I Wanna Be Sedated

Day #21 is the last day for me to have Dr. Jabbour. The Doctors rotate and now he is going into the clinic. I hope I get to see him again but he will not be my doctor when I’m dismissed to the clinic. I’ll miss him. He told me my platelets were up to 35 today. A nice leap from yesterday. White blood cells are still lagging. I had another bone marrow aspiration today to see what is happening in my marrow. Please let the results be good ones. Whitney stayed during the procedure. They gave me a sedative and it knocked me out for about 4 hours. I couldn’t believe I slept so much.

True Blood

Day #20 – Did I mention that they wake you up every morning at 4:00 a.m. to take your vital signs and weigh you? Yes everyday at 4:00 a.m. I’m getting weighed!! Then a few minutes later the phlebotomist (affectionately called vampires) comes in to draw your blood so the reports will be back by the time the doctors come in about 8:00 a.m. My blood work today indicated that my platelets are 15! Coming up!

Whitney Returns

Day #19 – Brings Whitney back to visit. She arrived too late last night to stop in on Friday but we have today, tomorrow and half day on Monday. My blood work is creeping up with my Platelets today being 5. Still a long way to go but better than 1.

Bored Certified

Day #18 shows that my platelets and white blood cells have not yet started to regenerate. I’m getting anxious but they say it is normal. My doctor tells me I’m very boring. What, me boring? He means it in a good way – no problems!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day #17 – I am giving thanks today that I have three wonderful children, fabulous friends in the Ogles, Sandy, Cheryl, Jaynie, Dennis/Jo, Barbara, Brian/Whitney, my cousins Nancy and Tina and so many more. I have received 100’s -- maybe a thousand -- of get well wishes and prayers. I cry everyday at the love that is being sent my way. It has humbled me. Sue and John came to visit early. Then I ordered the turkey dinner and watched football. I don’t know why they put all the Texas teams on television here in Houston – but that is what I have to watch!!


Thank you, Sue! (I think it's you under those clothes)

Thanksgiving Eve

Day #16 is the day before Thanksgiving. Everyone (my kids and the Ogles) are upset as I will have to celebrate the day alone in this room. No one can eat with me as anyone in my room must be masked. So I’ll order the Turkey tomorrow and talk on the phone. I’m here bargaining for more time. I’m acting like this is work and I do what they tell me (yes I do!). I can sacrifice one Thanksgiving for the hope of many more.

Celebrate Good Times

Day #15 – Today is another day for celebration! I just found out additional results from my earlier bone marrow aspiration that my chromosomes are diploid. What does that mean? It means that my chromosomes are healthy and normal which gives me a better chance of going and staying in remission. They usually do not do a bone marrow transplant on the first remission if the patient has DIPLOID Chromosomes. That is a relief as a transplant is very costly and involved.

Fortunate Son

After sharing her leftover "Asian Stir Fry", June also shares the fortune from her fortune cookie with her Son Stephen...

Connect the Dots

Day #13. Now I’m adding to my chemo rash with peticci (I’m way off on the spelling here). These are red dots indicating my platelets are low. They are everywhere except my face. Steve is leaving today.


Enjoying the view from my "cell"

Do Not Get Discouraged

A note from one of the nurses on the whiteboard in June's room:


"Do not get discouraged! :)"

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Day #12 – these next 10 days are the waiting days. The Chemo has (hopefully) killed all the Leukemia cells in my bone marrow and blood and now we are waiting for my body to regenerate good cells and put me into remission. They keep a careful eye on me as my platelets are at 1 (normal is 140 to 440). That means even a small bleed could be deadly. I would have no platelets to stop the bleeding. I’m allowed no sharp objects like toe nail clippers or razors and every night they put up my side rails and put my bed alarm on. They don’t want me to exercise at all as even a muscle tear could prove detrimental.

Don't Do Something Rash

Day #11 – I still have my hair, which I’m happy about even though I have ordered a wig. As a reaction to the chemo I have a terrible rash over all of my body. It is very ugly and itches me so bad. They have cream to put on it but it is very annoying.

Snickers Satisfies

Day #10 – Two things to celebrate today – Steve arrived and I received my last Chemo shot. We celebrated with a snickers bar (or several) taken from Sue’s grandson’s Halloween candy stash.

Pretty in Pink

I visited Mom for the first time today. Other than the wires and tubes coming out of her, she is her normal beautiful self! I asked myself: "this person has cancer?".

We are enjoying every minute together. I don't mind the "clean room" garb, but wearing these gloves makes it hard to use my new touch-screen phone. :-)

-Stephen


This person has cancer?


If only all my clothes were disposable after use...

