My Hope Is You Alone

  Meet Lisa….my life saving bone marrow donor! Three years have passed since my bone marrow transplant to cure   MDS and I would like to share one last blog with some exciting news!   A few months ago I had the privilege of meeting Lisa, my life saving bone marrow donor. Lisa is from Germany, is 28 years old and is a nurse who works in the trauma surgery department. She joined the registry some time ago and when she got the call that she might be needed, she did not hesitate to roll up her sleeves and help.   She was willing to do all that was medically necessary to help save my life.   Lisa had to have many medical tests and take quite a few injections to prepare her body to give the marrow.   It cost her time and made her tired, but she was committed.   Then, about April 4, 2018, her marrow was harvested.   The next step involved a courier getting on a plane with it in Germany and rushing it to Canada as fast as possible because after 72 hours, it can no longer be used. The timin

  Passed the 2 year mark!   Yay!   So thankful   to arrive at this significant milestone on my transplant journey.   The two year mark is when rejection of the donated bone marrow will likely no longer occur and we can declare it a successful transplant.   It is a great relief to be marking this day with all of you. I reflect with gratitude on the support of so many. First, my husband Jeff who stepped up above and beyond to be there for me   faithfully each day.    My kids were great,   they dropped everything to help and show their love as well.    Our extended family, friends and church all rallied around for the long haul, praying faithfully taking care of so many practical things .   Thank you for everything!   Medically, I am down to appointments only every couple of months, quite a change from living week to week observing blood counts.    I do still have a lower immunity and need to be careful, but so much better than it was. The chemotherapy   was short in duration

One year ago today I received the life giving marrow from an anonymous  donor. We are deeply grateful and amazed how God has answered the many prayers lifted up to Him for me. We trusted in Gods sovereignty throughout this experience and are delighted that at this point His path for me is healing and recovery, although He lovingly prepared our hearts that it could be otherwise.   There has been, with a few exceptions, a slow steady improvement in blood counts,  energy level and appetite.....coffee finally tastes good again! My hair is growing back, but its quite patchy and unmanageable, so I will be sticking with the wig  for a while yet. Not a big deal when you are just happy to be alive.  I can change from a cute blonde mama to a crazy lady in a moment..... I call it my kids "other mother".    My ongoing treatments include daily meds and several visits a month to the Juravinski. I have just started to be re-immunized,  like a child, with the exception of a few vaccines

150 days and we are thankful to say that things are going well.  Since I have last posted, I was able to have the Hickman port removed from my chest as I no longer need IV treatments. This is considered a big step in the process.That procedure went well and the wound has healed.  The doctor has reduced the amount of medication that I need to take, which has helped me to have a better appetite again and we are not struggling with dehydration anymore.  Some of the remaining medications I will need to take for quite some time yet. I am able to attend church and go out again, but I do still need to be careful about germs.  We just enjoyed a few days at our friends, the Neven's, cottage. It was wonderful to be there and to sit out by a lake again, even if I had to stay in the shade all the time.  I will need to be really careful about sun exposure for the next couple of years, my risk of skin cancer is very high.  Today I went swimming for the first time all summer, while the shade was

Day 100! This is a day for thankfulness and praise for sure. It is such a milestone to pass in this bone marrow transplant process.  We can be most thankful for what did not happen, such as infections or rejection.  The worst cases usually present in the first 100 days, so we are so glad that is behind us.  There is a road to go yet, I am still struggling with eating and drinking enough, and have had a bit of trouble with the creatinine level in my blood being too high, which would result in kidney issues. We are getting it under control with IV fluids. The goal now is to start weaning me from all of the meds that I am taking and remove the Hickman port from my chest.  I am able to go out in public a little more now. This last stretch has felt long, and sometimes discouraging, but the same promises that we held on to during the critical transplant time are now encouraging us to keep moving forward day by day. So many of you are still encouraging with texts, cards, visits, meals, a

Day 71, still going well! We are encouraged to see the rising blood counts even though its very slow, ups and downs. We go weekly to the cancer clinic and VON nurses come to the house a few times a week to do meds by IV. I have been struggling with nausea more than we expected, some days it is difficult to get enough food and drink in, then there will be several good days in a row.  It can be discouraging at times, but this is just all part of it.  The doctor reminded us this is a marathon, not a sprint, so we just need to press on.   We are so thankful that God has answered prayer and there have been no serious setbacks so far and pray that this will continue. I am able to do things around the house and have Alana to keep me company. She still visits Auntie Brenda's  2 days a week while we have appointments and catch up on rest. I need to stay indoors most of the day, which is hard for her, but I have been strictly warned about any sun exposure as I am very vulnerable to skin