everyone for you support.
Please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers. If recovery goes well he'll be out of here by noon tomorrow just in time to see Christopher dressed up for Halloween.
Love and thanks,
Michele


-- Posted from my iPhone

Surgery scheduled for Friday...

Family and friends,

After calling the oncologist and explaining how it doesn't make sense for Bob to have a surgery scheduled for the same day that he is supposed to be discharged (Saturday), she spoke with the ENT and they have scheduled surgery for Friday - time TBD. I guess we'll take it and hope Bob recovers quickly before he is discharged. I also submitted the final paperwork for Bob's long term disaiblity claim. That was a nightmare. I am hoping finally that they will approve him and send him the last month's worth of checks. Other than that, everything is going pretty well with Bob. He is very tired, but spends his day watching NCIS, CSI Miami and playing on his iPhone. He wanted me to say hello to everyone for him.

Thanks to all who keep reading the blog. Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele

Bob saw ENT doc, going to have surgery...

Family and Friends,

Thanks so much for all the encouraging words to myself and Bob regarding his neck and speech. I really think it did the trick because when I woke up this morning I got a text from Bob saying that the ENT doctor came by and Bob let him put the scope partially down his throat. I was very proud of him. Now for the not so good news. There is still a hole where Bob's tracheotomy site is and the doctor wants to close it. It would involve placing a flap of muscle over the hole in the trachea and sewing the skin together above that. Bob would not be fully knocked out, but in twilight. The doctor would then put the scope down Bob's nose and see what else is wrong. The doctor said Bob's left vocal cord is not fully functioning. The ENT doc is going to consult with Bob's oncologist to see about a timeline for surgery, but it sounded like he wanted to do it on Halloween morning (Saturday). Now I spoke with Bob's doctor last night and she said that if he had surgery she'd preferably like to do it as soon as possible because of the chemotherapy and the fact that all his blood counts go down exponentially day by day as well as his immune system and his ability to clot. Since I had to go to work today I told Bob to tell the oncologist that he wants to see if they can do the surgery tomorrow. Bob's response was "The doctors know best". I started laughing!!

So needless to say, I'm going to call the oncologist today and see what we can do about pushing this surgery up. It doesn't make any sense to do it on Saturday, the day he's supposed to be discharged. If they did it today, at least they could observe him for a few days - one would thing that would be the most logical thing. But as I have learned over the past few months, there is no rhyme or reason to the doctor's decisions.

I am still fighting with Bob's insurance company trying to get him long term disability. They won't release any checks yet. I did however get him unemployment. Did you know the max unemployment in the state of Florida is $275 a week? what the heck can you buy for that?? It's ridiculous. I've got to get this crap straightened out ASAP.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and thanks,

Michele

Bob back in hospital...

Family and friends,
Bob is back in the hospital for his second to last round of chemotherapy. He's in good spirits (as you can see from the photo), but still very tired all the time. He's going into this round with high counts which is good, but still having issues with the tracheostomy site not healing. I actually think it's infected again. But... Bob is stubborn and does not want the ear nose and throat doc to look at it with a scope unless they knock him out. The doctor won't do that because of the chemo, so everyone is stuck looking at the wound from the outside only. I'm just hoping there is no permanent damage to his vocal chords. He's still speaking at a whisper and no one can understand him on the phone. That's about it. I'll be hopefully giving regular updates this week since he'll be in there until Saturday.
Please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.
Love and thanks,
Michele


Bob with hair? Not...
-- Posted from my iPhone

Bob doing well, going back in for next round on Monday...

Family and Friends,

Sorry it's been 10 days since my last post. Things here have been hectic but good. The good news first - Bob has been doing fantastic on his blood counts - White blood and platlets are back in normal ranges and his hemoglobin is at 9.6 which is pretty high for him. Bob has been very tired and spends most days sleeping on the couch. We are working with his doctor on tweaking his pain medication which causes him to twitch -especially at night when he gets tired. They are trying to wean him off the pain patches first. Bob is still having issues with his tracheotomy site. At one point it looked like it was getting better, then we decided it would be a good idea put neosporin on it, and now it's getting worse. While Bob is in the hospital next Monday for his next round of chemo, they are going to have the surgeon look at it. I don't know how well that's going to go seeing as Bob won't let them look up his nose to get to his throat, but we'll see.

I'm still fighting for Bob to get long term disability. They have approved it finally after a month, but won't disperse until I get a letter from one of his doctors from 2008 stating he was receiving muscle relaxers for his back pain and not for cancer. It's just ridiculous. In addition, I received a phone call last week from Bob's work advising me that they laid off Bob. THANK GOD my company offers domestic partner medical and dental benefits, or Bob would be screwed. Cobra wanted almost $600 a month for medical alone. In addition, Bob has racked up over $1,000,000 in medical costs (yep, that's a Million with a capital M!) It's pretty screwed up- the insurance company tells you that you have a $5k co-pay, but then once you've reached that then they tell you they'll only pay 90%. So Bob's portion of the medical bills for the last 4 months is $100,000 out of pocket. Nice. I think we're better off living in Canada or Switzerland or something, but Bob won't have any of that. Sorry for the complaining, but it gets very frustrating fighting with these companies. At least Bob has Aetna now. I'm hoping they are much better.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers. He'll be in the hospital Monday October 26 and get out on Halloween afternoon - just in time to watch Christopher trick or treat!!

Love and thanks,

Michele

PS. I'll make sure to post some pictures of Bob soon.

Bob hanging in there...

Family and friends,

Bob is hanging in there. He's been napping alot. His blood counts unfortunately have been dropping steadily to the point where his platelets were at 6,000. Normal is between 150,000 and 350,000. He went in as an outpatient yesterday for two units of platelets. He's keeping busy today watching football and wanted to say hi to everyone.

Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and thanks,
Michele

Ps. Thanks to Powerhouse Gym for the t-shirt and get well card. That was so thoughtful!


-- Posted from my iPhone

Bob is home and happy

Family and friends,

Sorry its been a few days since ive updated the blog. Bob is home now and doing pretty well. He's been trying to sleep as much as possible. I'm going with him to the doctor tomorrow so they can show me how to flush his picc lines. His counts are doing surprising well so far too.

Please continue to keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers.

Love and thanks,
Michele


-- Posted from my iPhone

Chemo a success so far, Bob coming home tomorrow...

Family and Friends,

Bob is holding his own very well with regard to the chemotherapy. His blood counts are holding steady and so are his platlets. The doctor said that Bob will be going home tomorrow. Bob is looking forward to eating real food (as opposed to hospital food) and getting to have Christopher come over to our house to play video games. The only issue that I'm dealing with now is fighting with Bob's insurance company Guardian to get him long term disability. They are making prove that Bob's Leukemia isn't a pre-exisiting condition (which is ridiculous).

Please keep Bob in your thoughts and prayers. As soon as he gets out tomorrow, I'm going to take a picture of him and post it so you can see his progress. He's been mainly living off snickers bars and whatchamacalits so he's putting on a few pounds since the hospital food isn't the greatest.

Love and thanks,

Michele