More Shots

Day #8 and #9 bring more of the same, just two Chemo shots. Sue and John visit so much. I hate taking them out of their routine. I’m just so thankful they are here to help me get through this. I couldn’t do it without them.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Day #7 – Continuing the shots of Chemo but they do not seem to affect me much so I don’t dread them. I haven’t mentioned my team of doctors and nurses and aides. They are ALL wonderful. My doctor – Elias Jabbour – is fabulous. He is knowledgeable and has a great bedside manner. He wanted me to concentrate on getting through this Chemo and going into remission and asked me not to concentrate on the prognosis. He told me not to worry – that he would worry for me and if he came in with a worried face – I could start worrying! When he comes in he pulls his mask down so that I can see that he is smiling. I look forward to seeing him every day. The fellow doctor that comes with him is Dr. Parikh. Another great human being. Sometimes there are 5-6 doctors, students, etc. who come on rounds. I never see their faces so one day I asked them to take their masks down so I could see how handsome they were. They did and we all had a good laugh. My favorite nurse practitioners are Mary and Marie. These two ladies work so hard. Whitney left today.

Room Service

Day #6 – no IV Chemo. The day started out great as I did not have to dread the 3:30 hour. I’m feeling a little better so I try to eat some oatmeal for breakfast and a baked potato later in the day. I’m down 12 pounds right now but no one seems concerned. The food system is very interesting here at MD Anderson. They have a menu and you order like you are having room service. In fact, they call it room service and all the deliverers come in Tuxedos. Of course, I only see their eyes as everyone who enters my room is gowned, gloved, masked and hair netted.

Marrow-thon

Today, family friend Kim Kanouse ran a 5k marathon in NYC in honor of June and others to support cancer research. Thank you Kim for all your love and support!


"In Honor of..."

Whitney's Update

Whitney visited Mom for the first time today. Here is an excerpt from an email she sent to Michael and Stephen:

"Hey Bro's!

Saw mom for the first time at 130pm Today-she looked beautiful. We sat and chatted about everything from Mimi to all the support she has been receiving and most importantly what she wants to be doing when she springs out of here: eating a pepperoni pizza on the beach! Be sure to have all the supplies ready Steve...;)

Although the first couple hours were great and mom was in good spirits she developed a rash from the Chemo last night. It is causing a lot of irritation and uncomfortable moments but a small bump she needs to get over during this time. She is resting now in peace and quiet as this was her 4th installment of the Chemo from the drip bag. It ends tomorrow and then they move into the shots. As I know Mike experienced, during and after the chemo is moms darkest hour and that is when she gets a little emotional, can you believe she feels like she is burdening us. Always the Mother and always wanting to ensure others have before she does.

You can tell that she feels stronger when you are sitting in the room with her, just like she has done for us over the years. We were thinking of Sophia and can't wait for more pictures (and I just can't wait to hold her) she got a high five from Sophia the other day!!

Just wanted to give an update from the days events! Met a wonderful Cancer survivor at the car rental place who spent her treatment here at MD Anderson and emerged a stronger person! She gave me a free upgrade to a full-size G6, Pontiac.

Love you both very much! Mike thanks for leading the cause with Mom and doing all of the things Steve and I can't while in Atlanta and NYC-it is very much appreciated and we wouldn't be able to support mom like she deserves if it wasn't for you.

Xoxoxoxo

Talk to you tomorrow!"

Couture Du Jour

Day #5 means the last day of the IV Chemo for now. I can’t wait until it is over. Whitney and I celebrate at 5:30 p.m. when it is over – but I’m not feeling good enough to eat yet. Earlier in the day Whitney and Sue went shopping for me to get me some clothes to wear instead of the ugly hospital gowns. Since I have a permanent IV I cannot slip on any tops. Sue cut the tank top and sewed ribbons so that I can wear cute and colorful “things” every day. I get up and put my make-up on and dress everyday. I might be sick but I don’t have to look sick! I still have all my hair but they said it could fall out after day 21 and I might wake up and find it in my bed. That could be a bad day!


Scarlet & Gray outfit for Buckeye Football!


Miami Dolphin blue!

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is a good day for me as Whitney comes to visit. But it is also Day #4 and my 4th bag of Chemo. The hot chemicals race through my body and I’m just willing them to kill all the Leukemia Cells. My friend Cheryl sent me tapes to listen to while taking the chemo which have been helpful.

A Bad Case of Pukaphobia

Day #3 I have a slight fever and they want to do a throat culture right while I’m getting bag #3 of Chemo. Those of you who know me well know that I have a bad case of pukaphobia – the fear of throwing up! Well, the Chemo plus swabbing my throat ended my 35 year record being throw up free! Sigh! The fever turned out to be nothing – but they worry so about fevers as my white blood cells and platelets are being totally depleted by the chemo.

Two Shots and One Bag

Day #2 is the same as Day #1 – two shots and one bag. I’m feeling bad, but not horrid. I can get through this. Still not eating but they don’t seem to mind. Sue snuck me in some Saltines to help with my stomach and give me at least a little food I can swallow.

Solitary Confinement

Today is the day June was moved from the emergency area and a regular hospital room to "isolation". All visitors and staff must wear a hairnet, mask, gown, gloves, and shoe coverings. All packages/bags must be wiped down, and guests are not allowed to eat or drink in the room. All these precautions are taken since June's immune system is basically non-existant and any small infection that would normally not be a problem can cause major complications.


Mike sporting his hospital garb

First Day of Chemo

The big day – my first bag of Chemo, but not until 3:30 p.m. I had one shot last night but is was not bad. I’m dreading this and I have to wait all day. The appointed time comes and I feel the hot chemicals spreading throughout my body. A bad feeling – uncomfortable. 5:30 p.m. the bag is empty and I’m still OK. Nauseated but not sick – yet! I haven’t eaten in days anyway – I’m only down 10 lbs so not too bad. Another shot of Chemo at 8:30 p.m. So here is my schedule Clofarabine (bag – IV) at 3:30 p.m. everyday and Cytarabine shot at 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Mike leaves in the late afternoon. I’m sad to see him go. Day #1 – over!

The Package

Ok, so how does all this work – this no toilet thing? “Well,” says my male nurse Ike, “you wrap your – stuff – in TWO bags and then push the call button and ask to have someone come and remove it!”
Really?
“Really! It’s not so bad. We’re used to it”

Now, I’m pacing the floor ready to make my first call.
Oh, June, just do it for Pete’s sake!
I PRESS the call button.
“Yes, may I help you?”
Errr, um, yes hello! I have um a PACKAGE to be removed from my room.
“Alright I send someone in to get it.”
Oh, God, please put me under this bed instead of on top of it when that someone comes in!

Entering the Twilight Zone

Treatments will start tomorrow – so tonight I would be moved to the “Protective Environment” floor – in other words Solitary Confinement! Once the treatment begins my platelets and white blood cells will drop so low I have to be in isolation! Yikes!

To enter the “Protective Environment” the nurse told me to do the following: Shower and wash my hair, put on two sterile gowns, two shoe covers, hairnet, mask and gloves. Then sit in a designated chair covered with white sheets. Mike and the Ogles were standing around thinking – “What the hell is happening here?”

When transportation arrived – my vehicle was a white plastic sleigh – yes sleigh – that they then proceeded to covered with more white sheets. Are you taking me for a ride through Central Park? I asked pleadingly. Unfortunately the answer was NO. Little did I know though – I was about to enter the Twilight Zone. With Mike, Sue and John behind off we went through hall after hall – white sheets fluttering and doors slamming behind us.

When we arrived at our designated destination I got off the sleigh, took off one pair of booties and stepped into the “clean” room again being asked to take everything off and put on a new gown. Little did I know that this 10 x 10 foot space would be my sole home for the next 28 days! And, oh by the way – in protective environment – there are no toilets and no showers! Huh? I’m in the most state of the art cancer center in all the world – and I’ll be camping? Germs spread in shower pipes and in standing water and flushing a toilet spreads germs throughout – so in protective environment THERE WILL BE NONE of that!

Yikes! I have truly entered the Twilight Zone!

Assessment

The past two days were spent in a normal hospital room while the doctors and nurses assessed my situation and decided on what treatment. I was placed in a study that has been going on since mid-2007 using a combination of the drugs Clofarabine and Cytarabine. Bags of the Clofarabine and shots of the Cytarabine. The hope is remission after the first round – then the treatment (protocol) continues for another 6 months. I was allowed visitors – so I was glad that Mike was still there and Sue and John and two of their girls Tracy and Lindsay were able to spend some time with me.

My Prince

I’m still in shock at the events that have occurred in the last 48 hours when this handsome young man comes into my emergency room and introduces himself as Prince.
Prince, I said. Really?
“Yep, really!”
OK, Prince, what are you going to do for me today?
“I’m going to do a bone marrow aspiration and I’m going to do a lot better job that the one you had yesterday! There will be no bruising.”
Really?
“Really!”

And he was right. A little bravado, yes, but I started realizing at that moment these people here at MD Anderson are experts in Leukemia and since I have this terrible disease – this is definitely the best place to be. I started to feel better

The Eagle Has Landed

At 4:30 a.m. the car service picked Mike and me up to go to the airport and I was in Houston TX, just 48 hours after the diagnosis! The miraculous thing about Houston is the fact that my wonderful long time friends of 42 years, John and Sue Ogle, live in Houston and were at the airport to pick me (and Mike) up and care for me during this unexpected journey. Am I lucky or what? We go right to the Emergency Room at MD Anderson and await the check in process. At least 30 vials of blood drawn, a port put into my right arm and another bone marrow aspiration – my second in 24 hours! But, this is where I met my prince!

Houston, We've Have a Problem

Thursday November 5th brought doctors, bone marrow extractions and visitors – many many visitors – all my fabulous friends. What did I do to deserve such amazing friends? You will see what I mean soon. Late that afternoon the doctor came in to say that I could stay in Boca to be treated with a 30% survival rate – but she said that if I were her mother she would take me to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for the best treatment in the world. Well, I’ll go to MD Anderson, of course. She asked if I was willing to make that significant effort. Make the effort? Make the effort to LIVE? Yes, yes please get me in! She left the room to arrange. In the room at the time were my friends Sandy Blake, Cheryl Valenti, Mel Zucker and Kathy Murdock. About an hour later the doctor came back in to say it was arranged and I need to get to Houston ASAP. Everyone went to work – Sandy’s calling Continental Airlines, Mel’s finding a car service to take me to the airport at 4:30 a.m. and Cheryl is making a list of things I’ll need to pack. Kathy is just shaking her head saying “I don’t have any friends like this! This is amazing.” Yes, my very amazing friends.

That night I had to swallow 16 chemo pills (Hydrea) – 16! The nurse wore three pairs of rubber gloves just to unpackage these pills and I was going to SWALLOW them. Fortunately, Brian and Whitney were visiting and every 5 minutes Brian reminded me I had to swallow a pill – I had to get them all down in the next couple of hours! Whitney and I use the same hairdresser so she said she would handle the procurement of a wig. A WIG! My hair is going to fall out and I’m going to need a wig – what is happening here? My amazing friends to the rescue.

The Diagnosis

On Wednesday, November 4th my life changed forever after I received the devastating dreadful diagnosis of Acute Monocytic Leukemia (AML). June Wolfe (me) – the person who is never sick and who hardly ever took even one aspirin for a headache – has leukemia! Telling you that I went into shock after hearing the diagnosis is putting it mildly. Fortunately, my wonderful friend Sandy Blake was with me. I could hear her in the background – cursing!

Here’s how it came about. As I look back in hindsight I realize I had not been feeling my best for awhile. I remember standing at the bottom of the steps at work (two flights that I ran up and down every day for years) began looking intimidating and it would be a struggle to walk up especially if I had something to carry. Strange, but not something that made me stop and think that I was sick. On October 22nd I drove up to Atlanta with Steve to see my new granddaughter, Sophia Madeleine, and had a swollen tongue and my gums would bleed when I brushed. Hmmmm! My energy level was low the entire weekend. Coming home on the plane I felt feverish.

Being me (it will go away if I ignore it), I continued my normal routine, never getting sicker or getting better, but on Tuesday, November 3rd I went to the dentist to see about my black and blue and bleeding gums. Dr. Courtney said that he had never seen anything like it and he felt it was not a dental issue. On the way home I went to a walk in clinic where they tested my blood. That evening they called me to say that the blood work came back so wacky (their words exactly) they thought it was a “lab error” and asked that I retake the test so I went back to the clinic for another blood draw. In the morning they called to tell me it was NOT an error and that I needed to see a Hematologist immediately – that it was urgent. Fear is beginning to creep in!

Dr. Alan Koletsky, who I had never met before this moment, had to deliver the bad news to me - ACUTE MONOCYTIC LEUKEMIA. Ok so now I know – Acute Monocytic Leukemia! What does that mean? What do I do now? “Well,” Dr. Koletsky said, “you need to go to the hospital immediately.” Can I go home and pack a few items for the hospital? “Yes, you can go home to pack a few items but be at the hospital in one hour!”

Sandy and I are driving home now – not really saying anything. I mean, what is there to say except f—k, how did I get here? Sandy interrupts the silence by saying, “You had better call your kids!” OMG I have to TELL my kids!

We got to the hospital at 7:00 p.m. and I was admitted shortly after at least 20 vials of blood were taken. It was really weird being admitted to the oncology ward. That I had cancer was still NOT computing in my brain. Sandy stayed until I was settled in. There wasn’t much going on. Still all so new! What will tomorrow bring? Could this be a mistake? Please God! Make this a mistake!